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 Local brass quintet plans concert to spark kids’ interest in band, music
By Justin Goble
Public school officials are working with the university to get students interested in music.
Jackson County schools and Western Carolina University staff will hold a brass quintet concert for students at WCU’s Fine and Performing Arts Center Friday, Nov. 4, at 9:15 a.m.
The Smoky Mountain Brass Quintet will perform a concert for Jackson County’s third-through-fifth-graders at Western Carolina University’s newly-opened Fine and Performing Arts Center Friday, Nov. 4, at 9:15 a.m. Along with the quintet’s performance, the concert will be an “instrument petting zoo” said organizer Brad Ulrich, fourth from left. Along with playing trumpet with the quintet, Ulrich teaches music at WCU, and many of his students will help with the presentation. Ulrich said that his goal was to expose students to a brass quintet and the variety of musical styles they play along with getting students excited about school band. Other memebers of the Smoky Mountain Brass quintet are Michael Shallock, left, tuba; David Ginn, trumpet; Alan Mattingly, French horn; Ulrich; and Dan Cherry, trombone.
Dubbed an “instrument petting zoo” by organizer and WCU music professor Brad Ulrich, the 45-minute concert will allow all 826 third-through-fifth-grade students a chance to see, hear and even play the instruments that make up a brass quintet.
Along with the presentation of instruments, there will be PowerPoint presentations and trivia, and the Smoky Mountain Brass Quintet will perform for the students.
Made up entirely of WCU staff, the quintet features Ulrich and David Ginn on trumpet, Alan Mattingly on French horn, Dan Cherry on trombone and Michael Schallock on tuba. The group recently concluded a tour of Russia and is planning a trip to England next year.
For the students, they will perform ragtime, jazz, dixieland and “flashier” pieces, Ulrich said, with each member getting a solo spot during the concert.
The quintet will choose students from the audience to conduct their final piece, John Sousa’s “Semper Fidelis,” the official march of the U.S. Marine Corps.
As for the genesis of the concert idea, Ulrich said it came to him while working with the Greenville Symphony Orchestra.
“My wife and I each play in several different orchestras,” he said. “We’ve both played with the Greenville Symphony Orchestra, and they put on a program where the kids were bussed into the Peace Center to hear a concert. Kids would come in, and after they left they would bring in another group. There was only 15 minutes between groups. It killed me that my kids didn’t have that kind of exposure.”
Along with exposing children to a brass quintet and the variety of musical styles one can play, Ulrich said that one of his big hopes is that the concert will get the students excited about school band. Though the size of the Performing Arts center was a determining factor in deciding how many people that could attend, Ulrich said he chose the specific grades for a reason.
“I wanted fifth-graders to be there because they start band in sixth grade,” he said. “The whole idea is to perform with a lot of excitement, and hopefully get the kids excited.”
To go along with this effort, the concert will introduce the students to Drew Umphlett, band director at Smoky Mountain High School.
Sue Nations, Jackson County Schools superintendent, said that introducing Umphlett to the students will show them that there are viable careers in music.
“He came through WCU’s music program,” Nations said. “The kids get to see the potential in music.”
Ulrich coordinated with the school system and the newly opened Performing Arts Center to get the concert off the ground. He’s had positive feedback from everyone he’s worked with on the project.
Nations said that she was delighted when Ulrich brought the idea to school officials.
“My first reaction was pure joy,” she said. “And I was glad for the partnership with WCU. I’ve known Mr. Ulrich from the time I was principal at Fairview Elementary. He’s a very dedicated parent and he worked with us on a grant to get members of a symphony to come play ‘Peter and the Wolf.’”
Susan Griesenger, Jackson County Schools elementary coordinator, said that while she hopes the concert has an impact on the school band, her bigger goal is to get kids involved with music in general.
“We hope the kids get interested not just in school band, but different types of music” she said. “We’re hoping that it piques the students’ interests.”
Though getting such a large group of students to the center might pose some major logistical issues, Griesenger said that the school system has experience for such an event.
“Everything has been fine,” she said. “We’ve done concerts like this before.”
Nations said that there was a great deal of planning that had to be carried out, but the end result will more than make up for it.
“There was the usual stuff involved when you have to bus kids in,” she said. “But it’s not like we have to go to Asheville, and it is well worth it.”
Though this concert is an ambitious undertaking, Ulrich isn’t planning it as a one-off event. He, Griesenger and Nations all said they would like to make these concerts happen each year, if not each semester, with each section of an orchestra presenting instruments and performing for the students.
“Putting this together has been a chore,” Ulrich said. “Hopefully now that we have this template in place we can do it each semester.”
“I definitely would (like to see more of these concerts),” Nations said. “I’ve always loved for kids to see live performances, whether it be concerts or plays. We have to start small, but I would love to see these concerts happen once a semester, if not once a year. Prof. Ulrich has been a great asset to the community, talking to his colleagues and getting them to do something for the kids in the schools.”
According to Paul Lormand, director of the Fine and Performing Arts Center, this concert is just one part of a larger initiative to get students involved with the arts.
“I’m encorporating a program here called Learning Alive,” he said. “Due to this remote location, a lot of K-12 students are not exposed to live performances. Hopefully, this concert is just one of many matinees for students. We want them to get into the habit of the school coming to the theater. Maybe when these kids become adults they will continue to go to the theater.”
Lormand said that, along with this concert, he is planning programs that involve, drama, literature and visual arts. And, through giving students the chance to experience the arts in person, he said the purpose of the Fine and Performing Arts Center is being fulfilled, he said.
“I tell people that our mission is to challenge the minds, touch the hearts and reach the souls,” Lormand said. “This is what this building is for.”
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