Full House…Standing Room Only at BCLC's First Annual Spring Concert
Under the direction of infant teach Marion Mike-Coury, Blind Children's Learning Center hosted its First Annual Spring Music Concert at Hewes Middle School On June 17, 2006. There was almost 100% attendance by students and parents. It was one of the most successful events ever! Many community supporters, BCLC volunteers, and music lovers of all ages were in attendance. There were over 500 people watching our students and former students display their talents and love for music!
Through Jan Larsen, and her granddaughter Shree, several professional musicians have donated their time and talents to assist in providing music appreciation as well as hands on time with some students experiencing musical instruments for the first time. These musicians also helped us to prepare for this Concert.
Jack Reidling: began playing piano at the age of 3. He is a well -known pianist in Orange County. He has also played with the Jimmy Dorsey, Sy Zentner, Ray Anthony, Harry James, and other big bands. He plays both classical and jazz. In retirement, he spends a great deal of his time accompanying music major college students for their exams. Jack has performed with the Long Beach Symphony, Pacific Symphony, Glendale Symphony and the Great Lakes Symphony. He also was the featured musician at the Hollywood Bowl where he played the Rhapsody In Blue. Jack accompanied our children on the piano during our concert!
Frank Amoss has been the president of the local 7 musicians union for several years. He is the leader of the Frank Amoss Big Band. Frank also traveled with a number of the big bands. Frank was on hand during the school year to meet our children. Frank played the drums during our concert and was a fabulous addition to our Concert.
Mike Peak is a businessman and plays bass. He supports jazz festivals around the United States and does a lot of fundraising for various schools promoting music. Mike has been with us at school and was with us on Saturday! We were honored to have these wonderful, professional musicians at our side!
Jason Weingard: has played cello for 35 years. He plays with chamber music groups around the area and at Saddleback College. Jason has been coming almost every Monday for the past 3 month to assist in our BCLC Music program. He has brought other musicians and performers to our school and has been so appreciated by all. For many of our children, their favorite instrument is the "jello". Jason helped us through our practice sessions and was hands on with helping us set up on Saturday morning!
Don Hawkins: is in demand as a woodwind player and is a music teacher. He worked at Disneyland and has played with groups around Orange County for many years. Don has been a featured artist at BCLC and will be back again!
Keith Delaney started playing drums at the age of 8. He has been teaching drums for 10 years. He has provided drum support for many recording sessions and live performances. Keith has been working with BCLC's students one on one with drums. With his help, we have cultivated several talented drummers that were featured at the concert.
Raymond Ward donated his time as our photographer for the special event. The sound system and technology were provided by Joe Mulroy.
Parents, under the direction of Rosario Sanchez, have been baking cookies for months in preparation for this event and not one cookie remained after the event!
Every child in every class participated in the preparation for this Spring Concert. In addition to our current children attending, we also invited several former students who have pursued their musical talents through private music lessons because of their introduction to music at BCLC! Under the direction of piano teacher Beth Naoke, former students, Rebecca Steege, Austin Gessler, and current student Christina Laty played solo pieces on the keyboard. Other former graduates included the Blatchford Triplets, Ben, Sam and Rory, who sang for us.
Kodi Lee, 9, is a former student of BCLC and is a music savant who plays the piano, harmonica and sings. Kodi has been on tours internationally. Kodi just returned from his concert tour in China this week. Kodi performed flawlessly at this concert with Jack Reidling, Frank Ammos, and Mike Peek joining in the excitement for a musical bonanza! Kodi has practiced with our students over the last several months and has been a mentor for them. They all know and love him, and Kodi feels right "at home" with our. BCLC kids. Especially at Circle Time! As a matter of fact, 6 year-old Christopher Jackson, also known as CJ, has been following in Kodi's footsteps. CJ plays the keyboard, the drums and has perfect pitch. When CJ first heard Kodi Lee sing the Star Spangled Banner, he immediately tried to repeat it. CJ has it "down pat" now and will sing it on Graduation Day!
Kamryn Cummings, a precious 5 year-old who has captured the hearts of all who have come to know her is a child who is blind and can identify songs and composers with just the first bar of music played! Kamryn stunned our guest violinist, Paula St. John, when she correctly identified Mozart, Vivaldi, and Beethoven! , Kamryn would not wear shoes until the age of almost 3. Her first shoes were tap shoes because she could "make music with her feet". Kamryn Cummings was featured at our concert, tapping to Mama's Little Baby Loves Shortnin'Bread.
To see the impact that music makes in the lives of these children was a touching experience. It has changed the lives of our children and has allowed the public to see the possibilities. Children, who could not open their hands to use them functionally, are opening them fully to beat the new Remo drums that were so generously donated.
To our BCLC, music is more than just pretty sounds, it is a way for our visually impaired to make sense of a world of shadows and darkness. It is their comfort zone. Music is the Universal Language that adds a natural cadence to their movements. It allows them to express their emotions in an acceptable way and to develop their talents that may have otherwise gone unnoticed. Music provides a way of learning numbers, reading, moving, learning language skills and just plain having fun and laughing!
Micha Newman, a film student at Orange Coast College, donated his time and talents and has captured the love of music during our Circle Time in a visual time capsule that will be cherished forever. This 6-minute DVD entitle "The Music Circle" is available for $5.00 and briefly shows the process of developing the talents of our children during the 2005-2006 school year.
Micha Newman also produced a DVD of Blind Children's Learning Center's First Annual Spring Concert. This will be available soon for $10.00. His DVD a slide show of still-photographs taken by photographer, Raymond Ward in addition to the live-performances of our BCLC kids! This is one DVD you MUST HAVE and it makes a great gift for grandparents and friends who want to know more about who we are at BCLC!
The music program at BCLC has been featured on KABC Channel 7 and KCAL Channel 9. The response has been wonderful and at times emotionally overwhelming. It is so refreshing to see how many people truly CARE and are willing to show just how much! You may see our story on www.abc7.com and www.kcal.com.