Auburn Symphony speaks to Foresthill students through music

What a special day Jan. 11 was in Foresthill. After the fires, freezes, floods, power outages and evacuations, our youth remerged into a better year. More than a score of generous talented musicians from the Auburn Symphony traveled to Foresthill to share the joy and magic of music. Hundreds of students sedately walked into Foresthill Divide School's multi-purpose room, quietly excited, yet not quite prepared for what was yet to come. Out of the center, formally black-attired orchestral circle emerged Conductor Paolo Reyes. He thanked everyone for inviting them and followed by explaining how oftentimes music tells stories. The orchestra was going to show this with a varied vignette of not-too-long familiar pieces. They began with Rossini's "William Tell Overture." Immediately, smiles erupted everywhere. The youngsters were waving their hands as if they had the wand and were conducting the orchestra themselves. Heads were bopping and their smiles grew into engaging grins with one another. After the deafening applause, Reyes asked what this music made them think. So many hands went up, all with the answer, "HORSES." I was awestruck. I, along with many others, grew up with the familiar opening to "The Lone Ranger" from the black-and-white TV era. I doubt these young people were familiar with it. But to most of them, it brought images of horses galloping. Reyes and this fantastic complete orchestra of woodwinds, strings, brass and percussion shared the magic of musical storytelling time and time again. Reyes continued painting pictures for all of us. He had us imagining the image of an ogre walking in his castle to Grieg's "In the Hall of the Mountain King." They did a musical excerpt from the "greatest love story ever written," Tchaikovsky's "Romeo and Juliet." Some teachers paired up and waltzed together. It was delightful. For Copeland's "Hoedown," Reyes danced an energetic jig, which had everyone young and old boisterously laughing out loud. There were other pieces, but two more should be shared. Reyes began reading Prokofiev's "Peter and the Wolf," starting with Peter's theme played by a string quartet. As Reyes continued his reading, the flute charmingly tweeted the bird's theme. Next, we all saw, in our imagination, the duck waddling with the oboe's theme. Then both instruments argued back and forth as the bird and duck argued back and forth. When the low-register clarinet played an ominous tune as the cat began stalking both these feathered creatures, Reyes interrupted the tenseness with, "What will happen next?" After a pause, he answered, "To find out, come to your Auburn Symphony's presentation this February 4th at Placer High School." We were all caught by surprise and laughed at the commercial interruption. And finally, the orchestra wrapped it up with John Williams' "Pirates of the Caribbean." After almost an hour, the well-behaved yet energetic young people wanted to engage in swashbuckling swordplay. They stayed seated under their teacher's strong discerning gaze … barely. And boy was there applause, a standing ovation even! Reyes invited each section of the orchestra to stand for even more applause. The symphony musicians enjoyed themselves as much, if not more, as the students, teachers and guests did. The musicians were grinning, smirking and smiling as the hundreds of students quietly marched out. Thank you, Auburn Symphony Orchestra, Foresthill Divide School. And thank you Foresthill Friends of the Library for bringing this special day to our beloved little town on a hill.