Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, February 23, 1993 TAG: 9302230079
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: 1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BECKY HEPLER STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
MOTIVATED BY MUSIC
The young man makes final adjustments to his instrument as he waits for the rest of the musicians to finish tuning up.He has long curly hair and bohemian-looking sandals. But this isn't your average metal head. When he opens his mouth his words trash any old-folk stereotypes about "today's teens."
"I don't really enjoy MTV," says Martin Morehouse, 16. "It's hurtful, nasty."
His instrument is the oboe, and he plays with the Roanoke Youth Symphony.
His calling demands long hours of practice, Sundays given over to rehearsals - usually in a place requiring a long commute from Radford - and a taste for music by guys who may have had long hair but have been dead at least a hundred years.
Still, Martin and his fellow players wouldn't have it any other way.
"I tell parents there are a lot of awful things happening to young people and perpetrated on them," said conductor James Glazebrook, a music professor at Virginia Tech. "But it's nice to know that in the midst of that, there are people like their kids. It makes you hopeful about the future."
Glazebrook said he makes some allowances for their levels of development, "but I really don't treat them any differently than I treat the adult musicians. I only treat them one way - as musicians."
There are some differences, however.
Giggling between selections, for one thing. And the black instrument cases can be vivid - like the cello case decorated with Ron Jon Surf Shop stickers.
But the commitment the students show is as serious as their older counterparts.
On a beautiful, sunny Sunday at the Roanoke Civic Center Auditorium, the young musicians have gathered for a practice. Next door, children and adults are streaming toward the coliseum where the circus is in town. But these students don't even look twice. They are gathered in small groups, rehearsing for their next big concert, Sunday at 3 p.m. at Radford University's Preston Auditorium.
The concert will include Bizet's "Carmen Suite," Mussorgky's "Night on Bald Mountain," Sibelius' "Finlandia," the finale from Beethoven's "Fifth Symphony" and selections from "Phantom of the Opera."
The 35-member Junior String Orchestra will open the program, which is free to the public.
These rehearsals go beyond preparing for that performance, though.
"Our job is to teach about symphonic music, what it sounds like, what its emotional values are and to understand what skills it takes to play and express that," says Glazebrook. "We are doing this to make musicians, but we also want to make them informed and enthusiastic members of the audience."
Music also is a healthy outlet for teen-age emotions, Glazebrook says.
"At no time are emotions more powerful and new than during adolescence," he said. "There is a kind of richness in the inner life that good music gives you, and it's worth giving expression to that."
Several of the youngsters draw enough inspiration to consider a career in music.
"It's something in me. I love to play, and to play all styles," said Josh Wirt of Christiansburg. He's planning a music education major when he goes to college.
Wirt, 17, has been playing the tuba for six years. He's in all the bands (marching, jazz, swing) and the chorus in high school.
"Playing with the strings, instead of just the wind instruments, is a challenge," he said. "It's more flowing, although not like jazz, which is your interpretation. It's my second year in the symphony, and I really enjoy it."
Jason Price, 17, of Blacksburg also intends to pursue a music-education career. He's a trumpet player and counts Wynton Marsalis and Roy Hargrove as influences.
"I've been listening more to the younger trumpet players lately because every time I'd get interested in some of these others, they'd die off," he said, citing Dizzy Gillespie, Miles Davis and Chet Baker.
Trumpet player Rebecca Wright, 16, of Christiansburg, another future music major, plays in the symphony because she loves it and it's fun to explore the different kinds of music. The principal horn player, she also appreciates the caliber of the other musicians.
"It's like playing in an all-district band," she said.
Other elements also inspire and motivate these students. For some, like trumpet player Stephanie Watts of Radford and cellist Carey Gerard of Christiansburg, it is the thrill performing for an audience.
Jenny Lambert, 14, of Christiansburg just loves the sound of her violin and the music.
For many of the guys, music is their sport and the fun is the challenge of the music, the instrument or the orchestra format, all of which tend to be more difficult than other musical styles.
Morehouse chose the oboe because it was listed in the Guiness Book of Records as the most difficult instrument to play.
Price, Wirt and Dana Allen of Roanoke cited the competitive nature of the orchestra as a draw.
Sometimes, it's destiny or genes that draw the student to the orchestra. Jeremiah Shaw of Blacksburg, at 12 one of the youngest musicians in the orchestra, gets lots of help and motivation for his cello playing from his father, Tom Shaw, cellist in the Audubon Quartet at Virginia Tech.
His parents drive him to Cleveland twice a month for cello lessons.
Still, his mother said Jeremiah must balance the orchestra with homework, soccer and Nintendo.
"He had to give up soccer this year because it took too much time and he wanted to get serious about the cello," Teresa Shaw said.
Jay Good of Roanoke, a celloist in the adult orchestra, manages the youth symphony. He said for many of the students the orchestra is their only opportunity to play in a group.
"Very few high schools have string programs or orchestras," he said. "The orchestra lets them play in a repertory setting."
That can be motivating.
Tom Reisinger of Blacksburg saw an immediate difference in his 15-year-old daughter, Emily, who plays violin for the orchestra.
"Her interest in the music and in practicing has done a 180-degree turn since she joined the orchestra. Before, it was just work, now she practices constantly," he said.
Another effect of being in the orchestra that students probably wouldn't mention - but parents definitely notice - is a rise in self-esteem.
Ellen Hannan's 14-year-old son, Nathan, plays the French horn in the symphony.
"Making the cut for the orchestra and playing in it has really built his self-confidence, especially since he has only been playing the horn for two years," said Hannan of Vinton, who played trombone in a band and orchestra when she was her son's age. These days, the two perform Mozart duets together just for fun.
"You can really see a difference in his attitude that carries over into other areas besides music," she said.
Wallace Easter, who is in the music department at Virginia Tech and plays principal horn in the adult orchestra, was at the rehearsal to conduct a master class for the horns. He sees two forces generating the excitement that draws young people to the orchestra.
"One is the beautiful music," he said. "It is inherently satisfying to know great music and to be able to perform it."
The other is the social aspect.
"The orchestra is something you do that you cannot do all by yourself," he said. "There is a synergism here. You may be good by yourself, but great in a group. It's quite exciting."
Roanoke Valley Youth Symphony and Roanoke Junior Strings: Sunday, 3 p.m., Radfortd University's Preston Auditoruium, Radford. 552-0912, 639-5298.
Memo: Correction ***CORRECTION***