Posted on Thu, Jul. 22, 2004
Miami Herald

MIAMI GARDENS

Music group's concert schools young musicians
A summer music event at Florida Memorial College mixed jazz and classical music with stompin' and drama.

Special to The Herald

From the opening act, when Raynard Bullard and Julie Silvera sang a version of Andrea Bocelli's The Prayer in Italian and English, the audience was in for a special musical treat.

The Summer Music Institute, founded and sponsored by Jubilate, in cooperation with Florida Memorial College, is known for its grand finale concert. The latest edition, held at the college's Susie C. Holley Chapel in Miami Gardens on July 11, was no exception.

Raynard and Julie were followed by the institute's group, the SMI Chorus, under the direction of Terrence Clayton, performing three traditional Negro spirituals highlighted by an interpretation of Bow Down and Worship Him, choreographed for sign language by 13-year-old Dominique Ruff.

''The Summer Music Institute is such an awesome time of development and sharing for all the students and their teachers,'' Clayton said afterward. ``Many of these very talented students will go on to become world-renowned performing artists.''

Felix Spengler, professor of music at FMC and the Institute's piano and keyboard program director, and his assistant, Leslie Merida-Gonzalez, introduced their advanced, intermediate and beginning piano students. The students performed selected works from Chopin to Schuman, including the duet, The Merry Farmer, performed by Roger Alvarez and Joshua Ortiz.

'I feel privileged to be an instrument in these kids' development,'' Spengler said. ``They are indeed talented and eager to learn. We confront many challenges and we conquer them all, I mean all. Each student is unique and special. I foresee great success in their lives.''

Merida-Gonzalez was also impressed with the students.

''There is this incredible amount of talent across the board,'' she said. 'My goal was just to have them explore themselves and to give them some tools to help them develop their craft. Above all though, I wanted them to be able to enjoy expressing themselves. I hope the students' experiences were as enlightening as my own.''

The concert took a dramatic turn with a performance by the Music Theater class of The Wiz, an upbeat adaptation of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, under Silvera's direction.

Christina Ellis played Dorothy and Raynard, Omar Herrera and Freddie Britts played the Scarecrow, the Tin Man and the Lion, respectively.

Raynard performed a version of Slide Some Oil to Me and Omar showed off his dancing.

'My purpose with Music Theater was to activate the students' creative and interpretive processes, to explore and enhance their acting skills and appreciation of musical theater,'' Silvera said. ``The production of The Wiz was chosen because of its familiarity and physical demands.''

As part of the concert, another Institute group, the SMI Chamber Orchestra, under the direction of Wesley Mathis, briefly revisited the classics with its performance of Antonio Vivladi's Concerto No. 4 in A Minor -- Winter, followed by a former SMI student Arthur Scavella's R&B Medley for Strings.

Then it was time for a treat from 10 of the youngest camp members, ages 9 to 13.

They had been sitting quietly while waiting for their turn. They held pots and pans and brooms.

The 10 boys made up the Institute's performance troupe, ''The SMI Stomp Kids,'' and when they broke out their drums, pots and pans, paint buckets and a chair or two, they provided one of the night's highlights with their percussive performance of their original song, Bring on the Heat.

The boys were under the direction of Leon ''Foster'' Thomas, a steel pan player.

On the less frenetic side, the SMI Jazz Cats, under the direction of Melton Mustafa and Charlie Austin, delivered a rendition of Gershwin's Summertime before launching into a performance of Bobby Ojeda's Steppin, which inspired some instrumental duels between horn players and flautist Daniel Ferguson.

''I am humbled to be able to work with aspiring young talented musicians,'' said Mustafa, who is director of Jazz Studies at FMC and is jazz music instructor for Jubilate.

''Jazz music represents freedom of thought, which enhances creativity. Jazz music, coupled with good morals and rational thinking, can accomplish much good in the world,'' he said.

Melvin Brimm, a 16-year-old member of the Jubilate Arts Preparatory Academy, closed the program with a reading of Louis Armstrong's classic, What a Wonderful World, accompanied by Silvera on piano and featuring a soprano sax solo by Charlie Austin and Terrance Clayton on keyboards. Vocalist Josef Spencer, who is Jubilate's CEO, and Nicole Yarling, the Institute's artistic director and a local jazz icon, joined in.

It was also time for talent recognition. The Stevie Wonder Innervision Awards for original music went to Kamilah Kennedy for her song Nothin' to Gain, to Janita Williams for Midnight and to Brandon Morris for He Loves Me.

This was the second year of Jubilate's Summer Music Institute, held June 14-July 11 for 176 children ages 9 to 18. The nonprofit group's Jubilate Arts Preparatory Academy, held in collaboration with FMC, is in its fifth year.

Jubilate was started 10 years ago by a group of professional musicians -- close friends who spoke different languages and came from different countries -- for the purpose of celebrating the diverse Miami-Dade community and its rich mixture of culture and history through music.

Jubilate is dedicated to promoting, preserving, performing and recording compositions by African Americans and compositions based on African, Latin and Caribbean traditions.

''We founded the Jubilate Arts Preparatory Academy because, as community educators, we have too often seen low-income, promising students with enormous talent slowed because of a lack of financial support, encouragement, consistent top-quality training, or awareness of the many options available to them in the performing arts,'' Spencer said.

The Summer Music Institute provides students with fundamental music instruction, artistic training, individual coaching and rehearsals, academic preparation, leadership skills development and counseling.

This year, Jubilate partnered with the Overtown Youth Center, Arts4Learning and Miami-Dade County Public Schools to host the Institute.