Callaway Auditorium was abuzz with music and the melody of children’s voices as the LaGrange Symphony Orchestra tuned up and hundreds of children filed in for the annual LSO children’s concerts Thursday.

Callaway Elementary School third-grader Marquise Hutchinson sat wide-eyed in a plush auditorium seat as he and his classmates awaited the start of the concert.

“I didn’t know there would be so many instruments. This is awesome,” he said. “I love music. It’s one of my favorite subjects. I’m glad to learn more about it.”

An expectant hush fell over the building - and all fidgeting ceased - as concert host Carol Cain approached the microphone.

“You are music to our ears,” she told the third- and fourth-graders from local public and private schools, joined by about 20 home-schooled students.

Theme for the event was “Music Can Tell a Story,” and Cain challenged each of the 1,200 students at two performances to “hear the stories told by the instruments.”

By the time orchestra conductor Patricio Cobos lifted his baton for the opening number - “The Sorcerer’s Apprentice,” made familiar in Disney’s classic film “Fantasia” - the students already had practiced the “concert etiquette” drilled by their teachers and many had gotten their first look at the impressive LaGrange College concert hall.

“It’s a tall building!” a crew-cut Long Cane Elementary School youngster blurted as he exited his yellow school bus and took in the auditorium’s stately exterior.

“It’s my first time!” called out a Hollis Hand Elementary School student in a swirling pastel dress, one of many who dressed up for the occasion.

Hollis Hand music teacher Robin Treadwell, a veteran of many children’s concerts, said the experience is always special.

“So many of our students do not get a chance to attend something like this. It’s just magical for them,” she said.

Treadwell and other teachers prepare students for the concerts, which are carefully planned to support the curriculum, and the symphony provides workbooks with orchestra-related word searches, writing opportunities, follow-up activities and more.

“Teachers can introduce students to the music and the instruments, but there’s nothing like seeing and hearing it for themselves,” Treadwell said. “The whole atmosphere of the performance makes a huge difference.”

Centerpiece for this year’s concert was an adaptation of composer Lee Johnson’s work, “Trail of Tears,” featuring American Indian storyteller Gayle Ross. Johnson, a LaGrange College music professor and internationally known composer, played piano with the symphony as Ross, an enrolled member of the Cherokee Nation and direct descent of Chief John Ross, told the sad but significant story of the forced relocation of the Cherokee people from Georgia to Oklahoma in the 1830s.

“Do you know how lucky you are to be the very first audience to hear this collaboration by a brilliant composer, an authentic storyteller and a wonderful orchestra?” Cain asked the children, who responded with applause.

The National Endowment for the Arts thought the combination significant enough to award the orchestra a $10,000 grant to support the Thursday performances and underwrite its presentation today to about 500 students from Meriwether County. Earlier, symphony ensembles performed in Valley, Ala., for Chambers County and Lanett students.

A widely praised storyteller chosen to represent the American Indian perspective at the nation’s millennium celebration in Washington, D.C., Ross’ moving account of the Trail of Tears included an uplifting story about the origin of the Cherokee rose.

“Our people always wove history into story. It was our way of passing it on,” she said.

The Cherokee rose, now Georgia’s state flower, was a symbol of hope and strength to the Cherokee Nation at a time of great difficulty and sadness.

“As long as there is beauty involved, there is hope,” Ross said.

But the storyteller said she “didn’t sugarcoat” the events surrounding the Trail of Tears march, in which 16,000 Cherokee were forced from their homes and more than 4,000 died under harsh conditions.

“This is history, this is Georgia history,” she said. “The reason they contacted me was that they thought it important for children to hear it.”

Looking out over the excited audience before the performance, Johnson said it reminded him of his own first concert, as a child in Minnesota.

“I’ve played at many family concerts and I have five children, so this is familiar ground. I want children to be inspired by music. This is electric,” he said.

Rosemont Elementary School teacher Teresa Cadenhead said the Trail of Tears segment moved her to real tears and was the favorite part of the event for several of her students.

“The storyteller used awesome imagery and it had great impact because she is a true Cherokee. Also Lee Johnson has done so many incredible things with music. I feel privileged that we could come today,” she said.

Hillcrest Elementary School student Alexa Morrissette agreed.

“The Cherokee rose was my favorite part. I really liked that,” she said.

Other students were more partial to the John Williams’ classics, including a theme from “Harry Potter” and the rousing “Raiders March” from “Raiders of the Lost Ark” which closed the concert.

A typical comment: “It was, like, ‘Wow!’ “

The LSO children’s concerts and a family concert Thursday night were sponsored by Junior Service League and the West Point Fund of the Community Foundation of the Chattahoochee Valley. The performance is just one of many ways the LaGrange Symphony Orchestra reaches out to young audiences, said Nancy Stevens and Judy Boggus, co-chairwomen of the event.

Symphony musicians make school and community appearances, and the LSO sponsors the La-Grange Symphony Youth Orchestra, directed by Johnson, and the LaGrange Symphony Youth Orchestra String Ensemble, directed by Callie Hammond. A music camp, “Ovations,” is held each summer.

“I hope people here appreciate their symphony. They are wonderful,” Ross said.