Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, February 23, 1993 TAG: 9302230186
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: 1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: MELANIE S. HATTER STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
PRACTICING FOR PERFECTION
Before placing his violin to his chin, Lawrence Lee stretched out his left arm. His shirt sleeve pulled back to reveal his round watch. He glanced at it.The Roanoke Junior Strings Orchestra was practicing for its opening appearance at Radford University's Preston Auditorium on Sunday when it opens for the Roanoke Youth Symphony.
Lawrence, 10, noted the time: 6 o'clock. Practice was supposed to be over. But music director Joanne Steele wanted the group to play Disney's "Beauty and the Beast" one more time, from the top.
"Make Walt Disney proud," Steele said to her group of pre-teen musicians. She raised her arms.
There were some slouches. No smiles. Many furrowed brows. And a few violins aimed downward instead of up. But Disney would have been proud.
The Junior Strings had it down. After countless stops and starts and sections repeated over and over, the music came together perfectly. Well, almost.
"Very, very nice," Steele encouraged. But, "we need to avoid an open E string."
At almost 10 minutes after 6, and after 1 1/2 hours of rehearsing at Roanoke's Breckinridge Middle School, the youngsters were ready to leave. Parents waited patiently by the door of the music room, under the school's gym.
Steele, director of bands and orchestras at the middle school, had one more announcement to make about the concert in Radford: Wear dark trousers, a white shirt and a dark bow-tie.
The junior orchestra - 35 students from around age 8 to 12 - gives the young musicians a reason for taking lessons and playing, Steele said.
Like all performers, "they need to hear the roar of the crowd."
Orchestra members are chosen for their skill level, not their age, she said. The orchestra provides the ground work for advancement to the Youth Symphony, something Steele would like to see all her students do.
During the rehearsal Lawrence, who commutes from Blacksburg, shared his music stand with 11-year-old Ted Cecere of Roanoke. Both are first violinists. In between sets, they talked and joked with each other until Steele moved Ted to a seat next to her.
Despite the chatting and chuckles, the students are dedicated, said Steele. If they don't attend a rehearsal, it's due to illness or a school conflict.
After a short tune-up, the junior orchestra began with the string-plucking piece, "Pizzicato Popcorn."
Lawrence soon tired of it. He was eager to play "Beauty and the Beast." But the next was the Chaconne, a classical dance composition.
"It's very passionate," Steele said as her students turned their pages. "Oh my goodness, there's love in here or something." The youngsters giggled.
Their first attempt was slow and cautious. "Can we go faster?" Lawrence asked.
Robert McCleary turns to him and said: "She said, `let it rip.' "
The first violinists went at it with gusto. But Steele stopped them: She told the second and third violin sections not to let the first violinists rush them.
"If we rush, then we can do the whole thing," Robert, a first violin- Orchestra members are chosen for their skill level, not their age, she said. The orchestra provides the ground work for advancement to the Youth Symphony, something Steele would like to see all her students do. ist, said quietly.
Most of the young musicians started playing stringed instruments after a parent's suggestion or after seeing someone else play.
Second violinist Leigh Morris, 11, fell in love with the instrument when a violinist visited her pre-school class. Leigh, a student at Woodrow Wilson Middle School, said she remembers making a paper violin and "playing" it all the time.
Her parents took her desire seriously and signed her up for violin lessons. The first time she performed in public was at Fishburn Park Elementary a few years ago. Leigh was part of a string quartet.
"I got so nervous I missed a line of my music," she said with a giggle.
But the violin isn't for everybody. Ask Steele's 9-year-old daughter, Lauren. "It hurts," she said of having to balance it under the chin and hold it up with a semi-outstretched arm. She decided to go for something more comfortable, the cello, which she has played for two years.
Lauren didn't decide to join the Junior Strings until three weeks ago. But that probably won't exclude her from the concert in Radford.
Youth Symphony manager Jay Good, a cellist with the adult orchestra, sat with Lauren coaching her through the rehearsals. He encouraged her to play in Radford and promptly repeated the same message to her mother. Lauren wasn't phased. She said she's willing to give it a try.
"It's pretty easy to get into what they're doing," she said of the junior orchestra. The orchestra performs at least twice a year including the annual spring KinderKonzerts for pre-schoolers. Junior Strings and the Youth Symphony provide the only opportunity in the Roanoke and New River valleys for young people to perform in a symphonic ensemble.
Some of the musicians are teased for loving classical music but most say they're admired.
Ted says he performs for friends and family. "They think it's cool."