Arts Magnet Students ‘Mesmerized’ by STARTS Performance

Boston-based Cordis performed in Lowell thanks to the STARTS program.

Students at Lowell’s J.G. Pyne Arts Magnet School were treated to “Rhythmic Conversations,” a one-hour performance by the Boston-based band Cordis recently. The group plays custom-made traditional and ethnic instruments to create a unique fusion of chamber music and post-rock.

The performance was part of UMass Lowell’s Center for Arts and Ideas’ Student & Teacher Arts (STARTS) program, which provides high-quality, performing arts experiences for K-8 students during the school day.

About 150 third-, fourth- and fifth-grade students, some of whom had participated in UMass Lowell’s String Project, were “mesmerized” by Cordis’ performance, says the school’s music teacher Valerie Cowart.

“The kids asked for an encore,” she says.