Young musicians get chance to learn from pros on Owatonna

OWATONNA — “Music is like a bad cold. Once you’ve got it you can’t get rid of it,” said trombonist Glenn Monson.

It was spreading like wild fire at Owatonna Junior High School this Saturday, where 10 professional musicians held master classes for students.

It’s the third year that the school has offered the class, said OJHS Band Director Carol Hodapp.

“What we want them to get out of it are the fundamentals,” Hodapp said.

The master classes allow students more intensive training in their specific instrument than a typical band class in school.

“I play all the instruments, but I’m not a professional on all of them,” Hodapp said.

The class is also meant to show students that their musical aspirations don’t have to end with the high school marching band—they can turn into a full-fledged career. Take for instance Master Class Instructor Neal Bolter, a French Horn player who teaches at St. Thomas University and has performed with the Minnesota Opera.

“We want them to see that they can do something with their instruments. This isn’t just middle school — you can make a living doing it,” Hodapp said.

This is especially pertinent in a town like Owatonna, which is home to one of the biggest music equipment manufacturers in the world, Wenger Corporation, she added.

About 75 children attended the master class. Of those some were from other communities like Albert Lea, Austin and Faribault, opening avenues for students in the region to interact with other budding musicians.

At the end of the class, all the students put on a short show for their parents and friends in the Junior High cafetorium.

But the teachers’ time isn’t free. Funding for the master class comes from the Owatonna Foundation, which contributed $1,000 to the effort. Hodapp said such aid was especially critical at a time when schools across the nation are paring down arts and extracurricular activities due to lack of funding.

Music instruction is vital to a student’s intellectual health, said Hodapp and fellow OJHS Band Director Joe Zastrow, who added that a number of studies found a connection between music classes and improved intelligence.

“Music stimulates a part of the brain that other classes don’t, the art part of the brain,” Hodapp said. “It allows them to express themselves.”

Clare Kennedy can be reached at 444-2376.

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Member Opinions: By: tome1 on 11/9/09 Music is vital for intellectual and social development. Hooray to Owatonna for seeing and promoting this. Godspeed.
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