By Susie Chen
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More than 100 orchestra students from Zionsville and Carmel will gather tomorrow at Zionsville Community High School to participate in the first ever Violin Day, a collaboration project between Carmel and Zionsville high schools.

Orchestra director Soo Han said, “It’s basically an entire day of music-making.” According to Han, Zionsville schools have previously hosted low-string day festivals, but not any particular days featuring violins.

“The Zionsville orchestra director, Susan Lyons, and I are really good friends. We felt like the violins were left out, and we wanted to get them involved, so we created Violin Day,” Han said. This is the first time this event has happened, and Han said he hopes it will continue in the future.

The day will consist of workshops, classes and performances. Matt Dickey, a violin player in Symphony and Camerata and senior, said, “I would like to learn different tips on technical and music processes while playing among great professionals of our day. I also want to learn new literature for violin that I have not seen before. I want to see top performing artists play their music as well.”

“We have some really neat things planned,” Han said. “The headliner for this event is a violinist called Rachel Barton-Pine. She’s an internationally renowned violinist and soloist. She’s coming here and going to do master classes with the students and perform some pieces.”

The students will also hear a performance from the IU Violin Virtuosi. “They, in their own right, have international performances and experiences. These are high school kids who have dedicated their lives to music and are learning through the university,” Han said.

Dickey said it is always exciting when it comes to meeting famous musicians. “They are always interesting and are never dull. It’s always great to work with great artists because they know their craft so well that they can explain it easily to aspiring young performers,” he said.

At the end of the event, the orchestra will perform two pieces, the “Telemann Violin Concerto for Four Violins” and the rock arrangement of “Vivaldi Winter.” The concert, which Han said he encourages everyone to attend, will begin at 4:30 p.m. at the Zionsville High School Performing Arts Center. The concert will be free but Han said that donations will be accepted.

“I think this is going to be an awesome opportunity for the players,” Han said. “I think too often students don’t get to experience the music scene outside Carmel but on Violin Day, they’ll be able to interact and get to know other students.”