L.A. PHILHARMONIC GIVES DRUM ROLL TO A.V. STUDENT.Byline: Mary Schubert and Charles F. Bostwick Daily News Staff Writers In a cavernous practice room at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion The Dorothy Chandler Pavilion is one of the halls in the Los Angeles Music Center (which is one of the three largest performing arts centers in the United States). The Music Center's other halls include the Mark Taper Forum, Ahmanson Theatre, and Walt Disney Concert Hall. , 15-year-old Jason Dill was alone with two Los Angeles Philharmonic The Los Angeles Philharmonic (LAP) is an American orchestra based in Los Angeles, California, United States. History Founded in 1919 by William Andrews Clark, Jr. musicians. As the men watched silently from behind a table, Dill moved from snare drum to xylophone xylophone (zī`ləfōn) [Gr.,=wood sound], musical instrument having graduated wooden slabs that are struck by the player with small, hard mallets. The slabs are usually arranged like a keyboard, and the range varies from two to four octaves. , to cymbals cymbals (sĭm`bəlz), percussion instruments of ancient Asian origin. They consist of a pair of slightly concave metal plates which produce a vibrant sound of indeterminate pitch. , to triangle, to tom-tom, to bass drum, to field drum - 20 minutes playing solo excerpts from Richard Wagner's ``Die Meistersinger von Nurnberg'' and Paul Hindemith's ``Symphonic Metamorphosis on Themes of Carl Maria von Weber.'' ``It's like worse than a job interview,'' the Lancaster High School Lancaster High School may refer to:
Dill thought he had choked in the December audition, but a month later he got the word: He had been picked as a percussionist in the Los Angeles Philharmonic High School Honor Orchestra. Dill will be among 80 Southern California Southern California, also colloquially known as SoCal, is the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. Centered on the cities of Los Angeles and San Diego, Southern California is home to nearly 24 million people and is the nation's second most populated region, teen-agers who will rehearse and play under the baton of Esa-Pekka Salonen Esa-Pekka Salonen ( ) (b. June 30 1958) is a prominent Finnish orchestral conductor and composer. and in concert alongside the Los Angeles Philharmonic. They will perform at 7:30 p.m. March 15 at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion in downtown Los Angeles Downtown Los Angeles is the central business district of Los Angeles, California, located close to the geographic center of the metropolitan area. The sprawling, multi-centered megacity is such that its downtown core is often considered just another district like Hollywood or . Now in its second year, the group is composed of young musicians who attend Los Angeles County high schools or are part of community orchestras in Los Angeles County. ``There are a lot of schools that don't have orchestras any more because of the cutbacks in education. They have music programs, but then there's no place for these kids to play in an orchestra,'' said Vanessa Butler, a promotions director for the philharmonic. About 200 youths tried out for the orchestra during auditions in December, when they played for members of the Los Angeles Philharmonic. ``The people who choose the kids for the group are members of the orchestra,'' said Ruth DeSarno, administrator of the honor orchestra program. The rehearsals and concert provide for extensive interaction between the youths and the philharmonic's 107 veteran musicians. ``They get to actually sit and play a concert next to the philharmonic member who plays their instrument,'' DeSarno said. The musical selections are difficult but not beyond the abilities of a high school student. ``We don't get watered-down arrangements of the pieces. This is the real stuff that the philharmonic plays,'' DeSarno added. ``It's a challenging environment, yet at the same time it's extremely supportive.'' Dill has started rehearsals with the ensemble. The orchestra will practice at California State University, Los Angeles California State University, Los Angeles (also known as Cal State L.A., CSULA, or "'CSLA"') is a public university, part of the California State University system. , for two weekends and then another two weekends at the Pavilion, the downtown concert hall that is the philharmonic's Music Center base. Salonen and assistant conductor Grant Gershon will take turns leading the combined orchestras. In the first half of the concert, Salonen will lead the Los Angeles Philharmonic in selections by Beethoven and Prokofiev. After intermission, Gershon will conduct the symphony professionals and the teen musicians in Hindemith's ``Symphonic Metamorphosis on Themes of Carl Maria von Weber.'' Salonen will then return to the podium to conduct the combined orchestra in Wagner's prelude to Act 1 of ``Die Meistersinger von Nurnberg.'' Dill began playing drums as a fourth-grader at Valley View School in Quartz Hill. Drums were on the list of instruments to choose from, and it seemed they'd be fun to play, he said. In eighth grade, after his family moved to Montana for what turned into a two-year stay, he branched out into the other percussion instruments. ``I personally think it's more interesting. If I get bored at playing one thing, I've got a dozen other instruments I can play,'' Dill said. In Montana, Dill studied percussion with the head of the music department at Montana State University Montana State University, at Bozeman; land-grant; coeducational; chartered 1893. It is primarily a technical institution specializing in agriculture, engineering, and applied sciences. The Museum of the Rockies is there. . Now he takes drum-set lessons at a Lancaster music store, and his mother drives him every Sunday to Cal State Northridge for percussion lessons. ``It's kind of a hassle, but he's really dedicated to his music,'' his mother, Debbie Dill, said. ``I figure it's worth it to go there one time a week.'' At Lancaster High, Jason Dill plays in the marching band and pep band - as well as on the golf team - and also plays for the Palmdale Youth Orchestra. Debbie Dill said she doesn't know where the musical inclination came for her son - or his younger sister, who studies piano. Their father, Steve, is a New York New York, state, United States New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of Life insurance agent, and Debbie works with him. She took piano lessons for a couple of years as a girl, but that was it. ``I don't know Don't know (DK, DKed) "Don't know the trade." A Street expression used whenever one party lacks knowledge of a trade or receives conflicting instructions from the other party. where they get it. We are not musically inclined. Steve and I don't play anything,'' Debbie Dill said. CAPTION(S): Photo Photo: (color) Jason Dill, 15, was among 80 Southland teen-agers selected to perform with the L.A. Philharmonic. Jeff Goldwater/Daily News |
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