Students to learn techniques from violinist/composer





JOY OF MUSIC—String students at Lindero Canyon Middle School in Agoura Hills practice for a Nov. 3 concert. That day the orchestra will also take part in a clinic with violinist and composer Christian Howes.

JOY OF MUSIC—String students at Lindero Canyon Middle School in Agoura Hills practice for a Nov. 3 concert. That day the orchestra will also take part in a clinic with violinist and composer Christian Howes.

Students in string orchestra at Lindero Canyon Middle School in Agoura Hills will have an opportunity to learn and perform with international jazz violinist and recording artist Christian Howes at an upcoming concert.

Howes will conduct a clinic for the students during the day and perform with them in concert in the evening.

The show will be at 7:30 p.m. Tues., Nov. 3, in the multipurpose room at the Lindero Canyon campus, 5844 Larboard Lane, Agoura Hills.

Gregory Fried, director of the school’s choir and strings orchestra, said the show will feature American pop and jazz music.

Student musicians from all grade levels will perform. They are members of the third year Concert Orchestra, second-year Cougar Strings, and Beginning Strings. Lindero’s top string ensemble, Eklektikos, which is comprised of the school’s premiere strings musicians and concert orchestra members, will also appear in the concert. The group plays in “alternative styles,” Fried said. About 90 students in all will take part in the concert.

Student violin soloists Anna Johnson, Dara Moayer, and Maylian Wu will also play country legend Bob Wills’ “Faded Love,” and Lindsey Stirling and cellist Camryn Russon will present Taylor Swift’s music.

The concert is the first time the music department has hosted an event with a guest soloist and clinician, except during the department’s annual spring FiddleFest, which features about 150 string students and often with a guest conductor and clinician.

Fried said string students will gain some new musical perspectives from the clinic.

“It’s very important for string students to see that there is more than one way to make music,” he said.

“String students are not generally taught to improvise as much as their brothers and sisters in the band program. Additionally, they will have the experience of working with an internationally renowned performing and recording artist in the jazz field. It will add a different dimension to their musical experience. It builds on why they take orchestra to begin with—for the pure innate joy of musical expression and accomplishment. I could wax poetic on how music education improves math and reading skills, but that’s not why these students study music. They study it because it is fun and worthwhile.”

The string students are equally excited about the opportunity to learn from Howes. Soloist Anna Johnson said she is looking forward to gaining “skills, tips and techniques that will last a lifetime.”

“It has never happened before, which makes us very lucky being the first to experience this clinic,” Anna said. “I am very excited and have the best intentions. Music is one of the most important things in my life. Due to the heavy stress of all honors courses and rigorous extracurricular (activities), playing music is my outlet. I can express myself through playing the violin.”

Howes is recognized as a leading violinist, composer and educator in jazz and contemporary music. He has collaborated with musical greats like Les Paul, Bill Evans, Greg Osby, Joel Harrison and many others while serving as an associate professor of the Berklee College of Music.

Howes has been honored with numerous awards for his work, including Jazz Times Critics Poll as one of the top three violinists. He was nominated for the honor of Violinist of the Year by the Jazz Journalists Association.

He had a six-night run at Jazz at Lincoln Center and was invited by the U.S. State Department to perform and teach in the Ukraine as a cultural ambassador.

Tickets for the concert can be purchased at the door. Some of the proceeds will support the music program, including instrument repairs, the purchase of new equipment and other expenses.


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