Curtain Call (The Final Post)

OUR INSTRUMENTS!

It has been a great quarter having the opportunity to learn all about classical music. Having reread my first blog post I feel that I have definitely accomplished the goals that I was trying to achieve.

It’s not hard to say which performance was the most impactful for us, it absolutely had to be Peter and the Wolf by the Tacoma Symphony. I only say it’s Peter, because my whole family decided to start playing instruments after that show.  My oldest son, now plays the clarinet with aspirations of playing the bassoon in junior and senior high. My youngest son now plays the trumpet and would like to also learn the French horn when he’s older. Both boys want to learn the guitar as well, after a fun trip to the music store and an impromptu lesson by one of the store employees. I, of course, now play the violin, something I have wanted to do all my life! I can play Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star…well, it’s more like just Twinkle, Twinkle no little star yet but I’ll get it eventually. I would also like to take up playing the piano again. One of the reasons I quit was because I got bored with the music my teacher was teaching me.  I wanted to learn more exciting pieces and be challenged, unlike before it that won’t stop me now. I am finding that music is really a great outlet for me in dealing with stress and helps me focus when my brain has too much to think about. It also brings a new level of enjoyment to my life I don’t feel I’ve ever had.

I have to say however, that despite Peter’s obviously impact on us because of the instruments all of the performances we saw did something to us in some way. I learned how important it is to hear live music verses just from YouTube or my computer’s hard drive, I had never noticed for some reason how much you could feel from music.  Maybe, it had to do with my children’s insistence on sitting centered in the front row for nearly every performance that I really began to notice, I guess by sitting where they wanted to, it felt like we were involved somehow in what the musicians were doing on the stage. Which only made the performances that much more exciting.

I am so thankful for this class. It has taught my children and I how to enjoy live concerts and classical music.  Over the weekend when we went to the Olympia Symphony practice, my oldest son had a basketball game that had conflicting times.  He however, chose to forgo the game so we could go to the symphony which I thought was really awesome! Not many eight year olds would do something like that. Also, learning how to create a blog has been an entertaining learning experience as well. I will be going to China over the summer for a study abroad program and, because of this class, I will be documenting my experiences via blog for my Chinese Culture Club. Since the China trip will also be doubling as a research trip I will be able to document what I am doing which will enhance my senior research paper and hopefully help with my graduate studies as well.

Thank you for showing my family how to enjoy music!

Made Mostly in the USA

George Gershwin

My boys at UPS's Jacobsen Jr. Children's Concert

On Saturday March 15, 2015 my children and I went to University of Puget Sound to listen to the children’s concert, Made Mostly in the USA. It was a concert comprised of works from George Gershwin, Louis Moreau Gottschalk, Leroy Anderson and John Philip Sousa.  We were fortunate enough to sit center stage in the front row, which my children always love doing. The music director for the show was the head of the piano department at UPS, Duane Hulbert. He informed the audience that this was the 10^th year the music department had put on a special children’s concert which the UPS students were excited to do because they knew their audience would allow them to have a bit of fun which is exactly what happened. The pieces they performed were well known and great pieces to help make children more aware of great works by American composers of the nineteenth & twentieth Centuries.

The first piece was The Banjo by Louis Moreau Gottschalk, the really neat thing they did with this song was they brought an old time banjo player on the stage in the characteristic white shirt, black pants and red and white striped hat, arm bands and vest and had him play a real banjo so we all could hear the distinct sound it made while even playing some of The Banjo. Dr. Hulbert explained to the audience that Gottschalk had been inspired by the unique twanging sound of the banjo and created the song to mimic a banjo.  He then began to play the piece and wow was he good, our jaws dropped! I think that was the first time my kids had ever seen a piano played like that in person.

The next piece was probably my favorite, only because it was different than any other I had heard an orchestra perform, it was Leroy Anderson’s The Typewriter. I really enjoyed every song the orchestra performed, however, this was so fun to watch the two people working the typewriter and bell and the reactions they had with each other and the audience was priceless. The kids are still asking for me to play this number on YouTube, ten days after the concert. We found a Spanish orchestra that we really like to watch. Here’s the link to  The Typewriter

The rest of the concert consisted of: Bugler’s Holiday by Leroy Anderson, Selections from Porgy and Bess and An American in Paris by Gershwin and The Stars and Stripes Forever by Sousa. Of course my youngest son got excited about the Bugler song because he plays the trumpet. After the show the trumpet players were the first people he went to see and he wasn’t shy about grabbing a trumpet and giving it a hearty blow.

While in first grade last year my oldest son, learned in his music class about Gershwin and Sousa for the better part of the year and after seeing the program wasn’t shy about sharing everything he knew about these composers. To my amazement he knew quite a lot which was fun and when Dr. Hulbert would introduce their pieces my son would get really excited and be nodding emphatically about the information being provided because (apparently) he was correct with all of his information, that’s what my son told me to say in the blog. I was surprised to read about Gershwin and that he had no interest in music until age ten, but then became enthralled with playing the piano and composed many pieces with his brother Ira. At 20 he had his first big hit with Swanee, which was followed by five original film scores, 17 Broadway and London musicals, two Operas, and countless piano and orchestra pieces. On July 11, 1937, at the age of 38 he passed away suddenly from a brain tumor  after an unsuccessful surgery attempt to remove the tumor. His impact on American music however will never be forgotten. 

