The sounds of young musicians exploring their instruments filled the Mineola Middle School auditorium last Friday at the beginning of a concert that was the culmination of the Mineola Summer Music program.
The beginning strings trio of fourth graders – two violinists and a cellist – held their own with renditions of “Rolling Along” and “Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star,” and accepted the applause of parents and family members who filled the hall with smiles when they were done.
“It was scary,” said Kaitlin Servinskas about her first steps in learning the violin over two weeks preceding the performance. “At first, I had no idea of what I was doing, but then I got the hang of it.”
She’s planning to keep playing as she goes into fourth grade in the fall.
Cellist Jennifer Moglia, also going into fourth grade, enjoyed the experience – especially the duet she performed with John Watts, a student teacher in the program, who she taught to play the cello.
“It was kind of cool because I was being taught. Then it was like, ‘Yay, I’m a teacher’,” she said.
Watts, a junior majoring in music education and composition at New York University, graduated from Mineola High School and once performed on the same middle school stage he shared with the novice cellist. His career goal is to become a music teacher
“It’s interesting being a student here for many years and then being a teacher. Being a teacher for five years is really incredible,” Watts said.
Brandon Sia, who’ll start his junior year at Mineola High School this fall, enjoyed working as a volunteer, passing on the basics as a violinist, clarinetist and saxophonist to the younger players.
“I like teaching the little kids the fundamentals. Once you know the fundamentals, you’ll be able to get it right away,” Sia said.
He particularly enjoys the experience of working with Karen Frazer, who was his music teacher at the middle school. And Frazer enjoys the process of guiding the young students in the summer program through their first music lessons.
“It’s really incredible. You just want to nurture their interest in music. You have to let them know it’s okay to make mistakes,” Frazer said.
There were 50 students registered for the two sessions of the summer program, which comprises two weeks of lessons for two hours each morning. The tuition is $145 for the self-sustaining program, which included students from second grade through eighth grade. This is the first year that the Mineola School District is offering music education to third graders.
“These kids are great. They come in the morning and they have a good time,” said Peter Freeman, district supervisor of fine and performing arts.
The beginning band followed the beginning strings, struggling a bit through “Mary Had a Little Lamb” and other tunes as the horns produced a few inadvertent honks, but generally held the melodies.
“You have to encourage them,” said Mark Bennett, the middle school music teacher who conducted them.
The Intermediate Strings produced a more finished performance of “At the Grasshopper Ball” and “Hot Potato,” a piece that required the players to alternately pick up the melody as the piece’s title implies.
Rebecca Thomas, a fourth year cello student who’s going into seventh grade, spent her two weeks in the summer program practicing the flute for an hour and the cello during the second hour.
“I have a lot of fun playing,” she said. “You got individual attention.”
Her father, Bobby Thomas, said the summer program was beneficial for the students’ development as musicians.
‘“This is a great opportunity they have to come in the summer and freshen up their skills,” he said.
