Foot stomping, bow plucking and strings of laughter echoed off auditorium walls as children posed in violin position, ready to show their progress.The after-school youth conservatory at Children’s Charter Elementary models a revolutionary teaching method that originated in Costa Rica in 1973, and Baton Rouge is one of three cities in the U.S. to implement the program, said Dr. Ron Bermingham, facilitator of the local conservatory and director of artistic operations for the Baton Rouge Symphony Orchestra.When Bermingham chose violin instructors to participate in the program, Raul Gomez, violin performance and orchestral conducting graduate student, was a logical candidate. Gomez grew up in Costa Rica and began mastering the violin at age eight through the Latin American music education system.”He really understands the philosophy behind the approach,” Bermingham said of Gomez. “Because the rest of us are North American, he is the one person in the program that can keep an eye on the rest of us. We have read the articles, and we understand what the whole thing is about, but we haven’t lived the experience. So we have a guide, a mentor and someone to really watch over what we’re doing.”The Latin American system focuses on group work instead of individual lessons because music students are being trained to be orchestral performers and part of an ensemble, Gomez said.”The main difference with this ideology is that it’s all a group thing and the concept of all the kids being part of a big team is what basically drives the program,” he said. “The very notion of playing with an ensemble is there from the very beginning.”Bermingham said the program allows kids from lower-income families to learn about music, a privilege usually granted to wealthier families’ children because of the high cost.”It’s so totally foreign to the way we teach music in North America, which usually is one-on-one private lessons with a teacher at $40 to $50 a lesson for the parents,” he said. “So the very wealthy kids can afford it. The poor ones can never afford it.”The youth conservatory, which includes about 25 second to sixth graders who are succeeding academically, is in its fourth week of practice, Bermingham said.The program’s focus is on violins, which were bought with $10,000 donated by Mayor-President Kip Holden, Bermingham said.As the students progress, Gomez said they hope to first include viola and cello and eventually gather enough instruments to produce a high quality youth conservatory known on a state and national level.The group meets for two hours three times weekly. The practice consists of learning basic music theory, oral skills and rhythm and practicing in small groups and as an ensemble for closing.Though the basis of the Baton Rouge program follows the Latin American system, but adaptations have been made to blend in conventional methods.”Now that after a few weeks we are getting to know the kids better, we’re actually going to start having 15 minute individual lessons with them,” Gomez said.The individual lessons give instructors an opportunity to address specific problems a student may have, so when they play as an ensemble the group’s performance will be better, he said.”They tell you how good you’re getting at everything,” said second grader Jordan Domingue about the smaller groups. Third grader Michael LeBlanc said the program was “tight,” and the bow grip is his specialty.”I’ve always liked the violin, and I’ve been wanting to play an instrument since I was four years old,” said fourth grader Diamond Bell.The conservatory is scheduled to play the national anthem for a New Orleans Hornets basketball game in March. Gomez said the instructors are trying to arrange a Christmas performance at the school and an intermission performance during a Baton Rouge Symphony Orchestra show.—- Contact The Daily Reveille’s news staff at [email protected]