Special to The Post-Searchlight

A concert this Tuesday by the Port City Orchestra will include home-schooled musicians and local string orchestras, and all proceeds will benefit the Friendship House of Jesus.

The concert is Tuesday, May 22, at the Kirbo Center at Bainbridge College, beginning at 7 p.m. Admission is free, but organizer Charlie Strickland said donations will benefit the Friendship House.

The program includes performances by the Tallahassee Home School Band, the Port City Strings and the Grace Academy Strings, all under Strickland’s direction.

Strickland, who retired from teaching at several high schools around the state, has been directing the 40-member Tallahassee Home School Band for more than six years. He has also been teaching music at Bainbridge College since 2005 and teaches strings at Grace Christian Academy.

Strickland is the husband of Tonya Strickland, who is vice president for Academic Affairs at Bainbridge College.

Josh Paske, administrative director of the Friendship House, will give a presentation on the Friendship House, which provides after-school programs for children and youth.

The concert will begin with the Tallahassee Home School Band playing a John Phillip Sousa march, “The Thunderer,” followed by “Amazing Grace” and “Abandoned Treasure Hunt.” The Port City Strings will then play a smorgasbord of selections, including Celtic, Irish, Classical, Christian and Fiddle selections. Finally, The Tallahassee Home School Band will combine with the string players from Port City Strings and Grace Christian Academy for eight more selections showcasing two selections written by local arranger and composer Dallas C. Burke, who has published many works played by bands and orchestras all over the United States.

In 2010, the group performed the Christmas at Kirbo Concert and raised $2,500 for the Friendship House.