James McKay and Robert McNichols made no attempt to hide the pure bliss from their faces as they prepared to talk about their associations with the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra’s College Connections program being held at Harris-Stowe State University last Tuesday.
It was the final College Connections stop of six this season. Hundreds of middle-school orchestra students from Normandy, Jennings and Saint Louis Public Schools students were given a tour and information session about the university before heading over to the auditorium to see a small ensemble of orchestra members perform.
McKay, who teaches orchestra at Jennings Junior High, and McNichols, an associate professor of music at Harris-Stowe who teaches voice and conducts the concert chorale, know first-hand how transformative the experience can be.
McNichols saw himself in the young black boy featured in the community engagement promotional banner. He leans over the balcony, trying to get as close as he can to soak in the sound.
“That was me,” McNichols said. “I would take those school trips and sit there and marvel at the sound.”
McKay and McNichols studied classical music together while students in the Normandy School District. Alvin McCall, one of the principal cellists for the St. Louis Symphony, was also their classmate at Normandy.
McKay called College Connections a “a very important and viable piece” of the learning experience – and pointed out that the event fosters exposure, inspiration and passion.
“Having the young people exposed to classical music at such a high level as the Grammy Award-winning St. Louis Symphony helps them develop an appetite for it,” McKay said. “Some of these students are going to see the high level of musicianship on stage and practice more – which becomes a pathway to a potential college scholarship and even opportunities beyond that.”
McNichols’ rich baritone voice served as a passport to performing on stages around the world before he returned home to teach at the region’s only historically black university.
McKay is molding the potential classical music stars of tomorrow – like their teacher Ken Williams did for them while they were at Normandy Middle School and Normandy High School, and Patrick Jackson, who gave McKay free lessons on Saturdays. McKay credits those lessons as critical to his acceptance into Eastman School of Music – which provided him with the acumen to train several of the students in the audience.
The program culminated with a teaching concert that featured members of the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra discussing and performing selections of nearly a dozen works that included several tangos. “The Easy Winners” and “Solace” by Scott Joplin were inserted as a black history component with an overview of the pioneering composer with ties to St. Louis and his influence on modern music.
“This not only brings middle-school students to university levels, but it’s a chance to expose them to the historically black university in the city,” McKay said. “I’m thankful to Maureen Byrne at The Symphony for creating these types of opportunities.”
Through Joplin, students also were reminded that African Americans have a place in the broad scope of orchestral and classical music.
As the ensemble played, some of the students tried to perform modern dances to the cadence of the music as they sat in their seats. When the performance was over, they encouraged the musicians with a round of applause so rousing that it gave the musicians pause.
“It was a good experience seeing the melodies that they played,” said Angelo Collier, a seventh grader who studies violin under McKay. “Hearing the violin, the viola, the oboe and the French horn sounded so good together. It made me feel like I can learn more now, learn more when I get to college, and learn even more later in life.”
Collier talked about his beloved instrument – pointing out that its E string sets it apart from the others with respect to tone. After taking violin for three years, Kailand Dennis, also a seventh grader at Jennings Middle School and a student of McKay’s, has moved on to cello. He was especially inspired by what he heard on Tuesday.
“It lets me know that there are greater and more complicated melodies than what we play now, and I can’t wait to learn them on cello,” Dennis said.
It was a sentiment shared by La’Skye King, a seventh grader who studies viola under McKay.
“I got to hear other types of instruments and the sound that happens when they combine,” King said.
The students from McKay’s orchestra and the other schools seemed genuinely engaged by and impressed with the program – which was the outcome he had hoped for.
“This isn’t a class you are taking for a grade,” McKay said. “This is something that can lead you to something phenomenal – so take it in.”
