Laird is an Instructor of Music and Fine Arts Coordinator at the North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics, where he directs the orchestra and teaches courses in recording technology, classical guitar, piano, and music history. He earned his B.S. in Music Education and his M. A. in Violin Performance from Indiana University of Pennsylvania. He is an active string educator, performer, recording artist, and conductor. His orchestras have been recognized at the local, regional, state, and national levels for their superior and musically mature performance. Additionally, he is the intermediate orchestra conductor during the summer sessions of the prestigious Interlochen Fine Arts Camp.
High school students from 17 counties across Western Pennsylvania will be participating in this festival, which features strings, brass, woodwind and percussion instruments. The students and their music teachers will be staying in the Indiana area through the event.
The festival concert will be held at 11:00 AM on Saturday, January 28. Tickets for the event are $5 and will be available at the door.
In addition to the festival concert, Pittsburgh's own Cello Fury will be returning to Indiana on Friday evening, January 27 to perform a concert from 6:30 - 7:30 PM for the attending students and all string students from the Indiana Area School District. A limited number of tickets will be made available to the general public for $10 per ticket. These tickets will be sold on a first-come, first-served basis. Please contact Julianne Laird at jlaird@iasd.cc to purchase tickets for this event.
Donations are also being accepted to assist with costs related to the festival, and any funds remaining will be used to purchase stringed instruments for IASD student use. Donations may be sent to Indiana Area Junior High School with the words, "Indie Strings" in the memo. The support of the Indiana community makes it possible to continue presenting quality string performances locally.
Questions about these events may be addressed to Julianne Laird, IASD Director of Orchestras, at jlaird@iasd.cc. You may also follow us on Twitter
