ANDOVER, Mass.—The Phillips Academy Music Department and the Lawrence Family Development Charter School will present a Pops Concert to benefit the Andover/Lawrence String Program at 7 p.m. Wednesday, April 27, in Cochran Chapel.

The concert will feature the Phillips Academy Chamber Orchestra and students of the Andover/Lawrence String Program. The program will include Copland's Rodeo and Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 5, "Emperor," featuring Luis '05. The program also will include a performance by students from the Andover/Lawrence String Program. This concert is in memory of William B. Clift, chair of the music department from 1960-1975.

Begun with an Abbot Academy Association grant and now in its eighth year, the Andover/Lawrence Strings Program brings together 40 inner-city youngsters and 30 PA student musicians to study music, as well as life's possibilities. Founders are William Thomas, PA director of performance and instructor of music, and Carmen Schumann, head of school (lower school) of the Lawrence Family Development Charter School. Co-leaders are Carina '05, Amy '05 and Ian '05.

"What the Lawrence children do here will have a profound effect on their lives," says Thomas. "First, they're taking up an instrument and learning the language of music from Andover student tutors. But just as important is the drive from their school to PA. It gives them a vision of where they might go and who they might be."

Each fall, Thomas visits the Lawrence school and talks to third graders about the program. The school sends a letter home to parents, explaining the necessary commitment and travel. There is always enormous interest, even though students must agree to attend every Wednesday throughout the school year and to practice regularly. At the end of fall and winter terms, performance workshops are held, followed by a formal recital for parents and friends at the end of the school year.

"These punctuate their work in an important way and motivate them," says Thomas. The mentoring relationship that develops between the children and their tutors is the key to the program's success.

A 17-year old musician from Haverhill, Mass., featured performer Luis is a senior at Phillips Academy and studies piano, violin, and composition at the New England Conservatory Prep School in Boston. He has won several piano competitions, appeared on the From The Top radio show in Jordan Hall and performed as a soloist with the New England Philharmonic and the Phillips Academy Chamber Orchestra. He plans to study piano and theory at a conservatory next year.

Donations will be accepted at the door. Suggested admission is $10; students $1. For more information, call the Phillips Academy Music Department at 978-749-4263 or Liz Rosario, Lawrence Family Development Charter School, at 978-689-9863.