Revere’s orchestra director organized a joint event between schools and local businesses to improve the concert atmosphere for the orchestra’s annual holiday concert.
Strings and Shops is the new twist on Revere’s holiday orchestra concert. Joshua Bowman—Revere’s orchestra director—organized the event, which took place on December 7 from 6 PM to 9 PM in the high school auditorium. Twelve local vendors set up shop in the cafeteria, with the elementary, middle and high school orchestras all performing throughout the evening.
Bowman—who directs the orchestras in the elementary, middle and high schools— explained his motivation for organizing the event.
“We’re just adding this little aspect [of the shops] to it. Around the holiday season, maybe people are looking for good places to get gifts. And all the vendors donated to our program. . . . So I figured maybe we can make some money for some local businesses,” Bowman said.
Bowman said that setting up the event took a while, between sending many emails and much communication.
“It’s the first time I’ve done it, so planning it [was a lot of work]. Next year it will be a lot easier,” Bowman said.
The elementary orchestras performed at seven, and the middle and high school orchestras performed at eight. Each orchestra spent months preparing for this wintry-themed concert.
“We’ve been working . . . on all of our songs to get ready to play . . . since the start of the year,” Bowman said.
Revere resident Sonal Jain and vendor of Chamak Dhamak—an Indian home decor and gift shop—explained how she learned about Strings and Shops.
“My friends told me their kids are in the orchestra today. They were like ‘you should do it. It’s gonna be fun,’” Jain said.
Sarah Kapitan, who owns Pickle Patch Acres, a homemade jam and jelly business, often has a stand at the local farmers market and was a vendor at Strings and Shops. Along with Jain, she has children attending Revere.
“[We can] make [Strings and Shops] bigger. More vendors, make it a destination spot,” Kapitan said.
Both vendors said they would plan on coming back next year. Bowman aims to continue Strings and Shops in the future. This school year, the orchestra also has concerts on February 29 and May 16.
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