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‘‘It’s awesome,” said David Zhang, 11, of Boyds, who plays the violin. ‘‘It’s really amazing that he’d come down to conduct students. When he takes time out of his conducting of adults to come to Clemente to conduct children, it’s really nice.”

His classmate, Karla Panduro, 12, of Germantown agreed.

‘‘We’ve worked so hard with him and we’ve improved so much,” she said.

Gajewski has spent three hours every Thursday for the last 10 weeks with the orchestra classes at Clemente as they prepare for the county’s middle school music festival on March 29. His son, Devin, a Clemente eighth-grader, plays violin, but does not participate in the orchestra because of the magnet program requirements.

Music teacher Randi Levy approached Gajewski in January to ask if some string players from the Philharmonic would visit the classes. She was surprised when Gajewski offered the time of three musicians, who visited in February, and added his own time.

‘‘There are some people in the field of music who have a teacher’s heart,” Levy said Thursday. ‘‘He has a teacher’s heart, to work with these kids.”

The school orchestra, which also practices four times a week with Levy, has improved since January, Gajewski said.

‘‘They’ve been doing great bowing technique and left-hand technique,” he said after a rehearsal Thursday morning. ‘‘Their sound is much better. They’re playing nice big sound.”

The students, many of whom borrow instruments from the school, range in talent from beginner to more advanced, Levy said. There are 35 violinists, five cellists and one bassist in the orchestra.

‘‘Most of the kids don’t take lessons, I’m it,” Levy said. ‘‘I want music to be a real oasis for the children. Not an escape, but an oasis.”

The orchestra will play three pieces at the music festival next week: ‘‘Festival March,” ‘‘Petite Tango,” and the most difficult piece, ‘‘Irish Tune from Country Derry.”

On Thursday, the sixth-grade orchestra students sat up straight as they practiced. Gajewski stood at the front, his arms raising and falling as the strings played.

He stopped them several times and gave them tips to improve the performance. By the end, he was impressed.

‘‘Good, my goodness, you guys are coming a long way,” Gajewski said. ‘‘Good for you.”

Cellist Ramou Fofana, 12, said she likes the plucking she gets to do on ‘‘Petite Tango.” She started playing the cello this school year, after three years of playing the violin.

‘‘Cello is a whole different craft,” Fofana said.

Like most orchestra students, Fofana practices every day at home for nearly an hour.

Panduro said Gajewski’s encouragement helps everyone in the orchestra improve.

‘‘If we do something bad, he encourages us to make it better,” said Panduro, who has been playing violin for about a year. ‘‘When he first came here, we used to squeak a lot.”

Zhang, a magnet student, said in the beginning he was intimidated by Gajewski, but that changed over time.

‘‘I like his teaching and how he conducts, and he gets us to know the rhythm and the tempo,” said Zhang, who added that he didn’t really like violin at first. ‘‘He finds ways to make it easy for us to learn.”

Panduro said her violin sounds better after each practice.

‘‘I like the sound it makes,” she said. ‘‘I like the way we use our fingertips and the vibrato.”

There is just about a week to go before the music festival. Gajewski said he hopes to attend if his schedule permits.

Zhang said he can’t wait for the competition.

‘‘I’m excited and looking forward to it a lot,” he said. ‘‘When you compete, you can improve by hearing other people play.”

They’ll have that opportunity on March 31, when the orchestra students and their parents see Gajewski conduct the philharmonic at Strathmore. The maestro set aside some free tickets for his youngest proteges.