Orcas Island Chamber Music Festival (OICMF) collaborated with Orcas Island School District (OISD) to bring professional musicians, Iwo Jedynecki and Karolina Mikolajczyk, into school on Thursday, March 12, 2026, to provide master classes for Strings students from grades 4 through 12.
OISD high school and the middle school strings ensembles performed the following weekend in competition at Western Washington University’s ASTA competition. Part of Karolina and Iwo’s master classes helped to refine the competition pieces. Iwo & Karolina guided the students around the measures, asking them to repeat tricky phrases, and the students followed and responded beautifully. Karolina explained that the sound comes from the shoulder to the bow to the instrument and showed the students how to relax the bow arm. Iwo conducted the students and offered them both support and affirmation. It was a marvelous and inspiring experience!
The Music Advocacy Group (MAG) applauds the generosity of OICMF and Iwo and Karolina in creating this fabulous opportunity to support public school music on Orcas Island!
Music Advocacy Group 