A musical interlude Students attend Symphony; Brain Games raise funds

It’s been a good week for music in Caribou County!  Last week, students from both Tigert Middle School and North Gem visited the Idaho State Civic Symphony Youth Orchestra for a concert.  To start this week, the music programs in Soda Springs schools were supported by a night of games and fundraising at the second “Brain Games” night at Tigert.  In both cases, organizers noted the importance of community support in successfully making music a part of students lives.

Symphony Trip

As far as field trips go, a trip to the Stevens Performing Arts Center in Pocatello to see a presentation by the ISCS Youth Orchestra is a pretty good one.  Students from both North Gem and Tigert Middle School arrived Wednesday morning of last week for a concert that was part education, part recruitment, and part straight up experience.

The Idaho State Civic Symphony, which includes and has included a number of musicians from Caribou county, includes as part of its mission a Youth Orchestra, composed of students from Pocatello, Chubbuck, and surrounding areas.  Those students were on hand to demonstrate to their peers from out of town what playing with a large orchestra looks like, and what kind of performances they could look forward to if they decided to pursue a similar path.

The concert itself involved a combination of simpler, folk performances as well as more intricate classical compositions.  With a range of style, eras, and approaches, students were given an overview of the range of possibilities in musical performance.  The featured pieces included “Moldau,”composed by Bedrich Smetana, “Simple Gifts,” folk song, “One Bow Concerto,” Richard Meyer, “Wellerman,” New Zealand Folk Song, “Grandma’s Feather Bed,” sung by John Denver, written by Jim Conner, “Jupiter” composed by Gustav Holst.

During the course of the event, schools from all around the area were bussed to the ISU campus.  On Wednesday, nearly the entire top section of the main gallery was filled with eager students from the two local schools.

The Symphony hosts the event out of its sheer love of music, of course, but also as a way of potentially recruiting future classes of ISU music students and possibly even future symphony members.

“It’s wonderful to have the students here,” Co-President of the Symphony Board Carol Burnett said.  “It’s always a great performance from the Youth Orchestra.”

Music programs across the country have faced funding problems over recent years, and many have been reduced or even eliminated.  North Gem and Tigert are among schools that have done everything they can—much of it through creative problem solving and the support of parents and volunteers in addition to dedicated teachers—to make sure that the importance of music instruction is clear to their students.

“This is a great thing for our students, and I’m glad we are able to do it,” Tigert’s Debbie Hansen said, while corralling a virtual army of students out in public.  

Brain Games

Debbie Hansen would be continuing that work this past Monday, when the second “Brain Games” night was held at Tigert Middle School.  The event was designed as a way for students to have a chance to compete against one another in events beyond the traditionally athletic.  Scrabble, Chess, Checkers, Trivia, Lego building, and other games filled the activity room throughout the evening, as students and adults alike gathered for friendly competition and a chance to win prizes.

In addition to being a great way to spend an evening, the event was a fundraiser for the music programs at the middle and high schools in Soda Springs.  The funds will be used for a number of things, including costs for student travel and event registration, instrument repair, and other essential costs.  Music Director Kim Mumford, stamping tickets at the gate for participants in the games, pointed out Debbie Hansen, noting “I’m the head of the music program, but she’s the brains!”

Hansen laughed it off, explaining “I just like projects, and this has been a fun project.”

The room buzzed with students moving from table to table trying out the variety of games on hand.  

Josh Larsen, in the middle of a chess match against Blake Mayne, explained “I like how this is an ancient game from a long time ago.”  Chess joined more modern pursuits like competitive Lego building to give participants a variety of activities to choose from.  

“At some field day style events in the past I saw some kids who just didn’t really want to participate in the normal physical-style games,” Debbie Hansen noted.  “I wanted to give them a way to show off their talents.”

The event was well-attended, and full of smiling competitors.

Prizes for the winners were donated by Mountain View Dental, Lallatins, A+ construction, Broulims, Soda Smiles, Paul Gritton, Flower Box, Baked Fresh, Potter’s Creations, Late Bloomers, Heritage Creations, Main St. Diner, Young’s House of Hobbies, and the Soda Springs Library.