Sistema music program coming to Miramichi

The Sistema after-school music program is expanding to Miramichi.

The music lessons, which will begin in January, are funded in part by the province of New Brunswick and by community partners.

Charlene Robinson, the principal at St. Andrews Elementary School, said Sistema will have a great impact on the area's children.

"It helps them in all academic areas," explained Robinson.

"It helps them with their math, with the music notes, it helps them with their literacy in reading the music notes, as well as the words. It helps them all around, especially with social aspects."

Threehour-long sessions,five-days-a-week will be held at St. Andrews, and eventually attheMiramichi East school when it is built.

Sistema Miramichi will be a string program featuring violin, viola, cello, and bass instruction.

Organizers expect to grow the initial thirty-person orchestra to seventy-five.

The Miramichi program will be the sixth in New Brunswick.

Sistema is already providing lessons inMoncton, Saint John, Richibucto, Tobique First Nation, and Edmundston.