The mission of The String Queens – featuring Kendall Isadore on violin, Dawn Johnson on viola, and Élise Sharp on cello – is to “create musical experiences that inspire diverse audiences to love, hope, feel, and imagine.”

Based in Washington, D.C., Kendall, Dawn, and Élise have delivered their spirit and sound across the world from Carnegie Hall in New York to the Wimbledon Championships in London, England … and, in January 2026, to the Red River Performance Hall in Grand Forks, where my 10-year-old son was one of a pile of lucky fifth-graders, middle-schoolers and high-schoolers who got to perform alongside The String Queens as a part of the Grand Forks Public Schools All-City Orchestra Festival.

Kyle and I, and all of the other parents, arrived at the performance hall at lunchtime and the room was abuzz. Kendall, Dawn, and Élise are more than Queens; they are full-time school teachers, and so my son and his fellow fifth-graders had spent the morning in private session doing all sorts of fun activities around music and, of course, practicing for the concert; now that the audience had arrived, the children were excited. Several classes of fourth-graders had been invited to forgo school in order to attend the performance, as well, and they were excited too.

The lights dimmed; and somehow, miraculously, everyone settled down. The first row of fifth-graders sat crisscross-applesauce on the stage, making it easy to find my own son, a cellist with a chair in the second row wearing his “Kelly Elementary” green T-shirt.

“Hi, mom!” He mouthed as he waved big in the quieted darkness. “Hi, dad!”

The silence was broken with the arrival of The String Queens, bedecked in sparkly shoes and big personalities.

“Hello!” Kendall called to the crowd. “We knew it was cold in North Dakota, but not this cold!”

Whether it was her acknowledgment of the state, the weather or the greeting itself, the fourth- and fifth-graders went wild. They continued to applaud as the Queens introduced themselves and talked about what had brought them to Grand Forks – emotionally, a shared love of the strings; tactically, donors and a grant – and kept going so long that when the chaperones attempted to lower the enthusiasm, Kendall said,

“It’s OK. You can clap!”

Which led to more and more applause.

The first six pieces were played by The String Queens alone, and each was better than the last. The started with a rousing medley of Americana, followed by the coolest, toe-tappingest version of “Pachelbel’s Canon,” followed by their own take on The Beatles’ “Eleanor Rigby.” The passion behind “Eleanor Rigby” caused Kendall and Dawn to break several of the hairs in their respective bows which, in turn, caused the children in the audience and on stage to burst with even more excitement than ever before – which intermixed with the excitement that the parents were now feeling because the music was so, so good.

With the temperatures at 21-below outside and 4,000-above in the hall, the Queens turned it up even further with an interactive piece.

“Here’s what we’re going to do,” Kendall said. “All of you sitting over here are going to sing, ‘Ba-du-ah-doo-ah-doo-aye,’ and all of you sitting over here are going to sing, ‘Ba-dee-ya-dee-ya,” and together we’re going to make music.”

When the Queens played “September” by Earth, Wind & Fire, we sang along, and together we made music. By the end, the fourth-graders could no longer contain themselves and were standing and dancing in their seats, and the fifth-graders were using their instruments to sway back and forth like concertgoers holding lighters.

“Teachers, lunch is on us later,” Dawn said after the song had concluded.

The String Queens finished up with “My Favorite Things” from “The Sound of Music” and “Despacito” by Luis Fonsi, and then the children took their places and played three pieces of their own: a more traditional version of “Pachelbel’s Canon,” “Bohemian Stomp!” and “Sword Dance.”

“What did you think of that whole experience?” I asked my 10-year-old as we drove home.

“Oh, I loved it. I loved it!” Ten said. “I want to play cello all the time now.”

“That’s good,” Kyle said. “Maybe one day you’ll play on stages around the world, too.”

“I’ll start practicing my ‘Ba-du-ah-doo-ah-doo-aye’-ing now,” I said, swaying back and forth to the invisible music.

Amanda Silverman Kosior, of Grand Forks, has been the author of NorthDakotaNice.com since 2018. She writes every other week for the Grand Forks Herald.