More than 30 students ‘skated’ over to Massebesic High School during the ice storm, on Saturday, a non-school day to boot! More came out for the evening performance and it wasn’t because the High School was the only place with heat. It was because it was the only place with music that could light up their circuits.
Frank Vignola is one of those many musical greats that go somewhat unnoticed by the general population. I have been literally reduced to tears after working with a performer like Frank when I start thinking, ‘Britney Spears makes more in a minute than Frank made all evening.” In my humble opinion, Frank has more talent in his belly button lint than Spears does in her whole being. It ain’t right! Which of course is why we do what we do at North Atlantic Arts.
The evening was an example of our root mission which is to keep the arts alive through education and promotion. The free two hour workshop was one of the finest I’ve seen. Every minute was interactive. In all, there were 60 people in attendance, thirty of them came with instruments. Not all were high schoolers. The students ranged in age from twelve to fifty years old.
The band warmed up with a number or two and then Frank arranged all the students in the front of the room. He began with a gymnastic finger warm up to which Aaron, the band’s violinist, genuinely asked, “Why do you do that?’ Frank explained the purpose of the warmup in plain English but after that most questions and answers were spoken through the music.
After warming up, Frank led the group in a tune encouraging each student to take a solo. It was clearly audible to the rest of us, from the beginning to the completion of the workshop, the gain in technique and understanding each student made. My kudoos to the courage displayed by the participants to get up in front of an audience and a music master and dare to forge ahead.
The workshop ended with the band working through a tune not all of them knew. This was an exciting insight into the professional world of music. To watch accomplish musicians learn an unfamiliar piece gave many of us a new understanding of how talented they truly are and how complex music can be. And, yet the feeling conveyed was simple joy!
The high school students who came for the workshop were not outcasts of teen society mind you, although attending school on a Saturday is usually frowned on by their species. They all play video games and are current on their pop culture. They might, at the least, be considered guitar geeks, but so was Peter Frampton and I bet he had a date to the prom. We can’t stop the falsity of the pop sound but we can counterbalance it with real, live, authentic music. It was obvious how the evening stirred the souls of the students.
There’s a place for everything in this world. I just wish the order was a little more balanced...the Frank Vignola’s of the world playing on mainstream radio and appearing for crowds of thousands and the Britney Spears and Lil Wayne’s modeling their undergarments in the Victory Secrets’ catalog.
Stay tuned...
Frank will be returning to the area in March 2009 which coincidentally is when the V.S. spring catalog comes out!
