BLOOMINGTON - More than 1,000 children from McLean County schools will have a chance to experience the Illinois Symphony Orchestra on Wednesday, but students from four schools are especially excited. Watch Video

Their new friend, assistant conductor Richard Haglund, will help with a performance of "Abraham, Martin and Me," a children's story of Abraham Lincoln and Martin Luther King Jr.

Students learn about Lincoln's and King's gifts and are asked to consider their own as part of a program developed by Conductor Karen Lynne Deal.

"They get to meet a conductor, meet musicians, and experience a concert," said Deal. The labor-intensive project is worth the time, she said. "Music is wonderful. The more of it we can get in society, the better."

Haglund has twice visited students at Holy Trinity and Pepper Ridge elementary, both in Bloomington; Tri-Valley Elementary, Downs; and Mulberry School, Normal. He brought instruments for the students to try, demonstrated his musical prowess and showed off the University High School string quartet.

"They seem to really enjoy it," said Julie Rhoades, who teaches K-8 music at Holy Trinity. "When he offered to play another piece, children were quick to take him up on the offer. They were very enthusiastic."

Fourth-grader Noah Sallen of Bloomington described it this way: "He made funny sounds with the drum. I thought it was amazing."

Fourth-grader Drake Bertrand of Bloomington didn't think he would like that kind of music, but he did.

The program ends this week with a live performance of the 80-member orchestra at the Bloomington Center for the Performing Arts.

Exposure to technology leaves children out of touch with things that are more real, Deal said.

Rhoades agreed. "As a teacher, I can only do so much. I only see music students once a week."

"Children get so much joy from music - it inspires their minds and spirits," Deal said. "I think there is too little of that today."

In the classrooms, Haglund plays simple tunes on a piccolo, flute, bassoon, oboe and clarinet. Then the percussionist really shows off on snare drums and timpani.

He also teaches the children how to conduct in a "clapping" orchestra. They clap - fast, slow, soft, loud - by following a newly trained boy or girl conductor. "The kids have a lot of fun," he said.

Adults also get a chance this week to hear the orchestra. "An American Dream" uses words and music to tell the story of the 1908 Springfield race riots. The performance is at 7 p.m. Wednesday at the Bloomington Center for the Performing Arts. Tickets are $15-25. Call (866) 686-9541.

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What: "An American Dream" with the Illinois Symphony Orchestra

The concert: Combines words and music to commemorate the Springfield race riots of 1908, the same year the Abraham Lincoln Association and the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) were founded. The two groups collaborated with the symphony to mark the 100th anniversary of the events.

When, where: 7 p.m. tonight (Monday) at Sangamon Auditorium, Springfield, and 7 p.m. Wednesday, Bloomington Center for the Performing Arts, 110 E. Mulberry St., Bloomington.

Tickets: $15-25. Call (866) 686-9541.

What else: About 1,000 students from Central Illinois will attend school-only performances of "Abraham, Martin and Me" by the Illinois Symphony Orchestra Wednesday. For students of Holy Trinity Elementary, Tri-Valley Elementary, Mulberry School and Pepper Ridge Elementary, the performance ends a program that included visits from Richard Haglund, the orchestra's assistant conductor, to teach the children music appreciation and prepare them for the concert.