It was about 10:35 a.m. on Sept. 30. Not yet time for the Bakersfield Symphony Orchestra to perform its second of two 45-minute Young People Concerts at the Rabobank Convention Center in Bakersfield. As hundreds of elementary school age children filed down the aisles and into their seats, a female member of the symphony could be seen smiling and waving to a group of them. Then, she stepped off the stage and came up the aisle to meet them. Paulette Shires had two reasons to identify with her select group of audience admirers. This would be the first exposure many would have to the Bakersfield Symphony Orchestra. Shires remembered her early-age introduction to the symphony. It was under far different circumstances. She began performing with the orchestra as an eighth-grader. Shires also bonded with a much smaller portion of the audience for another reason. They were students in her sixth-grade class at Leo B. Hart School. On this day, teacher had turned performer. “I’ve seen lots of my students come through the convention center doors in my 28 years of teaching, and when I see them in the audience I like to come out to say hello,” Shires said. “Just by being here, it lets them see and hear that classical music is alive and well. That’s important. As for me, I receive plenty of applause when I return to the classroom, and they will tell me, ‘you sounded pretty good.’ But the biggest thrill for me is when the students and I play together at the school’s year end concert.” More