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Praise him with trumpet sound; praise him with lute and harp!
Praise him with tambourine and dance; praise him with strings and pipe!
Praise him with sounding cymbals; praise him with loud clashing cymbals!
Let everything that has breath praise the Lord! Praise the Lord!
Psalm 150: 3-6

If you walk the halls of Rockbridge in the early morning, you’re likely to hear string music wafting around the corners. Depending on the day, it might be a group of young cello students playing Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, a class of small violinists working out a scale, or an orchestra rehearsing Beethoven. With violin and cello classes beginning in early grammar school grades, and three separate orchestras all the way through high school, there is string music everywhere at Rockbridge, if you know where to look for it.

Rockbridge’s instrumental program started small, but it has grown and thrived through the vision and untiring work of those who began it. Irma Cripe and Liz Horst answer some questions about the program: where it came from, how it works, and where it might be headed. Mrs. Cripe is the founder and director of the Instrumental Program at Rockbridge, and Mrs. Horst came two years later to work and teach alongside her.

How did the instrumental music program at Rockbridge Academy first get started?
In 2001, the Rockbridge choral program was founded and thriving, under the direction of Jan Horst. Years later, Headmaster Mike McKenna had the idea to start an instrumental music program. We inquired across the school to find out how many students were already taking private instrumental lessons. From the replies, we realized we could pull together a small ensemble to be featured in the 2007 Variety Show as a “teaser.” The idea was for other parents to get excited about the possibility of having their children learn to play an instrument at Rockbridge. In that 2007 Variety Show, we performed an arrangement of Grieg’s “In the Hall of the Mountain King,” and it was an enormous success.  

We hoped to continue cultivating that ensemble for students who already played an instrument, including strings, winds, and percussion (there has always been a lot of talent in our school!), while starting a full-blown Suzuki Strings program to develop new players from the ground up. You really can’t have an orchestra program without a lot of strings!

At the beginning of the fall of 2007, we sent out flyers to all grammar school parents, inviting them to come learn about the Suzuki program. We also arranged for Potter’s Violins to bring to our school a large contingency of instruments to rent.  That way, parents could rent their student’s instrument right on the spot. We had an incredible turnout, and 41 new string students signed up that evening for Suzuki violin and cello group lessons at school.

That first year, Irma Cripe (cellist) had to learn how to play the violin in order to teach these classes; she shared that it was quite challenging, but very fun!  By the fall of 2009, it became clear that the program was growing, and we needed to hire a violinist. This is when Liz Horst came along.

What challenges have you faced, and how has the Lord worked through them? 
Once we had such a successful enrollment that first year, an immediate parade of logistical challenges followed. Scheduling classes, rehearsals, and Suzuki lessons was complicated because we had to work around academics and other extracurricular activities. This is how, little by little, the program became a before-school activity, to avoid scheduling and logistic conflicts as much as possible. The other biggest challenge has always been space, particularly back in the years when we were in two separate rented locations, at Baldwin Memorial United Methodist Church and GIBC. So, we can see how the Lord has been so gracious to our school by providing a large, delightful building. Yet, even after we moved into the Evergreen campus, we found that there were still logistical and scheduling issues to be resolved. And every time we are faced with a new challenge, the Lord always provides another beautiful answer.

What is the vision of the instrumental music program?
According to Johann Sebastian Bach, “The aim and final end of all music should be none other than the glory of God and the refreshment of the soul.” Music is a common grace gift of God, through which students can glorify him, refresh their spirits, and share his beauty with others. Our program aims to nurture the growth and enjoyment of our students as they learn to play a string instrument.

Any school program is a living entity that changes as the student body and community grow. Regardless of what the instrumental program at Rockbridge might look like in 20 years, our hope is to introduce students to God’s gracious gift of music. The ultimate goal is to serve the community through well-prepared concerts for the enjoyment of listeners and performers alike, and to delight together in God’s beauty.

