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Show Wednesday, April 26, 2006 B1 Merietta's Music By Jennifer Petty Express Writer While most two-year-olds are learning to jump, run, and talk, some are beginning to learn how to play a musical instrument. Think it's impossible impos-sible that a two-year-old, who can barely sit still long enough to listen to a story or who can't seem to take any instruction from a well-meaning parent can begin to learn to play a musical musi-cal instrument? Well, it was at the age of two that Vernal native Merietta Oviatt started violin lessons, and although it isn't impossible for a child who starts lessons later to become an accomplished musician, Oviatt certainly has proved that when music education begins early, the results can be incredible. Merietta returned to Vernal last week to hold a master class, concert, and Suzuki Parent Training class in conjunction conjunc-tion with the Uintah School of Music and the Arts. Oviatt truly makes music her life. At the age of 13, she enrolled at a private boarding school for the arts and' began to really understand just how much she didn't know about making music. "I went from the best to the worst," Oviatt said. "It was very competitive; if you practiced prac-ticed five hours a day, someone Merietta Oviatt instructs Shirsten Hamblin about bow placement. Jh ft Lynette Richardson performs her solo. The Oviatts made music a family affair. r. W7 .WcorcPA Living Horn furni&h(tig$ jor Your ugafyifr Expressions Basin Life else practiced six." However, her dedication has paid off, and now she is one of Vernal's most accomplished musicians and has a bright future ahead of her. Oviatt's music training has taken her around the nation, studying music at various universities uni-versities such as the University of Southern California, Louisiana State University, New England. Conservatory, Rice University and the University of Connecticut, Hartford. Ms. Oviatt now resides in Lafayette, La. where she teaches teach-es viola, violin, beginning cello and parent education classes at the Acadiana Conservatory and in the Lafayette School District. Though she can play all three instruments, her passion clearly clear-ly lies with the viola. "I am always cracking jokes about how violas are better than anyone else," Merietta began, "but that is because we are fighting against the stereotype stereo-type that violists are just the student's who can't play the violin; but we are good musicians musi-cians who choose to play the viola." In total, Oviatt teaches close to 100 students, 32 take private lessons from her and the remainder are elementary students being taught to play the violin by Oviatt through a "Suzuki in the School" pro- X m - . sit m v . - . 9 i t- n s r-'i The Oviatt children (I to r) Joelle, Merietta, Phillip, Marjean all played musical instruments. gram. Ms. Oviatt is the principal prin-cipal violist in the Rapides Symphony and a section violist with Acadiana Symphony and Southeast Texas Symphony. Besides her students and symphony sym-phony participation, Oviatt has also published one CD of inspirational inspi-rational Christmas music and has another CD in progress. Oviatt and her husband, Danny Paredez also created their own record label: Pomco Records. "Music is what I am it's what I do," said Oviatt, and she clearly loves what she does. When asked what it was like to make music her life, she enthusiastically enthu-siastically said, "Imagine doing what you love more than anything any-thing for a living. I get paid to make music!" Oviatt's enthusiasm for music and teaching comes through in her instruction. In the master class where Oviatt critiqued the performances of Emily Peterson, Lynette Richardson and Shirsten Hamblin, Oviatt skillfully brought each student out of their comfort zone and brought humor to the environment. Oviatt, even as accomplished as she is in music, still admitted admit-ted to the students that she was petrified about playing solos and helped the students understand under-stand techniques for dealing with distractions and nervousness. nervous-ness. Following the master class instruction, Oviatt performed per-formed several beautiful pieces for the audience. In a parent education class held the following evening, Oviatt explained to parents the logic behind the Suzuki method. meth-od. "The Suzuki method provides pro-vides a great training tool for teaching children as young as Master class participants (I to r) Lynette Richardson, Merietta Oviatt, Emily 4- Merietta Oviatt now plays viola professionally. two," said Oviatt. She is partial to the Suzuki method because it "... teaches not just the child, but the parent too ... This program pro-gram helps parents develop