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Area sixth-graders take part in GCCC music clinic
Published 2/6/2012 in Local News
By RACHAEL GRAY
rgray@gctelegram.com
Heather White likes to make noise.
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Brad Nading/Telegram Estefania Robles, left, and Christopher Lozar are reflected in the bell of Marisol Mendoza’s trombone Saturday as the trio rehearse with other area sixth-graders in an honor band at Garden City Community College’s Pauline Joyce Fine Arts auditorium. The rehearsing culminated in an afternoon concert by the students. The trio are all from Johnson City.
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Brad Nading/Telegram Guest clinician Matthew Saunders runs through a selection with members of an area sixth-grade honor band Saturday during a rehearsal at GCCCÕs Pauline Joyce Fine Arts auditorium. Saunders is the director of instrumental music at Panhandle State University, Goodwell, Okla.
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Brad Nading/Telegram Sixth-grade trumpet players play a passage of a selection Saturday as they rehearse with other area students in an honor band at Garden City Community CollegeÕs Pauline Joyce Fine Arts auditorium.
Saturday at Garden City Community College, the 12-year-old got to do just that with 94 other sixth-graders from area southwest Kansas schools.
White, of Lakin, played percussion in the seventh annual Southwest Kansas Sixth Grade Honor Band.
During the clinic and concert, White said she played various instruments, including the tambourine, suspended cymbal and bass drum.
White said she liked playing the bass the best.
"It's the heartbeat of the band," she said.
The honor band Saturday was led by Matthew Saunders, director of instrumental music at Panhandle State University in Goodwell, Okla.
Saunders said before the clinic that he was looking forward to working with the sixth-grade students.
"They have a lot of enthusiasm and are ready to try anything. They're excited to be here and ready to go," he said.
Saunders said the clinic is a low-pressure situation that allows the students to relax and create music, instead of having to worry about competitions or contests.
Jim McAllister, GCCC director of bands and coordinator for the event, said he enjoys working with that age group.
"Everything is so new to them. For some, it may be the first time they've played with a band this size. They may not be playing in bands with tubas and horns, etc," he said.
The honor band gives young students a chance to come and work together, McAllister said.
"There have always been band clinics for students at the high school and college levels, but we try to do something that also reaches budding young musicians at an earlier stage of their development," McAllister said. "This event is also something that helps encourage the students to continue their involvement in music as they reach the upper grade levels. It really gives them an idea of the band experiences still ahead of them."
McAllister said that for most of the students, this is their second year in band. In order to make the honor band, teachers submitted lists of interested students, and McAllister built the band based on what parts were needed.
At 4 p.m. Saturday, the student band performed in the Pauline Joyce Fine Arts Building in a standing-room only auditorium.
Parents, relatives and friends came from surrounding communities to hear the band play. Band students were registered from schools in Ashland, Cimarron, Dighton, Jetmore, Johnson City, Lakin, Liberal, Minneola, the Plains and Kismet communities, Scott City, Tribune, Holcomb and Garden City.
The concert coincided with the opening reception on Sunday for the Archie Oliver painting exhibition in Mercer Gallery, located in the west wing of the fine arts building.
Saunders has taught music from the kindergarten to collegiate levels, in styles ranging from madrigal to mariachi, serving in Georgia and Ohio, as well as Oklahoma. At PSU, he offers courses in music theory, composition and instrumental music. He earned music degrees from the University of Cincinnati's College Conservatory of Music and Ohio State University.
He also is a composer, and his music has been performed across the United States. Saunders has given presentations for the College Music Society and the Society of Composers, earning the 2007 Ruth Friscoe Prize for composition. In addition, the Oklahoma Music Teachers Association named him a commissioned composer for 2011.
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