Collaborative concert brings students from 47 Hamilton County schools together to learn music [photos]

The 2nd annual HamiltonSings! event at First Baptist Church Golden Gateway on Tuesday, Oct. 25, 2016, in Chattanooga, Tenn. 47 Hamilton County Elementary Schools brought students for instructional classes in chorus, instrument, and dance over the day which concluded in a public performance in the evening.
The 2nd annual HamiltonSings! event at First Baptist Church Golden Gateway on Tuesday, Oct. 25, 2016, in Chattanooga, Tenn. 47 Hamilton County Elementary Schools brought students for instructional classes in chorus, instrument, and dance over the day which concluded in a public performance in the evening.

How to help

Hamilton Sings! has exhausted its initial funding, and organizers hope the community will help support the effort financially to ensure it continues into its third year. Contributions can be made at igg.me/at/hamilton-sings

The lobby of First Baptist Church was a fidgeting beehive as 162 Hamilton County elementary students murmured with one another in anticipation of their big moment.

Finally, a teacher near the sanctuary door signaled to the students, who were organized into disheveled lines, and they began filing down the aisles. When they reached the stage, they placed their hands over their hearts and broke into the first several bars of the national anthem.

Hamilton Sings!, now in its second year, is a collaborative concert several months in the making that brings together students from 47 county schools. Students auditioned to participate or were handpicked by their teachers, and they spent the entire day preparing and practicing for the final show.

"This is pretty much the dream. They've had such a blast," said Claire Stockman, a music teacher at Red Bank Elementary and one of the leaders of Tuesday's event.

She said the program, which is free to every participating student, is intended to celebrate the gifts of students interested in music while exposing them to new instruments, languages and students from other schools.

Stockman said the students were introduced to a variety of things they don't see in their day-to-day schooling, including percussion instruments and an enormous, colorful maypole that was placed at the front of the sanctuary as students danced around it to accompany a song.

"I'm excited 'cause I get to do the maypole," said Emerald Welch, one of the many students who performed. "And I get to sing."

The event was organized almost entirely by Hamilton County Schools music teachers, all of whom were eager to see it come together. They said singing, dancing and playing instruments is part of a holistic education for every child.

"They're using both sides of the brain. Music is a way that happens." said Emma Echols, a music teacher at Lakeside Academy. She said she and the other teachers were brought on board months in advance to start working on the day-long workshop.

"We thought: 'Let's let the kids have a day of music-making,'" she said.

Teachers and students weren't the only ones excited to see the concert. Parents were eager to see their children participate and showcase their talents.

Albert Grimes stood in the lobby watching during rehearsal as the children walked by him and caught the eye of his daughter Makhia, a student at Hardy Elementary School.

"Singing, dancing, she does everything with music," he said.

But even though she loves music, Makhia is the kind of well-rounded citizen the teachers hope to encourage, and she already has big plans for her future.

"She said she that she wants to be a lawyer," Grimes said.

Contact staff writer Emmett Gienapp at egienapp@timesfree press.com or 423-757-6731. Follow on Twitter @emmettgienapp.

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