By JULI GOETZ MORSER

Arts Editor

At 8:15 a.m. most Tuesday mornings, island musicians Kim Thal and Sarah Perlman can be found welcoming young students into the music room at Chautauqua Elementary School.

Three years ago, the duo created a music program for string instruments as there was none at the school, and called it Rock Island String Education or RISE.

This year, the group of third-, fourth-and fifth- grade students and the band of string musicians known as Rock Island String Kollective or RISK, will perform at Northwest Folklife Festival’s Center Theatre in Seattle at 4 p.m. Friday, May 27.

“Talk about getting a bucket list item down,” said Karen Dale, who has played with RISK for the past five years, when asked about playing at Folklife.

“It is something so different for the kids,” said Thal who plays and teaches the guitar, “to have the experience of being on stage at the festival. It is an honor, and we all are excited to play.”