strong relationships with their children." Oviatt believes in the positive effects of music education. edu-cation. According to the National Association for Music Education, the rewards that come from music education "can be grouped in four categories: catego-ries: Success in society, success in school, success in developing develop-ing intelligence, and success in life." Studies that show the t-i sac 7 ' V effect of music on learning abound. One study published in the February 1997 edition of Neurological Research found that music instruction is far superior to computer training in its ability to dramatically enhance a child's abstract reasoning rea-soning skills. Merietta has seen the effects of music on children and on the relationship between a parent and child many times, and it is partly this that makes what she does so worthwhile. "It is all about the kids," she said. "It's about the precious time you have with your child." Peterson, and Shirsten Hamblin. The history of the Suzuki Method It was more' than sixty years ago that Dr. Shinichi Suzuki started a revolutionary revolution-ary movement to teach all children to play the violin The movement has been so successful that today, more than 25,000 children all over the world are trained by this method and it has been extended beyond the violin to many other instruments such as piano, flute, cello and viola. Suzuki believed that the role of parents in- teaching music is just as vital as having hav-ing properly trained teachers, so in the Suzuki method, parents, par-ents, students, and teachers all work as a team to maximize the student's potential Music is presented in the home as a way for children to develop an affinity to music easily and naturally. He also incorporated incorporat-ed group lessons as an important impor-tant teaching strategy. Dr. Suzuki believed that learning music has many similarities to language acquisition, so his method stresses:&u-eful listening, lots of repetitions, teaching done in small steps, encouragement and positive reinforcements. te?? -3 "s- v 1 Community Calendar April 27 Kindergarten Round-Up for Davis Elementary is scheduled sched-uled for 10 a.m. Parents are requested to bring copies of birth certificates and immunization immu-nization records to the Roundup. Round-up. April 28 Arbor Day Celebration, 10 a.m. at the Freestone Legacy Walking Park. Cabin Fever . Golf Tournament. Call the Vernal Chamber of Commerce at 789- 1352 for more information. Community dance at the Golden Age Center, 155 South 100 West from 8 to 10 p.m. every Friday night. Kay's Band provides the music. April 29 Sportsman for Wildlife will be held at Western Park. Ole Anderson Mud Bogs at Western Park. UStf Graduation Vernal Middle School 2 p.m. May 1 TriCounty Health Dept. is sponsoring the Legacy Gold Medal Mile 2006 at the Freestone Legacy Park at 5:30 p.m. May 3 Kindergarten Screening for Davis Elementary to be held at Ashley Valley Education Center, 250 S. Vernal Ave. Uintah School District Annual Spring Art Show at the Western Heritage Museum. The show will run May 3 May 19. School District Annual Art Show Reception 68 p.m. at the Western Heritage Museum. Light refreshments will be served and the public is invited to attend. May 5 , Contest deadline for the DRR Queens Pageant. Packets are available at the Vernal Chamber of Commerce. The Pageant is open to all girls in Uintah, Duchesne or Daggett counties that are 16-24 years of age and single. For more information call 722-3746,722-8616 or 722-3994. Community dance at the Golden Age Center, 155 South 100 West from 8 to 10 p.m. every Friday night. Kay's Band provides the music. May 6 Republican Party Meet the Candidate night TriCounty Safe Kids Fair 9 a.m. 1 p.m., Imperial Auto 1180 W. Hwy 40. For more information contact the TriCounty Health Department www.tricountyhealth.com 1-866-275-0246, May 10 Kindergarten Screening for Davis Elementary to be held at Ashley Valley Education Center, 250 S. Vernal Ave. May 12 Community dance at the Golden Age Center, 155 South 100 West from 8 to 10 p.m. every Friday night. Kay's Band provides the music. May 13 Ouray National Wildlife Refuge 12th Annual Open House, 7:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. Cub scouts can earn Ouray NWR patch. Live bird display. dis-play. Breakfast will be sold by St. James Catholic Youth Organization. May 24 The Uintah Basin Garden Society will hold a gardening workshop at the Golden Age Center (155 S. 100 W.) at 7 p.m. For more information call 790-1029 or 722-1782. The workshops work-shops will be held the 4th Wednesday of every month. To place items of public interest inter-est in the Community Calendar, call 789-3511 or email them to editorvernal.com. 2. |
