Duncan Cumming believes children are never too young to gain an appreciation for classical music.
That’s one of the central ideas behind the second Youth Movements Festival from Nov. 12 to 15 at the UAlbany Performing Arts Center on the uptown campus. Cumming put together the inaugural festival last year with the idea it would just be a one-time thing, but people were asking what I was going to do next year, he said.
A University at Albany professor, Cumming is a pianist who has performed around the world. He also plays at home, making up music to accompany the stories he reads to his three young children.
That idea of linking children and music runs throughout the Youth Movements schedule. The festival kicks off with a violin and piano recital about children on Thursday night, followed Saturday by a ballet not only for children but performed by children. Dancers from The School for Creative Arts will stage Claude Debussy’s ballet `La Boate Joujoux` (The Toy Box), and on Sunday, youth of all ages will perform on piano.
Thursday’s violin and piano recital will feature Cumming and his wife, Hillary, a fellow professor. The two used to perform together often, but they took a break from that when they started a family, as one usually stayed home with the children. These days, they have a little more time to perform together, making up two-thirds of the Capital Trio.
Their children, meanwhile, have followed in their creative footsteps, with both of their girls taking dance classes at The School for the Creative Arts. When Cumming had the idea to perform `La Boate Joujoux,` he thought immediately of the girls’ teacher, Jackie Abbott, and not simply because he was familiar with her and her work.
`I think she does a terrific job,` Cumming said. `She loves what she does. I find myself a kindred spirit with her.`
Abbott’s love of her work is evident in conversation. She notes how fortunate she has been to merge her interests — as well as her educational background — in elementary education and dance. In addition to running the School for Creative Arts in Averill Park, she visits local schools and teaches creative arts classes.
`It’s basically taking all the arts and using them to teach the academics,` she said.
When Cumming called her about taking part in the Youth Movement Festival, she jumped at the chance.
`I thought this would be a wonderful collaboration,` she said. `He’s extremely talented.`
Not many people have collaborated on `La Boate Joujoux` before, particularly a children’s version. Both Abbott and Cumming said that as far as they can tell, this is one of the first times the ballet will be performed by children, despite having been written in 1913.
`It’s amazing that it’s been kind of a neglected piece,` Cumming said.
The ballet tells the story of a cardboard soldier who falls in love with a doll and is later wounded fighting for her affections. The doll nurses him back to health, and, in Debussy’s words, `everything turns out for the best.`
About 25 of Abbott’s students will perform the ballet. She said that she has as many as 75 enrolled in her classes, but not everyone could take part because the school is also preparing for its annual performance of `The Nutcracker.` Those who will be on stage at UAlbany range from about 4 to 12, she said.
`It’s really a treat for my students to be dancing to live music,` she said.
She also thinks the performance will be a treat for children in the audience.
`I think it’s special to see children their own age,` she said. `They can relate.`
Cumming noted that the performance will be complemented by illustrations that will be projected before the performance. The idea, he said, is not to `dumb it down,` but to make some concessions to keep children’s interests
.
`I’m not going to play six Beethoven sonatas and expect kids to sit there and enjoy them,` he said.
What he does expect is that the festival will build an appreciation for fine music in people of all ages.
`The sort of overall hope is that there’ll be a relatively friendly and not taxing introduction to classical music,` he said.
All three festival events take place in the UAlbany Rectial Hall. Tickets for the Thursday and Sunday concerts are each $8 for the public and $4 for seniors, students and UAlbany faculty-staff. Tickets may be purchased through the Performing Arts Center Box Office. Admission to the ballet on Saturday is free.
For information, contact the box office at 442-3997 or visit the Performing Arts Center Web site at www.albany.edu/pac.“