Some of the North Bend School District's music students may find themselves getting bumped down to second chair this week - and periodically over the next four months - in order to make room for an elite group of Oregon musicians.

Starting this week, members of the Oregon Symphony will immerse themselves in North Bend's schools, kicking off what has been dubbed the Community Music Partnership.

The year-long partnership pairs students and educators with symphony musicians to strengthen existing music programs.

The partnership will culminate in three performances at the end of the school year - two youth concerts and a one concert for the community featuring the entire 88-member orchestra, said Judy Snyder, who helped write a grant that brought the symphony to North Bend.

Each year, the symphony selects one remote or rural community with a population of less than 30,000 to participate in the program.

Last season's partnership was with the city of Redmond.

"It opened the world to him," said Cathy Fahlgren, the mother of a second-grader who was involved in the Redmond program last year. Her son was not interested in music beforehand, she said, but now he wants to take up the harp or violin.

This week, from Tuesday through Thursday, North Bend K-12 students will be visited by the symphony's brass quintet and percussion trio. Kindergarten through fifth-graders will see performances by the percussionists as well as take part in something called a "petting zoo," where they can touch, play and ask questions about musical instruments.

For the middle- and high-school-age students, the brass quintet also will hold performances and conduct music clinics for groups of music students.

The schools taking part in this week's events include the Lighthouse Charter School, North Bay Elementary School, Hillcrest Elementary School, and North Bend Middle and High School.

"Our children don't get to see a lot of live classical music performances. This affords them the opportunity to do that," said Lee Littlefield, a North Bend elementary school music teacher.

CMP funding is provided by the Ford Family Foundation, the Jeld-Wen Foundation, the National Endowment for the Arts and the Oregon Cultural Trust.

 - Carl Mickelson, Staff Writer