A Harmonious Solution

Text Size: A | A | A

Print this Article Email this Article

Loading...

From left, Hector Zaragoza, 14, Adde Moore, 13, and Melissa Cloward, 14, play music by Bach during chamber orchestra class at St. Mary's School in Medford.Jim Craven

November 28, 2009

By Paris Achen

Mail Tribune

Three days a week, before Medford's St. Mary's School convenes for classes, orchestra director Mark Barnard directs a chamber orchestra class in the Brandenburg Sinfonia from Cantata No. 174.

On a recent morning, the symphony's harmony reverberated against the walls of classroom. Then, momentarily, the sounds of violins, horns, violas, basses, flutes, clarinets, oboes, trumpets and cellos fell out of sync.

But only momentarily, and then the instruments were back on pace.

"You know when the world comes together, we all come together," Barnard told the musicians.

"We are all coming together for the same thing. We are all in unison here."

It's Barnard's way of instructing the students to get back in sync.

It's also symbolic of the philosophy behind the creation of the class.

Half of the class comes from public schools in the Medford and Phoenix-Talent school districts and doesn't pay tuition to the private Catholic secondary school.

After budget cuts in education statewide, many public school districts, including Medford and Phoenix-Talent, pared their music programs. Chamber orchestra, a more advanced type of orchestra that usually involves auditions for admission, was eliminated, though concert orchestra remained intact in Medford, said Rich Miles, Medford elementary education director who oversees the music program.

When announcements of the cuts were made, Barnard was a substitute music teacher in the Medford School District who had recently moved to Southern Oregon from Centerville, Ohio.

Medford students said they were disappointed when they learned chamber orchestra no longer would be offered.

"I was quite sad actually," said violinist Kirsten Arthur, a senior at South Medford High School.

South Medford senior Jessica Carr, also a violinist, said she didn't want to go to college without being in a chamber orchestra class first.

"That class is for people who love music and want that step up," Carr said.

Then Barnard was hired as orchestra director at St. Mary's. He got together with Lynn Gervais, Medford's orchestra director, to talk about how the two orchestra programs could collaborate, and they came up with a way to maintain chamber orchestra for all the students.

Barnard asked his new boss, St. Mary's Principal Frank Phillips, for permission to teach a chamber orchestra class before school that would be at no cost to students, including public school pupils.

"I said, 'Yeah, no problem,' " Phillips said. "It's a win-win for all the students. It's like anything else. The more people you have, the better you play.'

The class is from 7:30 to 8:10 a.m., and Barnard takes no pay for that time, Phillips said. Medford, in turn, gives students both grades and credit for the class, Miles said.

"I thought it was great," Carr said.

Middle school students from Hedrick, McLoughlin and St. Mary's who play at the high school level also are invited to participate. Chamber orchestra isn't usually offered to St. Mary's middle school students, although a general band and orchestra class is offered at middle school.

"It allows advanced middle school students and advanced high school students to play together," Barnard said. "For the advanced Medford students, it allows students to play with the advanced St. Mary's students."

"I feel lucky because I probably wouldn't have been able to participate in chamber orchestra if it hadn't been for Medford joining in," said St. Mary's eighth-grader Duncan O'Boyle.

The collaboration between the schools has extended to performances, with the Medford schools and St. Mary's combining in a joint concert last month.

"I was really impressed at the level of all the groups," Barnard said. "When you come together as in any artistic collaboration, it's always a positive result and a bigger sound."

Music instruction is important because it gives students discipline and a sense of accomplishment that extends into other areas of their lives, Barnard says.

"I tell my students to change the world with the way you play your instrument," Barnard said. "You can think back to the fall of the Berlin Wall. Beethoven's Symphony No. 9 was being played by Leonard Bernstein. Music does have the opportunity to change lives, and music education certainly does that."

Reach reporter Paris Achen at 776-4459 or e-mail pachen@mailtribune.com.

Print this Article Email this Article