Vaughn musicians wow audience

Posted

Hugh McMillan

A second-grade class bows to the audience following its well-received performance of “Bingo" on xylophones. Photo by Hugh McMillan, KP News

Last month, Vaughn Elementary music teacher Lisa Mills poured her talents into kindergarten through fifth-graders to produce a rousing musical for a wall to wall audience of parents, siblings and friends.

“Music class is an exciting opportunity offered to students,” said Mills. “The goal is to create, perform and respond to music, and promote a life-long enjoyment of music. Students at Vaughn spend several months each year preparing a performance for their families. They learn important life lessons like working hard and taking pride in doing their very best.”

Each class chose a piece to learn on the xylophone, which they performed as an ensemble at the concert. Several students played instrumental solos on xylophones, and many had speaking parts to tie concert songs together.

“I loved it when I was the solo attraction,” said student Noah Smeltzer. “I loved the concert especially when my mom was watching me, and loved playing the xylophones.”

“I liked that we had the chance to perform and entertain our families,” said classmate Lyla Erickson. “We put a lot of hard work into this concert.”

Mills wanted to thank the Peninsula School’s Education Foundation for its grant of $1,000 which purchased a Fender portable public address system for the school's concerts and the Rotary Club of Gig Harbor for its gift of $500 to purchase new microphones.

Vaughn also got a $7,500 grant from Cora Voce, a Tacoma-based choral ensemble dedicated to sharing and performing high-quality choral music.

"Their gift provided the means to purchase much needed risers with safety railings, cables and cords for the new sound system, professional grade choir folders for the Vaughn Choir, and five new djembes for the music classroom,” Miles said.

“These generous gifts exemplify how supportive our community is of the arts and its desire to see music programs flourish. In return, there will be future musical performances by Vaughn students able to shine on stage. Thank you for making a difference in our schools,” Mills said.

For information, contact Lisa Mills at (253) 530-4775.


UNDERWRITTEN BY NEWSMATCH/MIAMI FOUNDATION, THE ANGEL GUILD, ROTARY CLUB OF GIG HARBOR, ADVERTISERS, DONORS AND PEOPLE WHO SUPPORT LOCAL, INDEPENDENT NONPROFIT NEWS