Jump for Joy

Sonja Thoms stands in front of about 100 Houston elementary school students. She is leading an activity designed to introduce them to the joys of classical music, and some of the children are so anxious to participate, they are popping out of their seats. “Ooh, ooh! Me, me, me!” exclaims one student. Others whisper and giggle excitedly in the audience.

Students from St. Stephen’s Episcopal School get a lesson in percussion from Shepherd School of Music students during a JUMP! concert at Alice Pratt Brown Hall.

This is the just the enthusiasm that Thoms, a second-year master’s student of oboe at the Shepherd School of Music, wants to inspire through the Just for U Music Program, or JUMP! The program offers an in-house education to elementary and middle school students from Houston’s Title I schools—those with a high percentage of low-income students—and presents concerts performed by Shepherd School students.

As the student coordinator for the 2004–05 JUMP! Concert Series, Thoms contacts teachers, finds the students to perform, schedules rehearsals, and coaches her fellow musicians. “For the student performers, it’s a donation of time,” she says. “They love doing this because they’re learning as much as the kids are.”

Thoms works closely with Rachel Buchman, early childhood specialist at the Shepherd School, to plan the theme of each concert and develop different ways to communicate that idea to school-age children. “I brainstormed a lot of theme ideas,” Thoms explains. “I work a lot with Rachel to develop my ideas. She helps me really focus the themes. She’s so great in front of kids—very dramatic and theatrical—and that has helped me become a more effective speaker in front of children.”

For the most recent concert, Thoms used the theme “Telling Stories with Music.” By playing a short version of Peter and the Wolf, the musicians demonstrated how each character—and instrument—has a distinctly different sound. So the children could improvise their own story, a group of musicians took suggestions from the children for which animals to use in the story and how each animal should sound.

Thoms calls on a boy in the front row and repeats his suggestion for all to hear: The shark should sound like the music from the movie Jaws. “Yeah!” All the kids cheer in agreement.

“We want the kids to be involved in the creative process,” Thoms says. “But part of the concert is pure education. We show the children the instruments, we do a lot of demonstration, and we explain what the instruments are made out of and how each one makes sounds.”

It’s important to expose children to classical music at an early age, Thoms explains. “I want to help build an audience for the future. The best way to do that is to get people excited when they’re young.”
Janet Rarick, artist teacher of wind ensembles at the Shepherd School, agrees. “Classical music is a great art form,” she says. “It speaks to everyone. The children are really able to listen actively and get a lot out of the experience. It’s opening a door for them.”

The concerts expose the children not only to classical music but also to a college campus. “When the children walk into the building and are impressed by the atmosphere of it, I know one teacher who uses the opportunity to tell her students that if they work hard in school, college is not out of their reach,” says Rarick. “For some of these kids, it’s the first time they’ve been exposed to a university setting. And for them to see the passion and dedication of our students—the years of hard work and studying, the perseverance it takes to participate in this art form—that’s a very powerful experience for these kids.”

Rarick, who helps oversee JUMP!, notes that Shepherd School students receive a benefit from the program as well. “It really seems to change the whole dynamic when Rice students have to come out from behind their music stands and talk about their music and their instruments,” she says. “For the students performing in these concerts, presenting their music to a young audience in an interactive way really helps define their musical product.”

—Lindsey Fielder