It wasn’t your everyday petting zoo that assembled in the cafeteria of Lake Forest Intermediate School last weekend.
A cacophony of sounds, a typical byproduct of such gatherings, could be heard echoing down the halls. But instead of bleats, baas and quacks, there were the deep sonic vibrations of the bassoon, bass and French horn, and the dulcet tones of the piccolo-trumpet, triangle and violin.
About 18 musicians were demonstrating how they play their instruments. Several of them allowed youngsters to give it a try.
The “petting zoo” concluded a young people’s concert put on by the Lake Forest Symphony.
The program, which attracted 400 youngsters and adults, came in the middle of a three-day music series that entertained about 3,300 Lake County schoolchildren at the College of Lake County on Friday and more than 2,700 children at the Great Lakes Naval Training Center on Monday under the baton of guest conductor Ron Spigelman, associate conductor of the Ft. Worth Symphony Orchestra in Texas.
Billed as a Symphonic Decathlon, the programs introduced the orchestra’s sections, identified by different-colored balloons (blue for strings, for instance).
And they covered the musical spectrum from the familiar Danny Elfman’s “The Simpsons” theme and Bizet’s “March” from the opera Carmen to John Williams’ stirring “Olympic Fanfare.”
School schedules meant that Saturday offered the only time to do the “petting zoo.” And the families who came loved it.
Waukegan 9-year-old Kimberly Zupkus was eager to try them all, starting with musician Amanda Schor’s French horn.
Puff. No sound. Schor suggested trying just the mouthpiece alone. Success. Then back to the horn.
“It’s fun. But it’s a lot harder than I thought,” Kimberly said.
Nearby the Edwards family of Lake Forest plied trumpet player Mike Dorau with questions comparing his regular-sized trumpet to his piccolo-trumpet (“Half the size and harder to play,” Dorau said).
“I think it’s great getting a music program like this that is appropriate for kids,” said mom Cathy Edwards.
