Jace Caldwell and fellow string player Nicholas Benson waited in La Croix Hall for their first Strings in Concert performance to start Saturday night. The two Grandview Elementary School fourth-graders weren't nervous to play in front of the audience.

"My friends, they say it's not that nerve-wracking," Jace said, holding his violin under his arm.

Nicholas, a bass player, said they were prepared for the show, and nerves shouldn't be a problem.

"We've been practicing for a while, and we have all the songs down," said Nicholas, who was looking forward to playing "Hoedown." Jace's favorite was "Ode to Joy."

About 900 string players from Rapid City public elementary and middle schools gave two performances for the 33rd annual concert at the theater in Rushmore Plaza Civic Center. Guest conductor Clark Potter, a professor of music at the University of Nebraska, led the students through the songs.

The fourth-graders joined the seventh- and eighth-grade players during the concert's 6 p.m. performance. The seventh- and eighth-graders played again with fifth- and sixth-graders during the 8 p.m. performance. Students' family members and friends filled the theater seats.

Agnes Jenson and her husband, Jerry Jenson, attended the 6 p.m. performance to watch granddaughter Victoria Cantu play the cello. Victoria is a fourth-grader at Knollwood Heights Elementary School.

"It's a good program, and it's a good thing they have something like this," Agnes Jenson said.

Back in La Croix Hall, Karen Broom was waiting for the 6 p.m. performance to start with her daughter, Sylvia Broom, a fourth-grader at Rapid Valley Elementary School.

Saturday night was Sylvia's first performance. She was not nervous, just excited to play.

"I think I can do it," Sylvia said as she propped up her cello.

A violinist, Karen Broom also performed in the Strings in Concert when she was in school.

"It was wonderful," she said. "You appreciate music your entire life."

The mother and daughter were going out for ice cream after Sylvia's performance, just like Karen Broom used to do with her mother after concerts.

Contact Holly Meyer at 394-8421 or holly.meyer@rapidcityjournal.com.