The Times - Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley

PRESCOTT - Prescott students experienced a musi- cal treat last Friday at a special performance of "Peter and the Wolf" by the Walla Walla Symphony at Cordiner Hall.

The fourth and fifth graders hopped in a bus to the Whit- man College campus to join other students from districts in Washington and Oregon for the performance.

Prescott fifth grade student Alicia Stansell said she had been on a field trip like Fri- day's before. Her class had been to an author reading at Cordiner Hall previously and she was excited to return.

"I like seeing what other people can do and the inter- esting things," Stansell said. "I'm excited about the youth concert and seeing a bunch of very cool instruments."

Stansell said her most fa- vorite instrument is a clarinet and she has been learning to play the wood instrument for the past six weeks.

To prepare for Friday's field trip, Stansell said the class read a newspaper story about one of the musicians in the show who is only in seventh grade. The young musician plays the piano and Stansell was thrilled to "get to see her today."

Visiting the symphony makes Stansell want to be up on stage with other musicians one day, she said. Although, she's not yet had enough stage experience to not be nervous like the seventh grade pianist, Stansell said.

"She probably knows the keys and knows what she's go- ing for," she said.

Stansell's teacher Pat Prince said her fifth grade class gets to attend the young people's con- cert every year. Waitsburg and Dixie students also attend. And after Prince's students attend the performance, they always write thank you notes to the symphony.

"It gives them 'real world' reasons to write," Prince said.

Leah Wilson-Velasco, the CEO of the symphony, said offering free student perfor- mances is a way for the sym- phony to give back to the com- munity and has been doing so for more than 50 years.

The symphony offered two performances of "Peter and the Wolf" last Friday and nearly 3,000 students got to enjoy the concert. The school districts only have to pay to bus the students to Cordiner Hall, Wilson-Velasco said.

"It's a really important as- pect of the program," Wilson- Velasco said. "For many it's the first time to see a concert. Seeing their little faces light up is a joy for us."

The symphony also held a free family concert and fund- raiser of the performance last Thursday and allowed families to see the show for free with a donation of canned food. Wilson-Velasco said the con- cert helped collect more than 2,000 pounds of food.