Guitar Quartet Cooks Up ‘Harmonious Taco’ to Teach Children About Chamber Music

Bill Kanengiser told the students that he and his three partners were going to create a musical taco.

One by one, the four classical guitarists began to play. The first plucked the beat to create the shell. Then another chimed in with the melody, providing the meat. Finally the other two joined in, one with a strum that Kanengiser described as the lettuce, the other as the cheese. By the time they had finished, they had created the popular Mexican song, “La Bamba.”

“What about the tomatoes?” yelled a boy in the back of the audience.

That drew a chuckle from Kanengiser, a member of the Los Angeles Guitar Quartet, as well as from about 150 students at Andrew Jackson Elementary School in Altadena, who were being introduced to chamber music arranged for the guitar. The creation of the taco showed how each instrument plays a different role in creating a musical piece.

“We just want to give them an experience in music,” said the 27-year-old Kanengiser, who acted as emcee of the program for Jackson’s 440 students.

The appearance by the quartet, made up of Kanengiser, John Dearman, Scott Tennant and Andrew York, was arranged by the Coleman Chamber Music Assn. of Pasadena. The group will perform at about 20 elementary schools in the Pasadena Unified School District this season. Its program, “The World of the Classical Guitar,” includes rock ‘n’ roll, Spanish, classical and country music and an explanation of each style.

“I hope that they can learn without having it pushed down their throats,” said Dearman, 30. “We want them to understand . . . the guitar, chamber music and music in general. We want them to learn it in a fun way and not preach it to them.”

In addition to the school concerts, which it has been presenting since 1955, the Coleman group also brings chamber-music ensembles to Beckman Auditorium at Caltech and organizes competitions for young musicians from throughout the United States.

During the group’s performance, Kanengiser tried to involve the children in the music, urging them to clap their hands and slap their knees. He asked them to try to identify the style of music they heard and explained different ways to play the guitar.

“We’ve found if we just play a piece, they just sit there and don’t listen,” Kanengiser said. “With the older kids we like to give them the idea of what it’s like to play the guitar.”

To the children’s delight, Kanengiser danced as he described rock ‘n’ roll and spoke softly (“Jazz is cool, man”) during the jazz pieces. He also adopted accents when talking about the Spanish and country styles.

“I didn’t even plan to get as wild as I got,” he said. “But for me, that’s just as much fun as playing.”

Mia Strassle, of the Coleman group, said the guitar quartet was a big hit with the children, who often resist efforts to interest them in classical music.

“He’s (Kanengiser) quite a ham. I think they have good rapport with the audience,” Strassle said.

“They can play lots of kinds of songs. It was very interesting,” said Amaris Herron, 8, a third-grader at Jackson.

The guitar is “very fun to use,” fifth-grader Luis Cosio, 11, said, adding that he favored rock music over classical.

Laura Malis, a curriculum resource teacher at Jackson, said groups such as the quartet are helpful in teaching elementary-school-age children about music.

“It’s very important,” she said. “Especially in some areas where children don’t get a chance to go to museums or concerts. It’s important for them to know the culture that’s available to them because they may not get down to L.A.”

Principal Thomas Kaminski said the Coleman Chamber Music Assn. sends a group to Jackson almost every year, either quartets or quintets that often specialize in a particular instrument, such as strings, woodwinds or brass. This is the first time the guitar has been featured.

“It’s important because it provides an enrichment beyond the basic curriculum in the school district,” he said. “This is a very poor school. They (the children) don’t have the exposure that other people have.

“Maybe this will inspire them. Maybe they’ll go out and see an opera. That’s the intent of most assemblies.”

The Coleman Chamber Music Assn. uses funds donated by the Ralph M. Parsons Foundation, Avery International Foundation and American Federation of Musicians Local 47 to help pay for the programs. Individual schools and Parent-Teacher Associations also pay part of the cost.

Kanengiser said the members of the quartet met in 1980 while they were majoring in guitar at the University of Southern California.

“We’ve been playing concerts in Mexico and the United States for five years,” said Kanengiser, who also teaches at USC. “This is a big departure for us. Usually we’re just a recital group.”