Project Trio at the Symphony

The Project Trio was in town last weekend. I had recommended them sight-unseen earlier in the week. Having now seen them at the Jacobs Music Center on Sunday, I can say they are the most exciting group I’ve seen in classical music for a long time.

The concert was from the family series and was not well attended at all, which is a shame because it was just about the best kids' concert I can imagine. At least, it was when the gentlemen of the Project Trio were talking.

Ken David Masur is an excellent conductor but when it comes to translating "adult talk" about music into "kid talk" about music, uh, not so much.

The concert was centered on Beethoven and Maestro Masur explained a little bit about Beethoven pushing the limits of the keyboard of his day, et cetera. Boring, if you’re a kid.

The Project trio explained that Beethoven was “CRAZY!” and that he liked music to be fast and slooow. He liked music LOUD and soft and that they were like that too.

Brilliant!

Beat-boxing flutist Greg Pattillo showed us how to beatbox. We all learned “dog, cat, barbecue.” Then we learned the appropriate hand gestures. At least some of us did. I looked around in astonishment as I noticed my friend and I were the only ones participating in our section.

Come on, San Diego. How are we suppose to fight for the arts, when we can’t even wave our hands in the air like we just don’t care?