The musicians were animated and were giggling and smiling, which only added to the performance, their behavior was engaging for the kids and really added to an already wonderful presentation. At the end of the show they of course did a “petting zoo” for all the children, which my children were not shy about asking questions and getting their hands on every instrument they were allowed to touch. This was a great end to my musical experience, I am so glad I was able to take my children to so many local venues that catered shows for a younger audience! 

UPS Children's concert program Made Mostly in the USA

The Kiddos with UPS Piano Department Head, Dr. Duane Hulbert

 PETTING ZOO FUN!!!!!!!!                        

 

Mini Maestro's Peter and the Wolf

Sergei Prokofiev, 1917

The boys at the Tacoma Symphony's Mini Maestros Peter and the Wolf

In 1936, Sergei Prokofiev was commissioned by the Central Children's Theatre in Moscow to create a new symphony, meant to inspire and cultivate a musical interest in young children. Inspired by the idea, Prokofiev went to work and created Peter and the Wolf in only four days.  The debut did not go so well unfortunately, with a sparse audience and lackluster reviews. Eventually, Prokofiev came to America and met with Walt Disney. Speaking very little English and Disney not speaking a word of Russian, Prokofiev sat down at a piano and began to play and tell his story.  Disney immediately fell in love with the idea. And in 1946, Peter was added to a movie called Make Mine Music eventually being reissued with the movie Fantasia.

The Mini Maestros performance of Peter and the Wolf was at the Rialto Theater in Tacoma, Sunday January 25^th at 2:30PM performed by the Tacoma Symphony Orchestra. Not knowing what to expect, we were surprised (for some reason) at how many children were present.  After having been to the carillon performance and not seeing any other kids, then walking into the Rialto and have it crawling with little bodies was a bit of a shock.  Fortunately, we were able to find seats in the very first row right in front of the conductor and narrator!  It was nice to not have to worry about if my kids reacted to the music loudly because ALL the children were loud. I am so happy we found the seats in the front it would have been very distracting even just a few rows further back.

The children loved watching the TSO’s new conductor, Sarah Ioannides. She was very animated and they were trying to keep up with her movements from their seats.  I am so glad the orchestra members knew this was a children’s performance or we probably would have been kicked out of the theater.  Not that my children were being bad, but, they were conducting too. OK…I was conducting too. It was really hard not to though. The environment in the Rialto that day was fun, lively and inviting, everyone should have tried conduct like Ms Ioannides.

During the performance I felt free to whisper quietly to my kids.  It was a great opportunity to ask them what they were feeling while the different instruments were playing.  They were able to distinguish different emotions to me, which I was very excited about.  Overwhelmingly, they felt very unhappy and frightened when the French horns played the wolf. And they smiled every time the flute played the little bird, mimicking a small hummingbird fluttering around my head with their hands.

The music was amazing but the best part was actually at the end of the show. A lot of the musicians brought their instruments to the front of the stage and allowed the children to test them out! Since we were in the front row we were able to quickly get to the instruments before the other parents could wrangle theirs offspring out of their isles.  Having the opportunity to get to play the instruments right after hearing the music was just incredible for my boys.   

They tried every instrument they could get their hands on.  Every instrument was a disaster for us until we got to the trumpet. My youngest blew a perfectly clean note right away. I have video below of him playing the trumpet, I forgot I had a camera on me so I only got 10 seconds of footage but he went back to the trumpet at least 6 times and progressively got better each time.  The last instrument was the bassoon, which my oldest immediately liked and was able to produce sound from which amazed  both him and me. It was recommend that I start him on the clarinet now so when he went into Jr High he could switch to the bassoon.  

 By the time we got to the car after the show, my kids had me convinced they needed to play the trumpet and clarinet. I was able to find them both nice used instruments which are in the process of being shipped to our home.  I had bought a violin for my kids when they were first born, but after the “petting zoo” it became obvious that neither wanted to play the violin. So, they convinced me I should learn to play it instead. With much hesitation I have begun watching videos on youtube. I have been learning to hold my bow correctly and can slowly play Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star.

We were absolutely enthralled with the performance and “petting zoo”, what an opportunity!

My littlest buddy on his favorite instrument!

My oldest kiddo giving the violin a try...NOT a favorite unfortunately

HERE ARE VIDEO OF THE BOYS PLAYING THEIR FAVORITE INSTRUMENTS!

1st time trumpet player!

Boys playing the bassoon

Program and Tickets

As a small child one of my favorite toys was a brown and yellow Fisher-Price turntable and a stack of my very own records.  I used to spend hours listening to the stories and reading along with the accompanying book.  One of my all-time favorite was, without a doubt, Peter and the Wolf, narrated by none other than Sterling Holloway. 
THIS IS EXACTLY LIKE MY ORIGINAL DISNEY RECORD FROM WHEN I WAS A CHILD!!!

WEBSITES

THE original 1946 DISNEY Cartoon of Peter and the Wolf

1957, Walt Disney's Recollection of When He First Meet Prokofiev