By LINDA KELLETT

C-S-E News Staff

CANAJOHARIE — It was a wedding of classical, operatic and folk music traditions, and strings were the common denominator as conductor Leo Milman set the tempo for the annual Summer Strings concert at Arkell Museum Aug. 1.

The performance by string students from a three-county area and their teachers began with Mozart’s “Marriage of Figaro” and included pieces by Bela Bartok and John Rutter, among others.

Milman, who has led the string program at Canajoharie middle and high schools for the last 10 years, said the Summer Strings program was initiated in 2005 by his friend, Robert Gosselink, a retired music professor from Cobleskill who created the program as part of the Windfall Dutch Barn programs in Salt Springville.

He said Gosselink “made an initiative and organized it and invited me to become a music director.”

Although Gosselink is not currently involved and the program has moved away from the Dutch barn, it still exists. Milman directs it musically and administratively.

A classically trained musician who earned his music degree in Belarus, Milman studied with one of the most highly regarded professors of the former Soviet Union, who “tried to pass traditions of Russian music to me,” Milman said. “That’s what I’m trying to teach these kids. I take music very, very seriously.”

He said the concept behind the Summer Strings program was to provide an opportunity for serious string students in Schoharie, Fulton and Montgomery counties to play in a larger group. “In a sense, it’s a tri-county orchestra,” Milman said, noting that the Canajoharie School District has the only string program in the region. Most of the string programs are in Central New York or the Capital District.

“What I think is unique about this program compared others like it is the students receive summer instruction from professional teachers and also have the opportunity to perform with professional teachers as section leaders,” he added.

His aim is for the students to play music that was originally written for a string orchestra, not just an arrangement or adjustment of the original score.

“That presents a challenge,” Milman said, noting that students have to be at a certain level of proficiency — at least meeting the New York State School Music Association’s Level IV standard — in order to participate in the orchestra.

Most of the students are already serious about their music education, he said. “This program provides them with challenging music, material that they wouldn’t have gotten otherwise,” he explained.

Auditions take place at the Canajoharie High School in mid-June, with the program starting as soon as school is over. Milman issues news releases in order to alert potential out-of-area students about the auditions.

Each summer normally features two performances. One is held at the Arkell Museum, which provides facilities for two rehearsals. Milman looks for different venues for the other season performance.

His first objective is to serve the local community by bringing the string music to Canajoharie. He also strives “to promote that culture, which I believe is underdeveloped in this part of the state.”

Milman said three additional concerts, featuring the talents of five members of the Dunn family, of Fort Plain, will be held this month. The first will take place on Sunday, with two additional performances at the end of the month.