A unique music program that blends education and entertainment through the unlikely marriage of orchestral and rock ’n’ roll sounds is coming to Elmira.

The program called Electrify Your Strings was founded by Mark Wood, an accomplished musician best known for bringing rock violin into the mainstream. Wood is a former lead rock violinist of the Trans-Siberian Orchestra, a multi-platinum selling symphonic heavy metal group .
Students in Woolwich Township will become the first Canadians to participate in the program, which has visited schools across the United States.

“This is our first program in Canada,” said spokesperson Bridgid Bibbens. “Other musicians that are out on the road and go to schools generally don’t do anything as intensive as we do, where the artist is in one-on-one with the students for two straight days in solid rehearsals.”

Wood, who arrives in Elmira on Dec. 8, will spend two days in workshops with music students from Elmira District, Park Manor and St. Jacobs schools. The program culminates with a community concert at 7:30 p.m., Dec. 9 at EDSS, where students will perform alongside Wood.

Murray Showers, head of the music department at EDSS, was intrigued when he heard about the program earlier this year.

“I’d been figuring out how to try and make this work,” said Showers. “When these dates opened up, I thought I’d jump in with both feet and see what we could do here. I’ve never done anything like this at Elmira.”

He was able to get a lot of the legwork done this past summer.

“It’s not just the concert that intrigues me,” says Showers. “It’s the education behind the whole thing. He wants to teach them about improvising. He’s found neat ways how to teach students to do this type of thing. I’m always looking for ways to update curriculum and work in areas that the students are interested in.”

Wood provided music to be played at the upcoming workshops in an mp3 format, which was burned onto CDs and given to each student.

“He asked them to practice with the CDs, which is quite different than the way most music teachers normally tackle teaching students how to play,” said Showers. “A lot of guitar players do it that way. What we’re doing is merging my more academic side with Mark’s wider version of the way people learn music by listening. I think it’s a fantastic educational opportunity.”

The Electrify Your Strings program teaches students improvisation, composition and personal expression on their instruments, which goes beyond traditional approaches.

“In languages, we start to speak way before we start writing it, and music is a language skill,” said Wood. “I want to make sure that those both go hand in hand, instead of the cliché classical world in which they teach you just reading, but not creative thought and original ideas from your instrument.”

After a 30-year career as a professional musician, the Juilliard trained performer wants to invest in the next generation. He also wants to integrate a broad range of music into the education experience, as well as draw from his own rock ’n’ roll background.

“Classical music, every day, becomes more irrelevant as we speak,” says Wood, pointing to the lack of interest in classical music and the demise of symphony orchestras. “For me it’s not only just reaching out in an alternative style, but also to be there when everything starts to crumble to help hold music education together so it doesn’t rely solely on classical music formula for its health.”

The response and success of Electrify Your Strings have surprised him.

“It’s just exploding,” said Wood. “We’re booked solid for the next two years, so we’re doing something right.”

Tickets for the concert are $15. They can be purchased through the EDSS student activities office at 519-669-5414, from students taking part in the program, or at Sherwood Music and Music Plus in Kitchener.

More information about the program is available at www.electrifyyourstrings.com.