Wantagh Students Practice Fiddling For First Time Since COVID

WANTAGH, NY — Wantagh Middle School strings students performed for the first time as an ensemble since the COVID-19 pandemic by practicing their fiddling skills with Irish and Manx tunes over St. Patrick’s Day week, school district officials said in a news release.

The sessions, were socially distanced and were spread out over two days on March 16 and March 17, included students from the school’s 6th, 7th, and 8th grade classes. There were two performance opportunities to accommodate the class levels and to be able to maintain appropriate social-distancing protocols, said music teacher Courtney Miller.

During the outside morning performances, the students played the Irish tune, “The Cliffs of Moher” and the Manx ballad, “The Smuggler’s Lullaby.”

Miller said she set up “Fiddle Day” so that her orchestra students could “get motivated and excited about a performance opportunity this year.”

“Sixth graders have been asking all year when they will be able to play as an ensemble, so this was a way of finding a compromise,” she said.

Miller said fiddle tunes are a great way of reviewing basic string techniques, which is a focus during 6th grade lesson periods. But “Fiddle Day” was also open to 7th and 8th grade students, who have learned more advanced techniques such as time signatures, double stops and slides, she said.

Miller pulled off directing the performances with the assistance of high school orchestra teacher Dana Langer at rehearsals and elementary school teacher Eliza DellaMonica, who also joined in with the students, officials said.

After the performance, each of the students received a beaded shamrock necklace and the option to apply a temporary tattoo to their hands to mark their first performance together, officials said.

“It was a great way to start the morning, and the students and faculty really enjoyed hearing the live music,” Miller said.