It’s official: String Jam ’10 set the world record for the largest string ensemble.

Back on April 10, nearly four hundred string musicians from around the region gathered at the Juanita High School Field House in Kirkland to attempt to set a Guinness World Record for the largest string ensemble under one roof. In compliance with the stringent requirements set by Guinness World Records™, the event was videotaped, documented, and monitored by over twenty designated observers who were posted throughout the performance area.

Today, staff from Guinness World Records awarded String Jam ’10 formal certification that the event had indeed set the world record for largest string ensemble.

String Jam ’10 organizer Paula C. Ferguson, who is Orchestra Director at Redmond High School and Redmond Junior High School, was enthused that her students had helped to set a Guinness World Record.

“Most of the members of our String Jam ensemble were public school orchestra students,” Ferguson said. “Now they have seen that the sky is the limit. Particularly for our elementary age musicians who are just starting out, I hope this record will inspire them and keep them involved in our school music programs all the way through high school graduation. After all, if you set a Guinness World Record when you’re nine years old, imagine what you can do!”

Ferguson was inspired to dream up a world record attempt after her high school orchestra students successfully auditioned for the chance to perform at Carnegie Hall in New York City in May 2009. After a successful debut in New York City, Ferguson returned to think about ways to get younger students as excited about music as her high school students had been about performing at Carnegie Hall.

String Jam ’10 built on the strong music programs in place at schools throughout the Lake Washington School District (LWSD). Ferguson noted that, just this spring, the Redmond Junior High School Advanced Orchestra won first place at the Music in the Parks Festival in Kent, Washington; the Redmond High School String Orchestra placed first at the Silverwood, Idaho Music Festival; and the Redmond High School Chamber Orchestra placed third at the Northwest Orchestra Festival in Gresham, Oregon.

“We have excellent music programs in our district,” Ferguson said, “and student musicians who inspire me every day. String Jam gave them, and community musicians of all ages, the chance to come together and have fun with their music in a very non-traditional way.”

The String Jam ’10 world record attempt was followed by a showcase performances by six-string electric violinist Geoffrey Castle; The Bottom Line Duo, a bass/cello husband-and-wife team that includes Spencer and Traci Hoveskeland; and several advanced student ensembles playing jazz and other non-traditional pieces on string instruments.

String Jam ’10 was presented by the Redmond Region Orchestra Boosters (a non-profit parent group that supports school orchestra programs), and the LWSD. String Jam was sponsored by Classical KING-FM and the City of Redmond Arts Commission. The event raised just over $7,000 for Lake Washington School District orchestra programs.

For more information on the Redmond Region Orchestra Boosters, visit www.redmondorchestras.org.

For more information on the Lake Washington School District, go to www.lwsd.org.