Twenty-two talented strings students from the Bermuda School of Music are diligently preparing for their upcoming tour of Boston, during which their busy itinerary will include performances with Suzuki students from the Longy School of Music, the Powers Music School, and Project STEP.

During their four-day visit, the group will also take part in a 'Working with the Masters' programme conducted by members of the Boston Symphony, as well as performing for patients at the Boston Children's Hospital.

The tour, for which the students have been helping to fund-raise themselves, will be a first for most, and something they are viewing with a mixture of excitement and a little nervousness.

There is no doubt, however, that they will arrive well prepared as they present a programme of mainly classical music, including works by Bach, Mozart, Vivaldi, Handel and Shostakovich, as well as fiddle tunes such as the 'Orange Blossom Special', and a very special arrangement of 'Bermuda is Another World' all of which they play from memory.

The students, aged seven to 15, many of whom have been studying the violin or cello from age four, are part of the Bermuda School of Music's classical strings group, and have been performing together for the past four years. They have undertaken similar tours around Bermuda, as well as one to Ann Arbor, Michigan. The local tours each consisted of six performances throughout a single day, while the Michigan schedule was similar to that for Boston.

The musicians have been practicing hard since they successfully auditioned in June 2009, and are being taught by BSM faculty David France, Lisa Hollis, Laura Springham, and Jennifer Sheridan. The initial once-monthly rehearsals have now been stepped up considerably as departure day draws near.

While the overseas performance schedule is a very busy one, it also includes such fun activities as a visit to a violin shop, Boston's famed Fenway Park, and the New England Aquarium.

"Directly after arriving in Boston and checking into our hotel, we head straight to Boston Symphony Hall, which is just a street away, to perform with students from the Longy School of Music and Powers Music School, and the next morning we play for the Boston Children's Hospital, which is very excited to have us," Chas Arnold, Suzuki development co-ordinator and BSM string teacher, says.

"The next day there is a tour of Fenway Park, master classes with some members of the Boston Symphony, plus a guided tour of the concert hall, and that night we go back to Symphony Hall to hear the Boston Symphony play. Our first two days are packed.

"On the third day we will visit the Aquarium and tour a violin shop, and that evening we will return to the Symphony Hall to play with Project STEP, which prepares musically gifted African-American and Latino students for careers in classical music. Each group is going to perform for the other, and then we will all play together."

The students will wrap up their performance schedule with a concert at Faneuil Hall on the morning of day four, and they will travel home on the fifth. In addition to their teachers, the group will be accompanied by the parents of all but four of the students.

Among them, she assumes, is the mother of seven-year-old Isabella Battiston, the youngest and smallest of the students, who plays an eighth-size violin, and has been studying the instrument from the age of four. Her teacher is Laura Springham.

"I think my mommy will definitely go because she is so worried about me, but she doesn't know how safe I am going to be," says Isabella. "First of all, there are all the teachers, and second, there are all the kids, and this is a group, so I am not going to get lost."

As self-assured and poised as she is, Isabella is also resigned to the fact that, as the youngest, she will "get the most attention, so everyone all the teachers will want to hold my hand".

"My teacher doesn't know how safe I would be if she wasn't there, but that's okay. She's really great."

Little Miss Personality Plus also wants to set the record straight about her non-musical interests. She doesn't like Barbie, Hannah Montana and those other girly things. Instead, she likes fairies and dinosaurs, and wants to be a palaeontologist when she grows up.

Twelve-year-old David Darrell has been studying the violin for seven years, and is taught by David France. It is thanks to young David's brother that he became interested in taking up the instrument at age five.

"At school my brother had to play the violin, and I thought that was cool, so I took it up when I went to Purvis Primary. It was the first school to have the BSM programme, and I was in the first group to play and be taught by Mr. France," he says proudly.

Asked what it is like performing in a group, David says concentration is key.

"When you have sheet music you can't take your eyes off the music at any time to look at your notes. You need to be good enough to memorise all your notes. Sight reading is big, so you have to be able to play each note, and also know whether it is piano or forte. When you get into it, it's fun. You can play just about any music jazz, fado, freestyle …"

Like his fellow Suzuki students, David thinks the method is a good one, and is now on Book 3 of the ten-book syllabus.

The Warwick Academy student is "very excited" about the Boston tour, as it will be his first time going overseas to play the violin.

"Mostly, I like to play by myself," he says. "The sound is just coming from me, and that really shows me how good I am and how far I have progressed in music."

His favourite composers are Handel and Bach and, of the tour's musical programme Handel's 'Bourree' is his favourite piece.

David's sporting interests are track and field and cross-country. His siblings are also musical, with one brother playing the drums, another piano, and a third also planning to take up an instrument.

As for the tour itself, the student violinist admits he is "a bit nervous".

"It is my first time going, and I want to feel what it is like to play in front of people I have never seen before. Just going out there and having the experience is a good thing," he says.

Thirteen-year-old Kilian Rentrup began studying the violin at age six.

"My mother always tells me that I was really pushing to play the violin, but she wasn't sure because nobody in our family had played it before. However, I stuck with it. My teacher is Lisa Hollis, and I have one solo lesson a week plus a group lesson."

A veteran of the Michigan tour, Kilian knows what to expect, and says that after seven years of playing the violin he won't be nervous at all.

"Once you start playing in front of an audience it just comes naturally," he assures.

Now on Book 5 of the Suzuki curriculum, Kilian says membership in the group requires having reached a specific level, passing an audition, faithfully attending rehearsals, and being able to sight read.

The Bermuda School of Music, a not-for-profit registered charity, has been providing music education to the Island since 1978. With over 1200 students, its aims to provide community music programmes for students of all ages, and in areas of need.

The tour is generously being sponsored by Miles Market,the Bermuda Suzuki Association, and Shar Products.

n The group will give a public 'Bon Voyage' concert at Devonshire Church on October 24 at 4 p.m. Admission is free, but donations will be gratefully received.