A Master Plan : Chorale Sends Quartet to Schools to Introduce Children to a Variety of Musical Styles

As 9-year-old Amanda Yoshida wriggled into her seat in the Loara School auditorium, she whispered: “I hope this isn’t an opera.”

Her seatmate, Sean Dunnahoe, also 9, grimaced and nodded as a tuxedoed tenor named Gary Busby began to talk about music as a universal language. A moment later, when Busby and three other performers from the Orange County Master Chorale burst into song, Amanda and Sean grew quiet, eyes wide.

Busby had proved his point.

Music is a universal language.

And when the singers sneaked an aria from “Carmen” into the program, Amanda listened in awe, admitting later: “It’s the only one I really like.”

Educating children about music while keeping them entertained is the quartet’s goal. For 12 years the Master Chorale has been communicating with children through music, teaching them a variety of musical styles, forms and concepts.

The group brought its program to Loara Elementary School in Anaheim recently, where singers presented a 45-minute show that included everything from “Carmen” to “Beauty and the Beast.” Performers even threw in a finger-snapping rendition of “The Addams Family” and closed with a rap song written especially for their traveling show.

This year the group performed at 60 Orange County schools, staging shows in classrooms, auditoriums and playgrounds. The purpose of the program is to educate children in kindergarten through the sixth grade, according to Sandra McCune, community outreach director for the chorale.

“Even if the kids come in with the attitude, ‘I’m not going to like this,’ they end up liking it. The music reaches into their pores,” says McCune, a former classroom teacher who serves as pianist for the group.

Since the program’s inception, McCune says it has been presented in every school district in Orange County. Programs are funded by the school districts or by private foundations and individual donations. Shows feature four professional soloists--soprano, alto, tenor and bass. Performers wear concert dress--black tie for men, floor-length black gowns for women.

“It’s important to dress up,” McCune says. “So we wear tuxedos for kids to see what they look like, and for them to realize that this is important to us.”

McCune says the outreach program is based on the premise that the arts provide a positive influence in the lives of children.

“Many kids have never been to a concert,” she says. “I feel we have to give kids a positive alternative, a way to spend their time.”

If more children became involved in music, McCune says, there would be fewer school dropouts, drug abusers and gang members.

Teacher Jennie Frank, whose third-grade class attended the concert at Loara, agrees. “If they have somewhere to go--not only music, but a lot of other things--then it does keep them away from gangs and drugs,” she says.

Frank points out that Loara, like many other schools hit by budget cuts, does not have a formal music program. The chorale performance was the first time many pupils had ever seen a concert, she says.

“Quite a few of our students wouldn’t get to see a live performance like this. The children really liked it. They liked the fact that they sang in different languages. And it was fast-paced, which really held their interest,” she says.

Keeping the show moving is the job of Busby, who serves as master of ceremonies.

“You can tell pretty quickly how well they respond,” he says, “and we can vary the show.”

Busby says he enjoys performing for children because “they get easily beyond themselves, and adults don’t respond as freely. You can tell a lot about a school by the way the kids respond. We like to do a lot of play with them.”

Throughout the program, children are asked to join in on the singing, hand-clapping, feet-stomping or finger-snapping that accompanies some of the more popular numbers. Even during Carter Scott’s performance of the “Carmen” aria, kids were encouraged to raise their hands every time Scott sang the word “L’amour.”

McCune, who puts together the programs, says the shows are designed to appeal to a variety of children.

“We perform for kindergarten through six, as well as for developmentally disabled and gifted children,” she says. “And in the 45 minutes, what I hope to do is not only offer them something they may not have heard before, but I try to have something for all age levels and all cultural and ethnic backgrounds.”

McCune hopes that some kids who see the concert may be inspired to become involved in a musical group, such as a choir, band or orchestra. Through music, she says, kids learn skills they can use in the classroom as well as everyday life.

“All the arts teach you a lot of things like self-discipline, patience, problem-solving,” she says. “Research has shown that students who develop musical talents also seem to achieve higher academic standards. Music offers children a way of expressing themselves. It gives them the opportunity to excel or achieve something for themselves and that leads to increased self-esteem.

“It doesn’t mean that everybody needs to become a Vladimir Horowitz,” McCune quickly adds. “I just feel strongly that these are the kinds of opportunities we need to offer kids--not just music, but in the visual arts, too.

“I am really passionate about this. When we go into the classroom we see kids really hungry for these experiences. As a performer you look up and see the joy and wonderment on the face of a child. That’s great for the performer on stage. We receive as much as we give.”