How Cactus kids made some especially sweet music
With the help of an energetic parent, young musicians offer something much better than candy bars.
This story appeared in the Antelope Valley Press August 18, 1996.
Today's story is a success story. It's a story about parents involved in their kids' school in the best way, and it's about kids learning and helping themselves at the same time.
We've all bought those fundraiser candy bars that kids (or their moms) bring around every year. The candy bars may be tasty, but music students at Cactus Elementary in Palmdale have a better idea.
It's a fund-raiser with a beat.
It all started with Jeff Timpe, whose sons Jonathan and Tyler play in the school band. Jeff enjoys computerized music - writing and playing music on a workstation in his home. Last December, on a field trip to see the Los Angeles Philharmonic, he talked with Cactus band director James Rosenquist about getting the students involved. Before long the "Fields Far Away" project was launched.
Now, eight months later, the young musicians have the "Fields Far Away" compact disc in their hands. They have the thrill of hearing their own work on a CD, they have knowledge of how music is made and marketed and they have a way to make money for their music program.
"I wanted to show them a studio and show them how it works," said Timpe, who gave up his job as a commercial artist to work on music full-time. "I wanted to let them know they can do it. They say, `I can write a song?' "
Along with his friend and keyboard player Dave Robison, Timpe hopes the project will give the students something that will help them beyond this month or next year. It's giving them skills they can use in the real world. "When I was in school I took trumpet," Timpe said. "I remember the last day of school when my trumpet case closed, and that trumpet never came out again. I never used it again my life."
The disc itself contains 24 songs - the first 12 written by Timpe and Robison for a musical production called "Fields Far Away," and the other 12 by the students. Timpe plans to market his own CD, with just the first 12 songs.
The music sounds great. And clearly the kids loved it, judging by the liner notes on the CD. Johnny Hephner, a seventh-grader, said: "When I play the trumpet nothing else in the world matters to me."
This from Andor Molnar, grade seven: "Music is something inside that you can't buy. Music is priceless."
You can put a price on a CD, however. And in this case it's $12. Help from the Timpes and local businesses kept the costs down, and now it's up to the kids to earn a profit.
If 80 students in the music program sell an average of 12.5 CDs, there will be enough profit to pay for next year's CD, as well as a new computerized work station and software. There also will be about $3,000 left over for the music program.
The CD debuted earlier this month at J-Bones sports bar, and customers there bought several copies. "Cactus has raised $1,300," Timpe said, "and they get 100% of the proceeds."
In addition to the Cactus band, the Cactus choir and jazz band appear on the CD, along with the Blues Brothers & Sisters (Wildflower, Desert Rose and Chaparral jazz bands), the Red Hot Chili Cheese Fries, the Desert Rose chorus and the Highland High Symphonic Orchestra. So do young singers Ryan Balch, Henry Graham and Karina Wilson.
Now they're all musicians with a CD to their credit.
William P. Warford's column appears every Tuesday, Thursday, Friday and Sunday. You can write to him at P.O. Box 880, Palmdale, CA 93590, call him at 267-4166 or e-mail him at Wpwcolumn@aol.com
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Uploaded 08/19/96
© 1996 Antelope Valley Press, Palmdale, California, USA (805) 273-2700