Waiting for the All-National Honor Ensembles Concert, a large crowd queues up outside the Concert Hall.

On Sunday music educators, parents and others flocked to the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts for the two student events that demonstrated the joy of composing and performing music.

In the Concert Hall, the All-National Honor Ensembles Orchestra, Concert Band, Jazz Band and Mixed Choir each performed repertoire ranging from the “New World Symphony” to “Amazing Grace.”

On the Millennium Stage at the opposite end of the Center,  three student composers heard  their compositions performed by the U.S. Marine Chamber Ensemble. They were the winners of the Student Composers Composers Competition. Both events were part of Music Education Week, an annual event sponsored by National Association for Music Education (NAfME).

Roz Fehr, NAfME staff

Composer and Juilliard School faculty member Philip Lasser (left), 2012 student winners Christopher Lowry, Calvin Lu, and Jae Lee, and Daniel Deutsch, chair of the NAfME Council for Music Composition, gather before the concert on the Millennium Stage concert.