Photo by Hunter Wilson/Daily News Sarah Berry conducts the Fourth Grade Orchestra during the 2008 Strings Finale Program on Thursday at E.A. Diddle Arena.

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About 300 students from Warren County Schools and Bowling Green Independent Schools filled Western Kentucky University’s E.A. Diddle Arena floor Thursday to play an array of music for the annual String Finale Concert.

Students - separated by grade level - played music ranging from classical Bach to Green Day’s “Boulevard of Broken Dreams” on violins, violas, cellos and double bass.

“I was excited,” said Bowling Green Junior High sixth-grader Ashton Gentry, 11. “It was cool all the schools got to play together.”

Starting with just 21 students at Natcher Elementary School four years ago, the strings program has seen rapid growth. The program now has students from 10 schools.

“When you look at the sea of string players, you are looking at the fastest growing strings program in the state,” said Bill Scott, WKU music professor.

WKU developed the pre-college string development program in 2003 to offer instruction in orchestral stringed instruments. WKU music department faculty members taught string classes in both school systems. In 2007, Bowling Green City Schools hired orchestra director Patrick O’Rourke.

While the city system has its own string program, the county schools still rely on WKU faculty to instruct the students, Scott said.

O’Rourke said the program is about building a strong arts and music program.

“The growth has been impressive,” said Sarah Berry, WKU music faculty member. “Obviously it was something that was needed and desired in Bowling Green. Our hope is that they grow to love music and have an appreciation for the arts.”

The concert kicked off with the fourth-graders, who are beginners, Scott said. The concert was like their cumulative exam, he said.

“I was a little nervous,” said Natcher Elementary fourth-grader Haley Robey, 9. “I never played with this many people watching. I had fun.”

Going by grade level, fifth- and sixth-graders played together and seventh- and eighth-graders played together. The concert, Scott said, is really important for the kids, and parents can actually track the students’ progress, he said.

“It’s like stair steps,” he said.

Lisa Taylor, mother of Briarwood Elementary School fourth-grader Ciara Sweatt, 10, said from watching the concert she could see the progression when a student stuck with the program.

“This is such a great program to get involved with at such a young age,” she said. “They played wonderfully.”

The last piece - a traditional fiddle tune - combined the sounds of all the students, and was conducted by WKU mascot Big Red, which bought smiles and ripples of laughter throughout the audience.

“It is really special to see young students play,” Scott said. “They play from the heart, and that’s something you can’t beat.”