ADDISON COUNTY — The Vermont Symphony Orchestra’s “DrumShtick” percussion trio will visit three area schools on June 12: Salisbury Community School at 9 a.m., Bingham Memorial School in Cornwall at 10:45 a.m. and Shoreham Elementary School at 1:30 p.m. These performances are made possible by Neat Repeats.
“DrumShtick” is always a big hit in schools. Brian Johnson, Nic Cannizzaro and Mike Laven are all excellent performers with years of experience turning kids on to classical music. Their show is called “Percussion Means the World to Us,” and it explores a culturally diverse repertoire and includes demonstrations of non-Western instruments.  Through their sometimes zany humor they introduce children both to general musical concepts and to the family of percussion instruments.
These performances are part of the Vermont Symphony Orchestra’s statewide SymphonyKids education program, which reached over 20,000 schoolchildren last year with 262 presentations serving 131 schools in 114 different towns. The VSO’s traveling ensembles visit all corners of the state as part of an outreach program known as the Lois H. McClure “Musicians-in-the-Schools” Program.