POTSDAM -- Local children and teenagers are set to show off their musical growth, as the National String Project at SUNY Potsdam's Crane School of Music presents its final concert of the season on Wednesday, May 16. The free performance will take place at 5:45 p.m. in the Helen M. Hosmer Concert Hall.

This concert will feature area K-12 students playing violin, viola, cello, string bass and harp. Performing groups include two orchestras, a harp ensemble, beginning strings and a cello choir. The performance is an opportunity to cultivate interest in string playing.

The National String Project at Crane is part of a national consortium of string projects founded in collaboration with the American String Teachers Association. The project serves 30 communities around the nation.

The project is self-supported locally, thanks to the support of SUNY Potsdam and the local community. Its mission is to provide university interns with an authentic teaching opportunity while providing a vehicle through which community children can learn how to play a stringed instrument at a low tuition cost. All instruction is supervised by Crane faculty and is part of the intern's course of study.

This event is free, and the public is invited to attend.

The National String Project at The Crane School of Music will again offer group lessons for violin, viola, cello, bass and harp in the fall of 2012.

Please e-mail Jennifer Kessler at kesslejk@potsdam.edu or Nancy Conley at conleyns@potsdam.edu for more information about the program.

To keep track of the many community outreach programs offered at SUNY Potsdam's Crane School of Music, visit www.potsdam.edu/crane.