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Classical music for young ears Mail Tribune / Drew Fleming Jamie Peck�s masked dancers put new life into Modest Mussorgsky�s "Night on Bald Mountain" Sunday when the Rogue Valley Symphony performed at South Medford High School. The performance included works chosen for their appeal to children. Rogue Valley Symphony designs concert to create the next generation of music lovers By Bill Kettler Nothing wakes up classical music like a half dozen black-clad dancers wearing grotesque masks. And what could be better music for guys with horns and scary faces than "Night on Bald Mountain"? Jamie Peck�s masked dancers were the runaway favorite Sunday when the Rogue Valley Symphony introduced young people to the pleasures of "serious" music. The dancers leaped, swirled and gyrated across the stage while the orchestra performed the Modest Mussorgsky composition that has been a hit with youngsters since Disney animators gave it life in "Fantasia" 60 years ago. "We�re doing a little hard wiring on these kids� minds," said Peck, an Ashland mask maker, actor, dancer and choreographer. "Hopefully when they think about the symphony, they�ll think it�s something exciting." About 500 parents and children traveled to South Medford High School to hear a performance that included Benjamin Britten�s "Young Person�s Guide to the Orchestra," and the fourth movement of Brahms� Symphony No. 1 as well as Mussorgsky�s well-known composition. Symphony members gathered in the high school cafeteria an hour before the concert to meet children and show them their instruments. Ashland musician Jody Schmidt drew a crowd of curious youngsters while she explained the mysteries of her French horn. "One of the wonderful things about the French horn is that it�s so long," Schmidt said, showing 8-year-old Alex Ruppe the coiled spirals of metal tubing between the mouthpiece and the bell of the horn. "That lets us play really low notes." "What�s your favorite song?" tuba player Mike Knox asked a knot of inquisitive small boys who gazed spellbound at his huge instrument. When one little boy said "Jingle Bells," Knox obliged with what was surely the lowest rendering of a Christmas carol any of the kids had ever heard. Trumpet player Bruce Desser heard Knox�s solo as he walked by and tossed in a little harmony with his horn. "I really enjoy this show," said Desser, of Ashland. "I have a 5-year-old myself. The music is geared to connect with them." Schmidt and other members of the symphony said young people show less reserve than the mature crowd that usually attends symphony concerts. "You definitely feel (the kids�) appreciation right away," she said. "They get really excited. I love playing for kids." "Sometimes I think we have a better audience with the kids than we have with the old people," quipped cellist Debra Anker, of Ashland. Anker, a music teacher and mother of two, said many studies have shown children are never too young to begin to appreciate classical music. "There�s so much variety, and so much to hear," she said. "It�s much more stimulating. Popular music is just words." Anker said many youngsters have a surprising knowledge of classical music. "Kids know the titles (of many compositions)," she said, and some even have compact discs of popular pieces such as Mussorgsky�s "Night on Bald Mountain. Violinist Nancie Linn Shaw said meeting musicians helps children understand that music comes from real people. "When they meet a musician and watch them play their instrument (prior to a concert), then they can sit out there and see that same person playing their instrument." The symphony and the dancers performed several times last week for children from Medford and Ashland schools. School teachers who perform in the symphony were introduced during those concerts and drew cheers from their students. Peck, the dance leader, said children who see their teachers as musicians begin to understand that music can come from ordinary people, not just compact discs. "This removes the idea that music is made by someone else," he said. "Music is made by the school teachers and the district attorneys and people around town who get together and make this fantastic event." Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2000 Mail Tribune, Inc.