Young String Players Entertain At Masonicare

By Nancy K. Crevier

Newtown High School, Class of 2010 graduate Alyssa Rodriguez and fellow NHS graduate (2011) Kyra Smith are sharing their love of music with young students through private lessons, and on Wednesday, August 24, with residents of Masonicare at Newtown, in an afternoon concert.

“I wanted a performance experience for my kids, because they are so young, and I thought it would be something that the residents would enjoy, too,” said Ms Rodriguez. The idea of performing at Masonicare came from a suggestion by Newtown school system music instructor Marty Smith, whose daughter, Kyra, also had students eager to show off the skills that they have learned.

Ms Rodriguez, a music composition major at Ithaca College in New York, has been playing violin for eleven years, starting in the fourth grade. “Mrs Smith was actually my first teacher,” she said. Three of her eight violin students performed on August 24.

Emma Johnson, a student for two years, played “Theme from Jurassic Park,” and a fiddle tune called “Ash Grove.” Playing “Hedwig’s Theme” from the Harry Potter movies was Monique DuBois, a one-year student of Ms Rodriguez’s. Joshua Kemsley has studied violin with Ms Rodriguez for a year. He performed “Watching the Sheep.”

Kyra Smith has played cello for nine years. “Six of those years I’ve also been studying privately with Marcia Wiley. I first started teaching about four years ago, and have had students intermittently since then,” said Ms Smith, who will be a freshman at Muhlenberg College this fall, where she plans to pursue a BA in acting.

Emily Krasnickas and Emily Johnson both played “Hot Cross Buns,” “Mary Had A Little Lamb,” and “Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star.” Both are fifth grade students and have studied with Ms Smith for about one month.

Joining Ms Rodriguez’s and Ms Smith’s students on Wednesday afternoon was Talia Hankin, who has studied cello under Marty Smith for the past year and a half. She played Gavotte in C Minor.

The Masonicare audience was most appreciative of the afternoon concert. “I certainly enjoyed it,” said Masonicare resident Emily Sepe, as the concert finished up. A former primary teacher in Westchester County, Ms Sepe said she thought that the young people had done a good job.

Wednesday’s performances included Largo Expressiva by Giovani Paganini, by Ms Rodriguez on violin, and the more contemporary “Pure Imagination,” from Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory; and the Saint-Saens Cello Concerto #1 in A Minor, Movement 1: Allegro Non Troppo, played on cello by Ms Smith.

To see a slide show of Wednesday’s performers, visit newtownbee.com.