HELENA — Hundreds of fourth and fifth-grade students from over 15 elementary schools from around the Helena area gathered in the Helena Civic Center for the Helena Symphony Annual Youth Concert.
“Yeah, I love touring with Classical Kids. This is a very rewarding show. It's not just entertainment. This is instructional and educational and you learn so much about Gershwin's life. But really what we're trying to do is inspire young minds to want to pick up a bow or pick up a trumpet or whatever instrument they see that strikes them, you know” says performer, Elic Bramlett.
The concert was a collaboration between the Helena Symphony and Classical Kids Live Symphony Concert Series to produce Gershwin’s Magic Key. The concert tells the story of a newspaper boy meeting Gershwin in NYC and their journey of musical exploration.
Elic Bramlett a performer with Classical Kids Live, played George Gershwin in the show. Bramlett has been traveling with the group since about 2008. As they travel from city to city, Bramlett hopes that the kids they perform for can see the benefit of playing music in their own lives.
“I think just learning that these were real people, that they had lives, and they had struggles and conflict and then success, and to see themselves in those characters, to know that I could learn how to do that, I could play that instrument, or I could compose a piece of symphonic music,” says Bramlett.
Music Director Allan R. Scott led the symphony during the performance. This performance may be some of these kids’ first interaction with live symphonic music. And Scott says that this performance can be a great addition to what some of these kids may be learning in the classroom, especially as they may soon pick an instrument for band or a music class.
“We want to complement those, what they do in the classroom. We want students to realize whether they play in their band or they play in the, sing in the chorus or play in the string orchestra, whatever they do, that music can be a part of their life through high school through middle school and even after that,” says Scott.
