FOR INTERACTIVE PERFORMANCES OF LINK UP: THE ORCHESTRA SINGS

These music education performances continue Sinfonia’s 20th anniversary season celebration

On Wednesday, March 11, the Destin-Fort Walton Beach Convention Center in Fort Walton Beach, Florida, transformed into a vibrant concert hall as Sinfonia Gulf Coast presented two performances of its annual Link Up concert program, The Orchestra Sings, in partnership with Carnegie Hall’s Weill Music Institute.

As the only fully professional orchestra in the region, Sinfonia Gulf Coast continues its commitment to expanding music education across the community. The 2026 Link Up performances are also part of Sinfonia Gulf Coast’s 20th anniversary celebration, marking two decades of innovative programming and impactful arts education initiatives throughout Northwest Florida.

This interactive musical experience welcomed nearly 2,500 third through fifth grade students from Okaloosa and Walton counties, who performed on recorders and sang alongside the professional musicians of Sinfonia Gulf Coast.

Through months of classroom preparation, students learn to read music, play the recorder and explore the fundamental elements of melody, harmony, rhythm and expression before joining the orchestra for this culminating performance.

The Link Up: The Orchestra Sings program explores how melodies are created and how different musical lines work together to form harmony and texture. Students discover how composers use melody and lyrics to tell stories, how voices and instruments blend within an orchestra and how musical ideas evolve through collaboration. During the performance, students actively participate by singing, moving to the music and performing recorder parts alongside the orchestra, transforming the concert into a powerful shared musical experience.

Reflecting on the event, Sinfonia Gulf Coast Music & Artistic Director Demetrius Fuller shared, “Link Up is my favorite concert of the year. While it may be the loudest concert we present all year, it’s also one of the most joyful. Often it’s the only music education many of these children receive, so it’s incredibly important that we continue to support special programs like this.”

The annual Link Up concert is also a live example of Sinfonia Gulf Coast realizing its mission to champion music education in the local community. By bringing students, educators and professional musicians together in a shared performance experience, the program demonstrates how music education can inspire creativity, confidence and collaboration among young learners.

Proceeds from Sinfonia Gulf Coast events and donor support benefit Sinfonia Gulf Coast’s music education and community engagement initiatives throughout Northwest Florida, including musicians and guest artists in schools, free orchestra concerts, student transportation, the Sinfonia Youth Orchestra, Link Up concerts in partnership with Carnegie Hall, Paint the Music (with Mattie Kelly Arts Foundation), Arts in Medicine with Sacred Heart Hospital and more.

Sinfonia’s Link Up program is made possible through generous support from the St. Joe Community Foundation, the Dugas Family Foundation and the Emeril Lagasse Family Foundation. Additional funding from Sinfonia Gulf Coast’s Crescendo! annual fundraiser, Treble Makers (an honorary membership committee of Crescendo!) and community donors has allowed Link Up to grow into Sinfonia’s largest education initiative.

For more information on Sinfonia Gulf Coast, visit SinfoniaGulfCoast.org, call (850) 460-8800 or e-mail info@sinfoniagulfcoast.org.

ABOUT SINFONIA GULF COAST Sinfonia Gulf Coast was founded in 2005 on Florida’s Northwest Gulf Coast with the mission of redefining the symphony experience. Under the guidance of founder and Music Director Demetrius Fuller and a dedicated board of directors, the nonprofit orchestra is in its 20th season of innovative musical programming, designed to entertain, educate and inspire the community. Since its founding, Sinfonia Gulf Coast has presented more than 700 concerts and events that have reached over 500,000 patrons, has collaborated with numerous nonprofits and businesses throughout the community and has reached more than 250,000 children through its Sinfonia Guest Artists in the Schools program/music education outreach initiatives. For more information on Sinfonia Gulf Coast, visit SinfoniaGulfCoast.org, call (850) 460-8800 or e-mail info@sinfoniagulfcoast.org.

SINFONIA GULF COAST WELCOMES NEARLY 2,500 STUDENTS