Laura Roelofs

DETROIT — The American String Teachers Association (ASTA) recently named String Project@Wayne its String Project of the Year. Laura Roelofs, D.M.A., associate professor of music at Wayne State University, director of String Project@Wayne and resident of Grosse Pointe, Mich., traveled to Kansas City in March to accept the award.

String Project@Wayne is one of 36 national string projects. Now in its third year, it enrolls more than 140 area third through seventh graders who take lessons on violin, viola, cello and bass from Wayne State music majors. The string projects aim to increase the number of well-qualified string teachers in the country while providing exemplary string education to children in underserved areas. Wayne State's program stands out as one of the very few string projects located in large metropolitan centers.

"String Project@Wayne not only teaches young children an appreciation for music, it also provides university music students with strong performance skills and a love of teaching string instruments, which is really needed in our country," said Gloria Heppner, associate vice president for research at WSU. "This is one example of the exciting ways Wayne State is working to expand Detroit's art and cultural community, and Professor Roelofs is most deserving of this award for her efforts."

Each semester culminates with a free performance featuring string project students at Orchestra Hall. The next public performance is Saturday, May 14, 2011. For more information, visit http://www.facebook.com/WayneStateUStringProject.

For more information about the String Project@Wayne, visit http://music.wayne.edu/stringproject.

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Wayne State University is one of the nation's pre-eminent public research universities in an urban setting. Through its multidisciplinary approach to research and education, and its ongoing collaboration with government, industry and other institutions, the university seeks to enhance economic growth and improve the quality of life in the city of Detroit, state of Michigan and throughout the world. For more information about research at Wayne State University, visit http://www.research.wayne.edu.