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55 °F Forecast | Road Cams Monday, April 5, 2004 Today's News | Classifieds | Autos | Homes | Jobs | Tempo | Health | Community | Home Delivery SECTIONS Home Page Local News Sports Business Obituaries Life Opinion - Politics AP News Weather Classified Archives Site Map EXTRA Newspaper in Education Personals Movie Times TV Times E The People CLASSIFIEDS Find a Car Find a Home Find a Job Find a Rental Place an ad eSouthernOregon Automotive Communities Entertainment Publications Recreation Calendar CUSTOMER SERVICE Frequent Questions Advertising Information Home Delivery Employment Contact Us Media Kit Network Affiliate Email Story to a Friend March 29, 2004 Kela Alleman, left, and Madeline Wilson play their flutes in the back of Larry�s Music store in Medford. The academy is designed for students without access to music programs. Mail Tribune / Jim Craven As some local schools struggle with music cuts, a private music academy seems to have hit ... Just the right note Ross Welcome’s combination of discipline, humor and patience appeals to kids By JOHN DARLING for the Mail Tribune As money-starved public schools pull out of music education, one man in red sneakers, colorful tie and ponytail is stepping forward to fill the void. To the rhythm of "London Bridge" and "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star," Ross Welcome waves his baton and offers the gift of music to third- through sixth-graders at his new Music West Academy, tucked in the spacious back room of Larry’s Music on North Riverside Avenue in Medford, where he works. "It sounds like music in the public schools is fast becoming a thing of the past," said Cindy Dosser of Medford. "So I’m putting Marissa (her 9-year-old daughter) in here and, in fact, am going to start home-schooling. "It’s very important for children to have music as a way of learning to express themselves and gain self-confidence." Welcome drew 19 students, most of them home-schoolers, for beginning band in his first 12-week term, which is just finishing up. As the academy grows, he expects to broaden enrollment to public school kids, offering both beginning and intermediate band. If attendance warrants, he’ll branch out into orchestra and more modern forms of music — jazz and rock — later on. "I’m a big advocate of music for young people," said Welcome, 43, of Grants Pass, who taught music to Cave Junction elementary kids as a volunteer when that district cut music. Advertisement "I know the importance of what it did for me as a teenager, helping me write down my feelings — sadness, anxiety, depression — in very trying times. It saved me from being self- destructive and running away." Welcome took band in school, plays several instruments and now is percussionist with two Rogue Valley groups, the Celtic Imbas and New Age rock band Pacific Auracle. Parents give Welcome high marks for patience, humor and discipline in passing along the intricacies of music to young people as they wrap their minds around the basic instruments — flute, clarinet, saxophone, trumpet and drums. The more complex instruments, the strings, start next term. "Ross really relates to kids. He makes it fun for them and it’s been wonderful," said Lanny Carpenter of Central Point. Her son, Samuel, "has picked up the sax very quickly and seems to have a knack with it. He has attention deficit but he’s been diligent about practice with this." "It’s easy," said the 11-year-old. "We learn fast. He really knows how to teach us." "My daughter Kela has never picked up an instrument, but she’s playing flute well after 12 weeks," said Susan Alleman of the Applegate. "It’s awesome. He’s good." "It was hard at first, but now my fingers seem to know what to do," said Kela, 10. "Ross is funny. He makes us laugh and have fun." Lisa Bock of Medford called the academy the "perfect opportunity" to get her 8-year-old daughter Claire started in music. "A really nice thing about it is that she’s with other kids making music and doesn’t have to do it alone in private lessons," Bock said. After raising four children, Welcome is now back in school, getting his bachelor’s degree in music and education at Southern Oregon University and hoping for a music teaching post "if there are any out there when I graduate." If not, said Larry Darnell of Larry’s Music, then the new academy will just expand to fill the likely demand. Darnell and Welcome hope to arrange public school credit for academy instruction. "If schools discontinue music, as they are now," said Darnell, "it’s going to leave a big void for kids. We want to be there, offering band at a reasonable price and in a classroom environment so they’re not alone in private lessons. "It’s a terrible thing to lose art and music from children’s lives and we want to do our part to fill the void." John Darling is a free-lance writer living in Ashland. E-mail him at [email protected]. How to sign up Music West Academy is taking signups for spring term after-school classes. They will be held from 2:45 to 6 p.m. Tuesdays and Thursdays at Larry’s Music, 1105 N. Riverside Ave., Medford. Cost is $40 a term. Call Ross Welcome at 1-541-287-0033 or Larry’s Music at 773-9751. Mail Tribune Home Local News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Life Opinion - Politics | AP News | Archives | Site Map E Southern Oregon | Classified Copyright © 1997-2004 Mail Tribune. All rights reserved. Privacy Policy | Terms & Conditions Website Feedback 3 WEEKS FREE! 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