Fine Arts Department

Twenty nine years ago, Brett Wallace took over the leadership of this group, and it has grown from a handful of students, to the size it is today. This is the fifteenth year that Brett and Stephanie Wallace have been team teaching the orchestra. It creates the ultimate in flexibility, allowing students to participate in sectionals, chamber music, and auditions.

Brett and Stephanie Wallace met as students in the C.U. music school, and have worked together in many capacities. They teach at multiple schools at the elementary, middle and high school level in Boulder, and run a yearly retreat called "string camp" for middle school orchestra students. They were the music directors and conductors of the Front Range Youth Symphony Orchestras at the Arvada Center for the Arts and Humanities for 16 years, having recently retired from those positions in the spring of 2007.

As conductors of the Fairview Classic Knights, emphasis is placed on exploring different periods of string orchestra literature with a goal of excellence in performance. Creating beauty through solid technique, ear training, and an understanding of style is a daily goal. Bringing string music to the community is a long-term commitment.

The Classic Knights group is a microcosm of the student body that includes student leaders, academic leaders, and student athletes. Individuals have distinguished themselves through selection to all-state groups, college scholarships, and concerto competitions. The Classic Knights are well traveled, having given performances in Austria, Belgium, England, France, Holland, and Italy.

The Fairview Classic Knights have been selected nine times to represent Boulder Valley at the state music teachers’ convention at the Broadmoor Hotel in Colorado Springs. They perform four major concerts per year as a large ensemble, and smaller chamber groups perform for many other functions, as well. Often, they will collaborate with the choir and band students, to perform a rich and varied body of literature.