Behind the scenes

Coral Wilson

It was the beginning of spring, but the weather felt more like

summer. The hot sun warmed up classrooms, a humid breeze rustled the

leaves, birds hid silently in the shade of the trees, and the flies

were buzzing. At Sun View Elementary School in Huntington Beach, the

melodic sound of squeaky recorders and children’s voices streamed out

from the open doors of the music room.

The fourth-grade students were busy rehearsing for their upcoming

spring concert, The Fourth and Fifth Song Fest. The 58 children were

adding the finishing touches to the program, focusing on performing

in unison.

“OK class, you need to wake up, you need to watch me,” said Gene

Goto, district music specialist.

Goto instructed the students to lift their recorders, face forward

and sing all together.

But the students were distracted. The boys lifted their shirts to

wipe the sweat from their foreheads and the girls pulled their long

hair off their necks. Stopping to yawn or scratch their heads, their

eyes wandered and they shot quick glances over at their neighbor’s

fingers while playing the more difficult parts.

Katrina Snape, 10, Sheena Bowker, 10, and Melanie Knox, 9, stepped

forward to the microphone to sing, “Somewhere Over the Rainbow.”

“Don’t try to push your voice higher than the others,” Goto

cautioned them. “I need you to blend in with the rest of the class.”

Preparing for the long, high notes ahead, Sheena took a deep

breath. Then the music started.

“How many of you ran out of breath,” Goto asked.

Three hands went up.

“What are you going to do about it?” he asked. “Take a breath!”

Next the class worked on stopping in unison. Goto instructed them

to stand still, as long as his arms were up. He pointed out that some

children had started to look around before the music was over.

“The audience will look for the people who aren’t doing the same

thing,” he said. “That’s just human nature.”

If everyone is looking left and one person turns right, the

audience will look to the right, he added. The children laughed and

straightened up.

On the next trial, one voice could still be heard after the others

had stopped.

“If that happens, don’t look at the person who did it,” Goto said.

“That’s even worse.”

They practiced another “Wizard of Oz” song and the song “Nature

Baby.” Then Goto asked them if they were ready.

“How many of you can honestly say you know the notes for Aunt

Baggy’s Roadie?” he asked.

The children were squirming and wilting in the heat. Nobody

responded. At their teacher’s request, the students collapsed on the

floor. They moaned and groaned loudly to express their exhaustion.

“B, B, A, G, G,” Goto reviewed the notes with them as the children

played on their recorders.

“So you know it then. That’s it,” he decided after a couple

trials.

The next area that needed work was entering and exiting the stage

-- not so easy for 58 children to coordinate. They rehearsed stopping

at the correct place, judging an appropriate distance, standing still

and looking straight ahead.

They would have only two more days to practice at home.

“I wish you the best of luck,” he said. “Just remember where you

are supposed to be looking.”

* CORAL WILSON is a news assistant who covers education. She can

be reached at (714) 965-7177 or by e-mail at

coral.wilson@latimes.com.