By MICHAEL T. BURKHART
Courier-Post Staff
HADDONFIELD

Ever since the Haddonfield Symphony went professional a decade ago, one of its most important missions has been teaching children to love music.

When the symphony started in 1953, it was a community orchestra. Today, education is the symphony's main thrust, said general manager Trevor Orthmann.

Symphony members travel across the tri-county region to stage presentations at grade schools, work with Haddonfield Memorial High School band members and perform concerts for young people.

"It's an educational experience for the musicians, too," said Denise Rotavera, director of education and outreach for the symphony. "It's also good performance experience."

On April 26-27, the Haddonfield Symphony will present four shows for young people, featuring dancers from the Pennsylvania Ballet, at the Tweeter Center in Camden.

The April 27 concert will be part of the Regional Business/Arts Summit at the South Jersey Performing Arts Center.

Haddonfield Symphony's classroom program is funded by a three-year, $100,000 grant from the Subaru Foundation of America, said Rotavera.

The kindergarten-through-fourth-grade programs started 15 years ago at Bancroft NeuroHealth, a Haddonfield organization for people with developmental disabilities. It grew into a much larger program that includes nine schools in the tri-county area.

In the classroom, musicians talk to students about instruments, orchestra sections and musical terms like pitch and tempo.

"This year alone, we've had 1,500 students in the classroom symphony program," Rotavera said.

At Haddonfield Memorial High School, the musicians help students with things like breathing techniques and musical scales.

The symphony, which is a professional development orchestra, offers internships to about 50 musicians a year. They play with the symphony, and these performances serve as a training ground for larger orchestras.