The BYU-Hawaii music department put on a “Concert of the Keiki” for elementary students from Laie Elementary School in the McKay Auditorium on Tuesday, Oct. 21. Eliza Elkington, Vice Principal of the Laie Elementary School, said, “The concert was absolutely fantastic! The kids were dancing around during the songs and absolutely enjoying it. It really shows the great partnership we have between the local public schools and BYU-Hawaii. We’re just so grateful that they’d do something like this for our kids.”Dr. Daniel Bradshaw, department chair of music and theatre arts, said that his trip to the Minnesota Orchestra Composer Institute in 2007 inspired the idea children’s concert. “They showed us one of their children’s concerts where they bussed in around 2,000 kids from all over and performed for them in the concert hall. I just thought, ‘That’s something that needs to happen. Our kids need that!’” Dr. Bradshaw’s two sons attend Laie elementary and attended the concert.Dr. Bradshaw said that he feels the concert is a valuable experience for the kids. “Especially here in Laie where they’re kind of isolated and often their only exposure to music is what they hear in the backyard party or Luau. They often don’t realize that it has to be played by live instruments; they just think it’s something that comes out of the iPod or radio.”The ensembles that performed included the Brass Ensemble, Chamber Orchestra, Salsa Orchestra and Shaka Steel Band. Each performed two songs and educated the kids on the types of instruments being played and the genres of music. Dr. Bradshaw said, “I talked to my daughter who is in eighth grade now and she remembers all three concerts she attended. It’s a memorable experience for the kids and it’s really fun for us too because you can feel the enthusiasm of your audience. They get dancing in their chairs in without even thinking about it to the beat of the music sometimes.”Kids were encouraged to participate with the ensembles. “We like to get them involved in one way or another and let them have a good time with music. We hope to inspire them to play an instrument and to love music more. We want them to get involved with it more by listening to it actively rather than passively like when you listen to background music,” said Dr. Bradshaw.During the Chamber Orchestra’s performance, Dr. Bradshaw had the kids put their hands up in a V-shape to the side if they thought the melody was being played by the violins, a V-shape above their heads if they thought it was the violas and then a “C” if it was in the cellos.This was the first year where the Salsa Orchestra played according to Dr. Bradshaw. The group had the kids guess which songs they did as they performed “I Wanna Be like You” from “The Jungle Book” and “You’ve Got a Friend in Me” from “Toy Story”.Beau Kapeliela, a sophomore from Wash. studying psychology and music, plays the bass in the Chamber Orchestra, Salsa Orchestra and Shaka Steel Band. Kapeliela said, “Playing for some elementary school kids meant that it was a tough crowd, a tough crowd indeed. We played some Disney songs that are some of my favorites. The kids’ reactions were great. Some of them were dancing to the Shaka Steel’s song that’s called ‘Bum Shaker’ and they were shaking it.”Kapeliela said, “There were a lot less people than the concerts exclusively for elementary kids so that was kind of a bummer. But we love performing for people so it was great still.”
Writer: Joshua Mason ~ Multimedia Journalist
