That Was Cool

Like spinach or broccoli, classical music is something most kids might never learn to enjoy if left to discover on their own.

But cook it up in a tempting dish--seasoned with plenty of fun and excitement--and the first taste could lead to a lifetime of nourishing pleasure.

Bravo to the New West Symphony for reaching out to 10,000 Ventura County kids with its annual series of children’s concerts. The season began last week with performances at the Thousand Oaks Civic Arts Plaza and the Oxnard Performing Arts Center.

Expressing a deep and joyful love of music comes naturally to the musicians of the Thousand Oaks-based symphony and its conductor and musical director, Boris Brott. But when playing for third-, fourth- and fifth-graders, there’s room for a little more adventure than most adult audiences might handle.

The initial concerts combined Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony with variations on “Yankee Doodle” and a rhythmically complex piece by 20th-century Argentine composer Alberto Ginastera. Brott used sections of each piece to explain such musical elements as melody, harmony, counterpoint and rhythm, and also to introduce the instruments of the orchestra.

“I want them to walk away saying, ‘That was cool,’ ” Brott told The Times.

Brott’s approach owes much to the televised “Young People’s Concerts” of three decades ago in which Leonard Bernstein and the New York Philharmonic helped teach American youngsters about music. Brott, a Bernstein protege, says those performances were the model for this series and a similar program he runs for 60,000 schoolchildren in his native Canada.

The concerts are designed to culminate a music program started in the fall, with state-approved teaching materials passed out to classes scheduled to attend the concerts. Unfortunately, the classroom portion too often gets reduced or eliminated as schools displace the arts for core subjects. Many studies have shown that the study of music improves math skills, language facility and students’ ability to think creatively and work as a team.

We thank the Boris Brott and the New West Symphony for demonstrating why making music is referred to as “playing,” and we urge the community to support this worthy program.