4th Grader Performs at Spring Concert in Seattle
Posted by glennled on May 25, 2010
Surprise! the condu
ctor at the spring concert last night at an elementary school in downtown Seattle also conducted at the previous
school concert I attended two weeks ago in North Seattle (see post below). He does double duty–whew! That would exhaust me.
At this school, the music program consists of four parts: beginning strings, brass, and winds; intermediate winds and strings; advanced band and strings; and orchestra. For the concert program, there were 8 group performances. My fourth-grade cornet student is in the Intermediate Winds group, along with two trumpet players. I recognized his tone. He has progressed so fast and far this year! His group played “Sawmill Creek,” “Regal March,” and “Minor Rock.” He played well and was very well behaved the entire night.
I was proud of him, but not nearly as much, I’m sure, as were his grandparents, sister, and parents, who filmed the event. They said many musicians from this school eventually feed into Garfield High School. And as we know, Garfield recently won the nationwide Essentially Ellington jazz competition in New York for the fourth time. Is that the direction my guy is headed? Let’s just wait and see what happens next year…one step at a time, please. Remember the adage, “A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.”
Glenn's Trumpet Notes 
B's Mom said
Thanks for coming Glenn! You are one dedicated teacher– sitting through Christmas carols (in May?) and all of the ensembles. It meant a lot to B. that you were there.
glennled said
I enjoy music, and as I watch these families filming their young sons and daughters on stage performing at ther best, especially B., I am taken back to when I did the same with my own two sons. It’s a Good Life!
wewhite said
Thanks for the concert review. It’s been a pleasure working with the students at Lowell Elementary, helping them to learn how to operate their instruments and how to make music. There has been substantial improvement in many of the students’ playing since I started in January, taking over for Tim Burk. I’m hoping that the students choose to play over the summer and continue playing next year. Seattle Public Schools has an excellent record for jazz and straight ahead performances in national competitions. This is where that starts, along with parental support and input from teachers like you. Now I have to go prepare for 3 more concerts next week!
Cheers!
Walter White
EIM instructor–Lowell Elementary
EIM instructor
glennled said
Three more next week!? How do you do that, year after year? Congratulations on the results you are achieving at this foundational level where, as you say, it all gets started and then builds and builds to the highest levels. You could not have more appreciative audiences than those who attend school concerts such as yours.