The Day 2,200 Students Heard the Orchestra

On the morning of February 20, 2018, the La Mirada Theatre for the Performing Arts filled with more than 2,200 students. Most of them came from schools in the Norwalk-La Mirada Unified School District. For many, it was the first time they had ever heard a live symphony orchestra. By the end of the day, 30 of their classmates had joined the orchestra on stage. That pair of shows captured what the La Mirada Symphony youth concert was built to do.

A Program Older Than Its Students

The La Mirada Symphony started its Youth Enrichment Program in 2001 to bring orchestral music to local schools. Most of the students in that audience had not even been born yet. Over the years, the program grew into an annual weekday concert at the theatre. Schools brought students by the busload, and the orchestra played a program designed for young listeners.

The 2018 concert also had a strong partner in the district itself. Norwalk-La Mirada offers music instruction to every student, from transitional kindergarten through 12th grade, through its visual and performing arts program. As a result, many students in the seats already played an instrument. The concert gave them a chance to hear what that work could grow into.

Inside the Orchestra

The Symphony performed two shows that day, at 10 a.m. and noon. Conductor Alan Mautner opened by taking the orchestra apart for the audience. He introduced each family of instruments in turn, from the strings and woodwinds to the brass and percussion. Then he put them back together so the students could hear how the sections combine into one sound.

The program leaned toward music with energy to spare. One highlight was the “Comedians’ Galop,” Dmitry Kabalevsky’s breakneck circus number. It runs under two minutes and rarely lets a young audience sit still.

For many, it was the first time they had ever heard a live symphony orchestra.

Thirty Students Take the Stage

After the opening pieces, the concert shifted from listening to playing. Thirty members of the district’s all-District Honor Band, drawn from Norwalk-La Mirada middle schools, joined the professional musicians on stage. For many of them, it was their first time performing on a large stage. Moreover, they did it in front of a theatre full of their peers.

Two district music teachers shared the podium as guest conductors. Craig Jordan led from Hutchinson Middle School, and Dave Yamamoto came from Corvallis Middle School. Afterward, Jordan said concerts like this matter because many students would never otherwise experience one. Fabio Kayama, the district’s instructional coach, said the students were thrilled to perform. He also praised the interactive format.

Karen Morrison, then president of the district’s Board of Education, thanked the Symphony for supporting the district’s arts program. Symphony president David Derks pointed out that, for many children, this was their first live symphony. That kind of moment, he said, can show a young person that becoming a musician is possible.

Remembering Pat Ruiz

The concert owed a great deal to Pat Ruiz, who chaired the Symphony’s Youth Program. A lifelong educator, Pat saw music as part of a complete education. “This kind of program is not an ‘extra’ in our children’s curricula,” Pat said before the concert, “but a necessity.” Pat passed away in 2019, but that conviction still shapes the Symphony’s work with young musicians.

The Next Chapter

The 2017–2018 season kept its focus on young players. That May, the Symphony handed its stage to the LACHSA Symphony Orchestra and three student soloists for a full concert. A year later, in March 2019, the district’s high school honor orchestra made its own debut on the Symphony’s stage.

The pandemic later interrupted the weekday youth concerts, and the theatre’s limited open dates kept them on hold. Now the Symphony is working to bring the Youth Enrichment Concert back. The plan starts with one concert and grows it year by year. Learn more about our current work with students on the education page, or read the original 2018 announcement in our archives.