Why teach children to play a musical instrument?
There are many reasons to study an instrument, and here are just a few:
Music enhances academic ability. Much has been written about the correlation between music and math, as well as music and reading. 
Music helps train life skills. Through the process of learning an instrument, students develop posture and poise; they practice teamwork and performance skills; and they learn to understand and appreciate music.
The study of music builds character. Learning an instrument requires discipline, perseverance, and patience through daily practice over many years. Students have to wrestle with failure and frustration, while working for a perfection that seems always beyond reach. In some ways, the process of learning an instrument mirrors our Christian daily walk–failing, asking for forgiveness, studying the Word, and keeping Christ and his perfect beauty always before our eyes.
And the best reason of all, the ultimate goal of our music classes, is to equip students to become skillful, joyful worshipers of our Lord. Students who know the language of music and love it, can better sing and play to the glory of God, who shows us some of His own beauty through music.

By making music with a group of fifteen other musicians, or forty other musicians, depending on the concert, I have contributed to something greater than myself. Playing in an orchestra has provided a time to worship the Lord with my peers, to offer up the beautiful work of our hands, and to magnify God's name with many sounds and instruments. I'm so grateful for all the time I've been able to have in Rockbridge's orchestras. ~Olivia

What advice do you have for young families with an aspiring string player?
The most important advice we could give to beginning families is to make a firm commitment for at least a full year, through ups and downs. To quote E. A. Guest, “rest if you must, but don’t you quit.”

Mrs. Cripe is able to teach all kinds of people: young and old, hard working and not hard working, wise and foolish, tall and small, helpful and unhelpful, forgetful and rememberful, respectful and disrespectful, confident and shy, happy and sad, violinist and cellist...and violist! My favorite performance was the 2024 Christmas concert, when we got to accompany Olivia, and we got to play on the stage! ~Savannah

How does the Suzuki method of learning fit the classical model?
The Suzuki method fits beautifully with the classical learning model.  It is based on the premise that students learn music the way they learn a language or any other skill–step by step, through listening, watching, repeating, and memorizing. They gain facility with the basic patterns, terms, and concepts of music in the grammar years, preparing them to develop a more advanced understanding of music theory and music performance in the dialectic and rhetoric stages.

I learned that I don't need to take all the corrections personally. I don't get offended anymore. I just like making the music. ~Emmett

How did Strings Summer Serenade get started?
At the end of the first year of the strings program, it became evident that the students needed some fun activity in the summer to encourage them to continue practicing and growing in their skill. We scheduled a week in July with the goal of having fun playing music together.  We would review what we had learned (review! review! review!) and learn some new and accessible music.  The week was very successful, and that’s how Strings Summer Serenade was born. The camp currently draws between 40-50 students every summer from Rockbridge and outside our community.  It is a summer highlight for many of the students. What to join us this summer? Register HERE!

The first year I did Strings Summer Serenade I was very excited to see what music we would play. When I looked at the music, I was very worried that I could never do it…but at the end of the concert, I remember being so thankful for all the work [Mrs. Cripe] put in to make it happen and for the encouragement that [she] gave me to learn and enjoy the music! ~Geneva

Do you allow homeschooled students in the orchestras?
From the beginning of our instrumental programs, homeschooled students have been an integral part of the orchestra’s growth. An orchestra always gains beauty and strength from having more string players, so there is always room for more.  And it is convenient that rehearsals occur early in the morning before school starts, when there are no scheduling conflicts.

I really enjoy the experience of being able to do something that I can’t do on my own. Being live and being connected to the source of the wonderful music taught to us as a group is an unforgettable experience. I feel that it has also challenged me and has led to my progression as a musician. I am blessed to be part of such a wonderful group of people with a similar love of music. ~Katie 

Irma Cripe is the founder and director of the instrumental music program at Rockbridge Academy. She directs both the Scots and Camerata orchestras. She and her husband, Max (also a fellow musician), have two Rockbridge graduates from the class of 2014 and 2019. 

Liz Horst is the Evergreen orchestra director and the Suzuki Strings violin teacher at Rockbridge Academy. She and her husband, Justin (Class of 2004), have three children.