SAN BENITO — With a guitar, a fiddle and a bass, melodies were created to keep students of Dr. Raul Garza, Jr. STEAM Academy applauding Friday morning.
The Harlingen Concert Association brought Dan Miller’s Cowboy Revue to the elementary school starting at 9 a.m. as part of its educational outreach program.
The band interacted with students and gave information about cowboys and the history behind cowboy music as they played to the entire student population.
Principal Elsa Lambert said they try to bring musical and theatrical entertainment to their campus so children can be exposed to it.
“We were very excited and very pleased with their performance,” Lambert said.
The band performed for about an hour, singing songs such as “Ghost Riders in the Sky” and ending with “Happy Trails.”
After their performance, the group took pictures with the school population as well as individual photos with a few violin players and choir members.
Sean Gonzalez, 10, who is in fourth grade, said “Happy Trails” was his favorite song.
Gonzalez is in choir and said he hopes to be a singer when he gets older.
“I know they came all the way from Wyoming. This was the greatest performance at our school,” he said.
“I loved the part where we got to ask the questions,” Gonzalez said.
Isabela Pierce, 8, a third grader, said she is also in honor choir and enjoyed the performance.
“I just love the songs. I don’t usually listen to country a lot,” she said.
“I just wish the group good luck,” Pierce said.
Julie Ng-Castillo, Education Outreach chair for Harlingen Concert Association, said the organization always tries to do outreach programs.
“We feel very passionate about offering student outreach opportunities because many students have expressed to us it is their first time at a live performance,” she said.
“It is very important for students to be exposed to these types of opportunities because it gets them thinking about the world in different ways, it might inspire them to follow their own dreams,” Ng-Castillo said.
Wendy Corr, bass player and harmony vocalist, said the group has traveled around Texas for a while.
She said Dr. Raul Garza has been the second elementary they have visited.
“Today was very different. We were a lot closer to the kids and the school was so accommodating and pleased to have us,” Corr said.
“We love meeting the kids and seeing them get engaged. Those children who stand up and ask a question because they really want to know. ‘I wanna play music, how do I do that? How did you do that?’” she said.
“They really want to know, because they have dreams, too,” Corr said.
