CLASSICS FOR KIDS SHOW GETS KIDS EXCITED ABOUT ART By Carly Bartkiewicz UNION-TRIBUNE
November 19, 2005
The young boys gushed about guitars as they strummed invisible strings, inspired by a concert that fused classical music, dance and poetry.
The entire second grade of the San Ysidro School District, including 511 7-and 8-year-olds, took a short trip north yesterday to watch "Adventures in Color" at the Salvation Army Ray and Joan Kroc Corps Community Center in Rolando Park. The concert was performed by Classics for Kids, a nonprofit group based in Coronado that provides professional and educational musical performances to about 20,000 local kids annually.
Before creating this partnership with Classics for Kids, the San Ysidro School District had no formal music curriculum in their elementary classrooms. There is some music, theater and dance taught in middle school, said Tim Allen, the district's superintendent. "We hope this is the beginning of instituting a strings program in San Ysidro schools," said Marion Sciré, founder and executive director of Classics for Kids. "Music is vital. Where would be without music, art and creativity?"
The school district funded the performance for the second-graders, which would normally cost $5 per student. The same kids also will have the opportunity to view another Classics for Kids show, "The Magic Flute," in January as a way to continue the instruction and learning. As teaching tools, the district purchased copies of the corresponding book under the same name and the poetry book "Hailstones and Halibut Bones," which was the inspiration for the "Adventures in Color" show.
The book is a series of poems about colors and what they make us imagine, smell, think, taste and feel. On stage, it was narrated by actor Jonathan McMurtry and performed by the City Ballet of San Diego. The Classics Philharmonic, conducted by Dana Mambourg Zimbric, provided the powerful sounds of strings, woodwinds, brass and percussion. The program will be performed for the public on Sunday at the Kroc center. Tickets start at $11 for children and $19 for adults.
The San Ysidro second-graders didn't walk into the concert hall without some preparatory teaching about the basic rhythms, tempos and dynamics of music composition. "Every second-grade class in the district received at least one workshop before the concert," Allen said.
Several San Ysidro teachers, a school board member and Allen received an orientation from Mambourg Zimbric, then went into the classrooms to provide information and demonstrations about different instruments and parts of an orchestra. Some offered translations of the poetry book in Spanish.
"When I did the workshop, all the kids acted like conductors," Allen said, as he motioned as if waving a baton.
For many of these kids, it was their first time in a concert hall. They oohed and aahed, clapped and giggled as they watched dancers ripple translucent blue sheets like waves on stage while musicians played famous compositions by composers such as Vivaldi, Holst and Ponchielli. "I thought it was going to be boring," said Cesar Santiago, 7, a student at Willow Elementary. "But it was fun. Different."
Cesar also talked about the vivid colors on stage, especially his favorite, blue. "Because it reminds me of the ocean," he said.
