Students at the Strong Elementary School attended a performance by the Juniper Quartet, and several of them were invited on stage to show their skills. The string quartet members perform with the larger Bangor Symphony Orchestra, and they travel frequently to schools, hospitals and other public venues to share their love of classical music.

Pizzicato has nothing to do Italian food, we learned. It’s a is a playing technique that involves plucking the instrument’s strings. On the violins and the viola, the musicians demonstrated the different sounds by plucking the strings with their fingers, rather than using the bow. Students from Rangeley, Stratton, Carrabec and other surrounding school districts were invited to the concerts in Strong and at the Kingfield Elementary School on Tuesday.

School budget plans will affect Strong’s taxpayers. Here’s the schedule of hearings and voting opportunities in the next four weeks:

The school board will sign the warrant at 6:30 p.m. Thursday, May 14, at Mt. Abram High School. The district budget meeting is at 6 p.m. Thursday, May 28, at the high school. The date of the final Yes or No vote at the polls in Kingfield, Avon, Phillips and Strong is June 9. Visit the district’s website at www.msad58.org and to attend the district budget meeting to determine the final figures that will go to voters.