Orchestral Strings

The orchestra department has been taught by Mrs. Susan Ott Rodberg since 1996.  Since then, the orchestra has grown from just a handful of students to a of almost 200 students!  

The Strings Program includes all kindergarten and first grade students who get to experience what it is like to play a violin in their half-year strings class that is on the Fine Arts Wheel. Students who show great interest, natural ability and ability to follow directions on the violin are invited to join our "El Sistema"-inspired program. This program is taught every day before and/or after school. Kindergarten through Third Grade String students are separated into two orchestras, the Vivaldi Orchestra and the Beethoven Orchestra. The Vivaldi Orchestra students learn to play violin by rote/ear and learn correct posture and position on the instrument.  As they grow musically, they are integrated into the Beethoven Orchestra, where they can choose to play violin, viola, cello or string bass. They learn to read simple music and learn to play in harmony. If students are not invited in the younger grade levels, they have the opportunity to join the Strings Department in second grade and join the Beethoven Orchestra in third grade.  

String students in fourth and fifth grade can join the UBK Orchestra and/or the UBK String Ensemble for their UBK Studio Class. Depending on the Studio, these students are playing at an Upper Elementary, Middle School to High School level. They perform around Palm Beach County. Every year we take an annual trip farther away, sometimes out of the state of Florida, to compete in a Music Festival with other schools from around the world.  

Students in all of the orchestras play at least two annual major concerts with the other music groups at UBK (Band, Chorus and Piano). There are also other performance opportunities depending on which group the children are in, and the availability of venues  Follow us #ubkstrings.