Academy second and third graders enjoyed a field trip to Orchestra Hall at the Max M. Fisher Music Center on Friday to experience the Detroit Symphony Orchestra's Educational Concert Series, Symphonic Fusion: The Orchestra Family at Work. The concert featured works by Shostakovich, Khachaturian, Grieg and Copland, but perhaps the students' favorite was John Williams' Star Wars Medley. Conductor Thomas Wilkins, a champion of music education, had the opportunity to hear an orchestra himself for the first time when he was eight and "fell in love." Today he relishes the chance to explain the wonders of classical music to children.

GPA fourth and fifth graders had the opportunity to experience the symphony as well late in April.