Islip’s recent annual spring districtwide String Festival, held at the middle school’s auditorium, featured performers from around the district, including two orchestras each from Commack Road, Sherwood and the middle school, and the high school’s orchestra, chamber orchestra and electric string ensembles.

This year the event’s musical selections included Ed Sheeran’s “Thinking Out Loud,” performed by guitar students and the combined middle and high school orchestras. Continuing a tradition, the event culminated in a performance of the combined ensembles, with nearly 300 students playing the “William Tell Overture.”

According to Vincent Green, director of fine and performing arts, the String Festival began three years in response to a lack of opportunity for student string players.

“Musicians other than string players have lots of chances to both perform and hear great local performances,” said Green. “Marching bands and choral concerts abound, but orchestral gigs are less common. We wanted our students to have the opportunity to stand side-by-side with players like them, whether it’s the senior recalling what his first sounds were like or the fourth-grader aspiring to play the electric cello in high school.”