Merit's Suzuki-Alegre Strings Students to Perform 5/30 at Benito Juarez Academy

Merit School of Music invites the public to experience Stringtacular, a free concert on Saturday, May 30 from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Benito Juarez Community Academy, 1450-1510 W. Cermak Avenue, in Chicago's Pilsen neighborhood.

This annual celebration of string instruments brings together over 300 violin, viola, cello and string bass players ages 4 to 18 from throughout Chicago, all enrolled in Merit's Suzuki-Alegre Strings music education program.

Stringtacular kicks off with Merit's most advanced strings players performing the most challenging musical selections on the program. As the concert progresses, fresh waves of younger children at intermediate and then introductory levels join their talented upperclassmen on stage.

As the songs get simpler, the ensemble grows in size.

By the end of the program, after Merit's littlest string players toddle on stage with their mini-violins, more than 300 Chicago kids of all ages are performing in unison, prompting tears of parental pride from a capacity crowd while demonstrating the incredible opportunity for growth within Merit's acclaimed Suzuki-Alegre Strings Program.

Merit's Suzuki-Alegre Strings began more than 10 years ago in Chicago's Pilsen and Little Village neighborhoods. Today it serves as an international model thanks to its traditional Suzuki training coupled with the integration of Latin folk songs, and its strong sense of diversity and community.

For more information about Stringtacular or for parents interested in enrolling their children for Merit's Suzuki-Alegre Strings fall 2015 session, visit meritmusic.org or call 312.786.9428.

For 35 years, Merit School of Music has been home to a diverse community of talented young musicians and a springboard for exciting personal transformations. Since its founding in 1979, Merit has inspired and motivated more than 50,000 students to realize their full musical potential.

Currently home to nearly 5,000 students, on-site and off, Merit continues to provide vital access to music training, while deepening and broadening instructional offerings, and increasing financial support so that more motivated students can transform their lives through the Merit experience. At Merit, students of every income level and from every corner of Chicago have the rare opportunity to learn together, dream together, and build inspiring lives through music.

Merit's music education continuum for children includes Early Childhood classes for newborns to age seven, instrumental group lessons for grades K-9, leading to the highest level of achievement, the Alice S. Pfaelzer Tuition-free Conservatory. Thousands of children also participate in Merit's off-site community music program, Bridges Partners in Music, another key pathway to Merit's Alice S. Pfaelzer Tuition-free Conservatory.

Merit's conservatory students are among the most elite youth musicians in the city, and represent an economically and ethnically diverse cross section of the Chicago area. Students are accepted by audition only and receive college preparatory level training from Chicago's finest music instructors valued at $2,500 per year, tuition-free. Nearly 100% of the conservatory's graduating seniors are accepted into college, and most continue their music studies at top colleges, universities and music conservatories.

As part of Merit's commitment to providing access to a high quality music education, substantial financial support is provided to young musicians through program subsidies, need-based tuition relief, low-cost instrument rental, and music supplies so that motivated students can participate in every program regardless of their economic circumstance. The goal is to ensure that children, regardless of their family income, have access to high quality music education and all of its benefits in developing personally as well as musically.

Merit School of Music is located at the Joy Faith Knapp Music Center, 38 S. Peoria St. in Chicago's West Loop. To learn more, visit meritmusic.org or call 312.786.9428.

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