Duke gives third-graders music lesson

BY GEMMA MANGIONE

DURHAM -- Ryka McKoy and Jessica McQuaig may not be world-famous flutists quite yet, but they're working on it.

"The flute is really hard," said Jessica, 9, examining the instrument's silvered keys with a furrowed brow. "I can't even blow music out of it!"

Ryka didn't seem too concerned, adding that she would "rather learn the saxophone" anyway.

"It's because I listen to a lot of jazz," the Glenn Elementary School third-grader said. "I don't really even like jazz, but I wouldn't mind learning to play it in a band one day!"

More than 800 third-graders from The Durham Public Schools attended the 40th anniversary performance of the Duke Wind Symphony's "Kidz Konzert" on Thursday. The show, held in Duke's domed Baldwin Auditorium, allows budding virtuosos to meet band members, try out some instruments, sing along to parts of the program and learn about proper concert behavior.

Conductor Randy Guptill called the repertoire a balance between "old favorites" -- including sing-along versions of "The Star-Spangled Banner" and "This Land is Your Land" -- and some "exciting surprises."

"I always ask the music teachers if there's something we can play that goes with their curriculum," Guptill said. "This year, however, they requested Harry Potter. They said their kids would really like to hear that Harry Potter music. And you know, the music is not so easy. We worked really hard at it!"

The district's elementary schools are split into three rotations, so each elementary school attends the concert every third year. This year, students from eight schools were captivated as the 40-member symphony of Duke undergraduate and graduate students tooted their way through "Tubby the Tuba," a narrative piece about a tuba who never gets to play solo.

Duke sophomore Amanda Lee said her favorite part of the concert happened before the music even began, when she got to interact with students curious about the flute she has played for more than seven years.

"I really enjoy it when all of the kids come through and we get to talk to them and show them our instruments," said Lee, who studies chemistry. "They ask a lot of questions -- they want to know the highest note we can play, or the lowest note. The tuba is a very popular instrument, as well as the trombone, because they make the funniest sounds, or so I've been told."

Aubrey Clayton, music teacher at Eno Valley Elementary School, said students could "relate to the younger symphony members."

"It shows them that young people can play music, even cool music," Clayton said. "The students learn that it's not just about old people playing classical dirges."

Paul Bryan, who conducted the first "Kidz Konzert" in 1966 and each ensuing performance until his retirement in 1988, said the program benefited the kids for two reasons.

"First, they get a fun, live concert -- they get to hear good things at a level that is accessible to them," said Bryan, who also narrated "Tubby the Tuba." "Then, they learn how to comport themselves, how not to jump up and down, to really listen to the music, to applaud when a piece is finished.

"How many kids know something about any kind of music at all these days?" Bryan asked. "What they hear is usually just a whole lot of noise. These concerts show students they can enjoy music with a little novelty, but in the end, it's all about substance."

© Copyright by The Durham Herald Company. Original copyright 2004. Copyright renewed 2005. All rights reserved. All material on heraldsun.com is protected by U.S. and international copyright laws and may not be reproduced or redistributed in any medium except as provided in the site's Terms of Use.