Home School String Orchestra

Phone: (864) 235-1880

E-mail: ringenberg9@juno.com

Who: Mrs. Donna Ringenberg

Mrs. Ringenberg is a BJU music education graduate with 25 years teaching experience in private and group instruction. Her teaching experience extends to homes, churches and schools. She has also attended several years of Suzuki teacher training workshops, so she is experienced in the traditional and Suzuki methods of teaching. She has homeschooled her own children for 18 years. Mrs. Ringenberg has performed in the BJU Orchestra, the Foothills Philharmonic, and in churches and weddings. Her daughter Rebekah assists her. Rebekah graduated from BJU with a Children's Ministries major and a heavy concentration in music. She plays the violin, viola, piano and organ.

Where: Pecknel Music, Pleasantburg Drive here in Greenville, SC (across from Bob Jones University).

When: Every Thursday from 11:00 a.m. - 11:45 A.M. Sometimes, they may need to switch days (i.e. October 2: they will be involved in an orchestral rehearsal on Wednesday that week), but will notify the students of any dates in advance.

Why: To enable home school students to have the opportunity to play together and perform. Studies have shown that there are musical abilities learned in a group setting that are not possible in a private lesson. Children who play a musical instrument (practice) and who are involved in a group experience are SMARTER according to statistics!!

Cost: $10/month [make payable to Pecknel Music Company]

Mrs. Ringenberg states:

“We will be playing Christmas music this semester, and are considering a program for a mid-winter concert. Since Christmas is such a busy time of year, in lieu of a formal Christmas concert this year, we will be playing for a retirement home, or nursing home on a Thursday morning in December. I would like to have a concert in February at Pecknel, and we will have our regular end of the year program with my other groups in May at the Bob Jones Academy auditorium.

We play hymn arrangements, classical and fiddle music. We work on tone production, tuning your instrument, learning to "makeup" your own tunes, theory and ear training and occasionally we have a listening lesson (learning about a composer and time period.)

For those advanced students, we have challenging music for you, and we also have some easier music for the beginners and intermediate level students. The class is best if you have at least 6 months experience on your instrument.