Any way the winds blow

Gary Moskowitz

The sounds of sonatas and cadenzas filled the auditorium at John

Marshall Elementary School on Tuesday as five members of the Glendale

Symphony Orchestra performed for faculty and students.

“I like the high notes,” 11-year-old Vanui Barakezian said. “I

have been playing the piano for one year and I like it because it

sounds nice. I feel like a professional when I play it.”

A quintet made up of Salpy Kerkonian on flute, Catherine Del Russo

on oboe, Leslie Lashinsky on bassoon, Roy D’Antonio on clarinet and

Delores Stevens on piano performed for Marshall students as part of

the Ensembles in the Schools program.

The Women’s Committee of the Glendale Symphony brings symphony

musicians to Glendale schools, and each year, a different section of

the orchestra is selected. This year, students are getting exposed to

the woodwind family of instruments through live performances,

demonstrations and discussion.

Each musician took a turn explaining their instrument, informing

students that a bassoon consists of 10 feet of tubing and that a

clarinet, invented 300 years ago, is the youngest of the orchestra’s

instruments.

Bassoonist Leslie Lashinsky played a jazzy piece about a squirrel,

asking students to think about the movements of squirrels as she

played quick and bouncy notes.

“I hope they go home and tell their parents what they saw and

heard today,” Lashinsky said. “Even better, I hope they begin to

listen for this kind of music every day, on the radio, at the grocery

store or wherever. We want to engage their imaginations.”

Sixth-grade teacher Armineh Antonian said having music just three

days each week at the school is not enough, and elementary students

throughout the district need to have more hands-on exposure to it.

Antonian frequently plays classical music on a small, portable stereo

in her room during instructional time.

“It is absolutely necessary for the students,” Antonian said. “I

have many students who are very excitable, and music helps calm them

down. I don’t think we have enough music programs here.”