San Marcos Elementary may be producing a few budding musicians.
A few students waved their index fingers or arms, mimicking conductor Matt Garbutt's movements at the San Diego Symphony hall yesterday. The orchestra played scores by John Williams, including music from the Harry Potter, Star Wars and Indiana Jones movies.
K.C. ALFRED / Union-Tribune
San Marcos Elementary third-graders David Canseco (left), Omar Lemus and Erick Murga attended the Young People's Concert yesterday at Copley Symphony Hall. One goal of the school trip was to introduce the students to music they may not have heard before.
|
The goal of the school trip was to introduce young minds to music they may not have heard before, to inspire their imaginations and to explain how music affects emotions.
Some students, like 11-year-old Memo Cordova, soaked it all in.
All the pieces sounded wonderful to his ears, Memo said. “It was surprising that they could change notes so fast,” he said. “That they could make a living off playing music.”
Memo, a fifth-grader, said he plays the flute, but wants to master the trumpet or harp for a future career in music. He listens to Beethoven with his uncle and has been to a few instrumental performances, he said, unlike a majority of the 400 students who attended yesterday's show with their teachers and some parents.
The San Marcos school received a $3,000 grant from Advocates for Classical Music, a nonprofit group in San Diego, to buy tickets for yesterday's Young People's Concert. The school serves a large number of children from low-income families and many English-language learners. They were joined by hundreds of other students from schools throughout the county.
Not everyone, however, was in love with the music. Some fifth-graders said they usually listen to hip-hop, reggaeton and rap. One boy said he got sleepy during the slow parts, such as the love theme from Indiana Jones.
K.C. ALFRED / Union-Tribune
The San Diego Symphony played music from the Harry Potter, Star Wars and Indiana Jones movies for 400 hundred students.
|
Then again, people have different tastes. Principal Candy Singh said a girl who was sitting in front of her turned around during “Hedwig's Theme” from Harry Potter and told her the music was so beautiful.
The instrument used at the beginning was the celeste, which gives off a dreamy kind of sound, and is also heard in “The Nutcracker.”
The conductor pointed out how different sounds inspire emotions. For example, trumpets were featured in the heroic theme of Indiana Jones.
Guest speaker Larry Groupé, a film and TV composer, showed a clip from “The Contender,” a political thriller that he worked on, the first time without any music. It showed actor Christian Slater, who played a politician in the movie, strolling through a hallway lined with portraits of presidents.
Groupé said music provides the audience with a sense of a character's thoughts, and in this case whether the politician's thoughts were positive or dark as he looked at the paintings. The orchestra played an uplifting piece with string instruments, and then added horns to evoke a sinister mood.
Dillon Reandeau, 8, said he was captivated by the “Star Wars” theme song. It's his favorite movie of all time and he wants to play Anakin one day. “I was feeling like I was in the movie,” the third-grader said.
Music teacher Michelle Coonan said she had prepared students for yesterday's concert with information sent by the symphony. They studied different types of instruments, listened to the scores on a CD and learned about symphony etiquette, including when to clap, she said.
“They talked about going to the symphony every day,” Coonan said. “I had to make a calendar and mark off the days.”
Linda Lou: (760) 737-7574; linda.lou@uniontrib.com
