SALISBURY — Close to 1,500 local children got the chance to watch and play with the North Carolina Symphony on Wednesday.

The Rowan-Salisbury School System took its fifth-grade students in two groups on a field trip to Keppel Auditorium at Catawba College. There, each group listened for about an hour to the professional musicians at work.

Conductor Alfred Sturgis brought the students into the performance by quizzing them on their musical knowledge and asking trivia questions between pieces.

Symphony members also helped children learn about musical instruments by demonstrating each one’s distinctive sound.

At the end of the trip, it was the students’ turn to perform from the audience. They played recorders, violins, drums and boomwhackers to the song, “North Carolina Is My Home.” The children and teachers then stood up and sang the tune, accompanied by the symphony itself.