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Alaska inmates find identity in orchestra

By Mark Thiessen
Published December 3, 2012 9:25am ET
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Alaska inmates find identity in orchestra
In this Nov. 17, 2012, photo, Sarah Jane Coffman practices the viola with the Hiland Mountain Correctional Facility Orchestra in Eagle River, Alaska. After serving a 14-year sentence for murder, Sarah Jane Coffman, a founding member of the women's string orchestra at the prison in 2003, will debut as a citizen member when the two annual holiday concerts are held Dec. 8, 2012. (AP Photo/Mark Thiessen) | Mark Thiessen

EAGLE RIVER, Alaska (AP) — After serving a 14-year sentence for murder, no one would have expected Sarah Jane Coffman to go anywhere near the Hiland Mountain Correctional Center once she was released.

But every Saturday she makes the 10-mile drive with a viola in tow for orchestra practice at the prison just north of Anchorage.

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