Area band teachers emphasize that music is not just a hobby through school concerts
Elementary school-aged instrumentalists were just beginning to work on holiday classics like “Jingle Bell Rock” and “We Wish You a Merry Christmas” when they watched a group of adult musicians play selections from Duke Ellington and Leonard Bernstein.
The concert, put on by the Butler County Symphony Orchestra on Oct. 16, at Karns City Area Elementary School, was enough to blow the minds of even the school’s oldest student musicians in sixth grade.
Students Brynn Rankin and Abagail Osche, both sixth grade trombonists, called the 40-minute concert “awesome” and “amazing,” adding the music was almost too complex to understand how the musicians were doing it.
But the concert was not meant to intimidate. Rather, it was intended to give students a taste of what is possible through music, both performance-wise and in how far a person can pursue the art form.
Alison Carey, band director at Karns City Area Elementary School, said after the show she hoped the students were inspired by the concert to continue practicing and to keep music as part of their lives after elementary school.
Considering how busy students are in just keeping up with their activities, Carey said the symphony orchestra’s school performances could be insightful to the students in the audience.
“What's tricky about it is that kids are pulled in a lot of directions these days with sports and dance and gymnastics and church activities and all those things, so you have to make a commitment to practice,” Carey said. “If you want to get as good as these guys, you have to put in the time.”
The Butler County Symphony Orchestra performed at six schools in Butler County from Oct. 13 through 17, showcasing its “What makes music American” program. The show featured music by U.S. composers, but also utilized styles that mimicked “patriotic” sounds led by Moon Doh, music director for the symphony orchestra.
At each performance, Doh explained the background of each piece and its composer before the musicians began playing. Along the way, he asked for audience participation to further engage the students in the music.
“This is all about American music and what better way to show them by having a concert in their schools,” Doh said. “It’s just giving kids these little germs that they can take home and learn more about the music.”
The symphony played the same songs from its ongoing season at each school. Songs included “America the Beautiful,” jazz selections by Dmitri Shostakovich and “America,” by Leonard Bernstein, from the musical “West Side Story.”
These performances each featured different elements that make up what Doh described as “American music,” even the songs by Shostakovich, who was Russian. These elements included motifs associated with the American Wild West and sounds that bring to mind features of the nation.
To further emphasize these elements, Doh demonstrated physical movements the students could mimic so they could feel like they were playing along to the songs. Students used their arms to play “air trombone” during a particularly prominent song for the instrument and they clapped along to the chorus of Bernstein’s “America.”
Doh said the clapping was particularly important to demonstrating how the rhythm of a motif can affect its feel and create an exciting moment in music.
“I have a lot of experience working with kids,” he said.
Abagail and Brynn said they had seen the symphony orchestra perform before, but the up-close and personal view of the musicians, who were sitting in chairs set up right on the gymnasium floor, gave them an even better experience.
Carey said the orchestra coming to elementary schools across the county would likely inspire many students, who could see the musicians as people much more easily than they would in a large auditorium.
“I am thrilled that the symphony is able to come and perform for students who may not get a chance to hear it otherwise and could maybe inspire some of these students to further their musical education,” Carey said.
Carey was not the only band teacher who planned to reinforce lessons demonstrated by Doh and the symphony to her students. The performance at Moniteau School District also offered some inspiration for its music teachers.
Shawn Holl, band director at Dassa McKinney Elementary, said the symphony’s performance showcased more than just the potential for musical ability — it showcased the lengths to which a person can go to pursue the art.
“I talked to a trumpet player, and he said he has been playing for 70 years, so that's definitely something I'm going to tell my kids,” Holl said.
Kevin Boariu, principal of Dassa McKinney, agreed, and said students should also learn about outlets for creativity and expression, in addition to music being an academic subject.
“The biggest thing is we want our kids to see that music is a lifelong hobby,” Boariu said. “We get all about getting kids in careers, but we also want to show them they can do things they like for their whole lives.”
Each elementary school performance by the symphony orchestra received huge applause from the crowd of students, with the teachers at Karns City Area Elementary urging the children to give the musicians a standing ovation. Holl said he thinks the students in band class were particularly impressed by the performance because they know the basics of music and can understand how they can be applied in the context of an orchestra.
“I think it's really huge for the students to see an end product,” Holl said. “In fourth and fifth grade, the music is pretty basic, so they rarely get to see the technical side.”
He also predicted some students who are not yet band-age would sign up for the class once they hit fourth grade because of the performance they saw.
“The kids in third grade and second grade today, they see band as an activity they can end up doing,” Holl said. “I think it's a huge recruiting thing.”
Carey also said the symphony was a great recruiting tool for the elementary school, which is in a school district that still has several music teachers working in it. She said she, too, wants children to see the potential of music and performance, so they feel confident to pursue it if they find passion in it.
“My goal is to recruit as many kids as I can and to get the instrument that was right for them in the hopes that they really enjoy it and that they will continue going with it,” Carey said. “I try to get them as far as I can and let the next teacher do their thing.”
