Parents, students urge Niskayuna district to restore Chamber Strings and preserve symphony instrumentation

Parents, recent graduates and students told the Niskayuna Central School District Board of Education on Aug. 12 that the district should restore the Chamber Strings class and preserve wind and brass participation in the high school symphony.

At the board's public session, student speaker Sean Calhoun described the Chamber Strings experience as "a really enriching experience," and said recent changes seemed to remove brass and winds from the symphony orchestra, leaving "just an additional string orchestra." Parent Jed Pack said Chamber Strings had been "an island of joy" for his daughter and asked the board to keep the program available. Recent graduate Kyle Markham told the board he had gained leadership and community-outreach opportunities through Chamber Strings and urged the district to find a way to run the class and to "allow the brass and wind players to continue to join with the string players at Symphony."

Superintendent Carl Mumtay told the board the district had removed Chamber Strings because of "very low demand" and "very low enrollment" and said enrollment in that ensemble had been "either 4 or 5 students for the entire ensemble." He said course offerings and staffing decisions are driven by enrollment and personnel, and that district music staff are working to rebuild participation by placing ensembles in the school day at the middle level. Mumtay said Jess Moore and Eric Hughes, the director of music, were working with faculty to explore options before the start of the year.

The superintendent said the administration remains "committed to our music program" and highlighted longer-term investments in middle-school ensembles and facilities intended to boost student numbers and create demand for high-school ensembles.

Board materials and the superintendent's report indicate the administration is continuing to meet with music department staff and will reassess scheduling and staffing as course-selection and staffing work concludes before the school year.

If the district takes further staffing or course-offering action, that would appear in future board agendas and staff reports.