When the curtain goes up in the Whitney Institute auditorium on Saturday night it will mark an important chapter in Bermuda's education history: The Middle School String Orchestra will be making its first-ever appearance.

Its 100 students aged ten to 13 have been drawn from the Island's five middle schools: Clearwater, Dellwood, Whitney Institute, Spice Valley and Sandys Secondary Middle School, and they students have been trained by five Menuhin Foundation teachers: Ewing Lauder, Melanie O'Brien, Ros Hanson, Kerry Haslam, Alison Johnstone and Kate Fraser, who will be playing alongside the students. The orchestra will be performing a short programme of light music.

Like formal orchestras, the students will be attired in black trousers and white blouses or shirts, with the boys also wearing a black bow tie.

"It was my idea to make them look like an orchestra," Middle Schools Association president Derek Tully says. "If they look like an orchestra they will play like an orchestra. It gives them confidence."

He also says that if this first event is successful, the public can look forward to more developments involving middle school students, such as a choir, special concerts, and more.

"We are building an identity for middle schools in the Island," Mr. Tully says. "The transition between primary and high school is a period of change and growth for children, and the identity of the middle school child is important. We light the fire in middle school and send them on to high school."

Speaking as chairman of the Bermuda National Education Council, Melvin Bassett says the advent of the Middle School String Orchestra is the second step in a three-part process to reactivate the Bermuda National Youth Orchestra, which existed in the 1980s under the direction of Mr. Kenneth Dill.

"We are anxious to get that moving again, so hopefully the string orchestra will take us a major step towards that goal. The first step was the Bermuda National Youth Jazz Ensemble, and the third step will be the merger of the two to form the Bermuda National Youth Orchestra."

Mr. Bassett describes these youth orchestras as "the best anti-drugs programme in the country".

"It is our goal to keep our young people off the street, get them engaged and involved in healthy and meaningful programmes such as this," he says.

In addition to the new string orchestra, Saturday's programme, whose focus is talented youth, will include performances by the Whitney Hand Bell Choir, the Bermuda National Youth Jazz Ensemble, and other outstanding youth artists.

Thanks to the assistance and support of the Ministries of Culture and Education, the local youngsters will be joined by special guests from New York: the Jazz Gents. These talented musicians will also present a mini concert for students of Berkeley Institute and CedarBridge Academy on Friday.

"The Jazz Gents are teenagers from New York high schools, and they are dynamite. In fact, they are internationally famous, and have a CD," Mr. Bassett, who is also principal of Sandys Secondary Middle School, says.

Saturday's concert will be under the patronage of former UBP Minister of Education the Hon. Gerald Simons and Mrs. Simons. It is the Middle School Association's way of honouring Mr. Simons' invaluable contribution to the ultimate inception of middle schools.

The concert will begin at 7 p.m. and tickets (patrons $20, general $15, students $10) are available from all middle schools. Funds will go towards the work of the Bermuda Middle School Association. All middle school teachers are being encouraged to become patrons of the concert.

"We hope to fill Whitney Institute with 400 people on Saturday - parents, teachers, students and anyone else who is interested," Mr. Tully says. "Is a young people's night but all are welcome."