The first three days of this week were spent with my colleagues Shin-young Kwon, Sarah Roth, Trevor Fitzpatrick, and Jason Schooler, playing Kinderkonzerts in three different area elementary schools: Lents Elementary in outer SE Portland, Penisula Elementary in North Portland, and Lincoln Street School in Hillsboro. We played three 30 minute concerts at each school, and got to reach hundreds of kids between kindergarten and grade two. There were also a few home-schooled neighborhood kids who were brought in by their parents to see the programs as well. During the rest of the season the other sections of the orchestra (brass, woodwind, and percussion) will revisit the same schools, giving these young children an introduction to the instruments of the orchestra, and hopefully instilling in them the germ of a seed of curiosity about making music and learning an instrument. It truly is building the future.