 From time to time, the Minnesota Orchestra is able to leave its home in Minneapolis to tour in other parts of the state. For this week's In Focus, Mal Meyer joined hundreds of elementary students in Grand Rapids to see the group perform. The orchestra is taking its show on the road, hitting Wilmer, Bemidji and Grand Rapids as part of its Common Courts program. It's their effort to get out into the greater Minnesota community and better represent the incredible talent that we have in the Twin Cities areas. The Rife Center was particularly excited to be hosting the group and area students as not everyone can make a trip down to the Twin Cities. It's an opportunity for our public, for our students who would never have an opportunity to see this kind of artistic and aesthetic quality in our community. And the orchestra was happy to be there as well. So what a treat to be in people's backyard and we can share with them the gift of what we do and they really share so much with us as well. Roma Duncan was excited to be up in northern Minnesota as she came through the area when she first joined the orchestra. I don't remember all the cities because it was so long ago but I'm almost sure that we also came to Bemidji at that time so it's really cool to do it again. She's also playing the same music as she did on her first tour. The musicians are performing and narrating Tchaikovsky's Symphony No. 4 for the children. Like with any performance, the orchestra had to adapt to their setting and the audience. We were expecting an older audience for this afternoon so we had to sort of adjust some of the conversations we were having with them. The students got into the music, visibly tapping along to the beat. For this conductor, it was a welcome change of pace. I guess it shows some of the power of the piece that you have people hearing it for the first time and hearing their initial reaction to the music. Sometimes us seasoned professionals or whatnot, we've heard it so many times, it kind of loses that effect. With this week's In Focus, in Grand Rapids, I'm Mal Meyer, Lakeland News. If you've enjoyed this segment of Lakeland News, please consider making a tax-deductible contribution to Lakeland Public Television.