<\/p>\n
By the time he was 10, Patrick McBrayer had recorded two CDs of his work and won a regional composing competition. Now his young career is taking its next step as one of his pieces makes its world premiere Monday.<\/p>\n
Patrick, a fifth-grader at Riverview Elementary School, composed the piece, \u201cTo the Beach,\u201d when he was 9, orchestrated it when he was 10 and, at age 11, will make his debut on the Community Concert Hall stage as the piano soloist on the piece with the San Juan Youth Symphony.<\/p>\n
\u201cConcert wear is all black, except for you, maestro,\u201d San Juan Youth Symphony Music Director and Conductor Lech Usinowicz said to Patrick at Monday night\u2019s rehearsal. \u201cYou get to wear whatever you want, but you might run it by your mom first.\u201d<\/p>\n
Patrick\u2019s journey is bolstered by talent, hard work and adults who have helped him develop his talent.<\/p>\n
He has been musical since he was a toddler, said his mother, Anna McBrayer.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen he was about 3, he created rhythms we couldn\u2019t replicate,\u201d she said of herself and her husband, Justin McBrayer. \u201cWe thought, \u2018Maybe he has a sense of music.\u2019 And he was the kind of toddler who had 20 pots and pans out to play elaborate stuff.\u201d<\/p>\n
After he turned 4, they enrolled him in Gabrielle Dugan\u2019s Art, Music and Movement course for students ages 3 to 5. Based on a book she wrote years ago, Dugan designed the class to be full of play, and students learn music foundations by composing and playing pieces.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe was composing when he was just barely learning to read music,\u201d Anna McBrayer said. \u201cHe was making up relatively interesting pieces at the age of 5.\u201d<\/p>\n
Dugan, the founder of the Four Corners Music Teachers Association, is one of a number of adults who have invested in Patrick\u2019s musical growth.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe didn\u2019t have access to a real, live composer in Durango,\u201d she said. \u201cAt a Colorado Music Teachers Association meeting, I heard about a Colorado composer named Toby Tenenbaum. I heard his CD and wondered, \u2018Where is this guy in Colorado?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
Tenenbaum lives in Boulder, and she drove up to meet him, inviting him to Durango to put on a composition festival, which has continued for four years.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe was a child composer, too, starting at 10, and the relationship he and Patrick have formed is very stimulating for Patrick,\u201d Dugan said. \u201cMeeting a real-life composer made Patrick think, \u2018I can do this.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
Another important connection came through St. Mark\u2019s Episcopal Church, which the McBrayer family attends. Scott Hagler, the church\u2019s former music director and a concert musician, taught Patrick orchestration, Anna McBrayer said. His school music teachers, Bill LaShell and Curtis Storm at Park Elementary School and now Shannon Fontenot, the music specialist at Riverview, have all added to his knowledge.<\/p>\n
At Riverview, Patrick began studying the cello, and Fontenot lets him use a variety of instruments she keeps in her office.<\/p>\n
\u201cI helped get it (\u201cTo the Beach\u201d) notated properly for orchestra,\u201d she said. \u201cWe spent Friday afternoons making sure it was how he wanted it after I read the parts and after listening to his piano and garage band recordings of it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Fontenot got the symphony interested in playing the piece.<\/p>\n
\u201cPatrick originally orchestrated this for strings and piano,\u201d she said, \u201cbecause he wanted his classmates to perform it with him. But when we determined elementary students didn\u2019t have the skills to perform the piece, I approached Lech, and we added percussion and got parts for the winds who play in C.\u201d<\/p>\n
Usinowicz loves to inspire kids to play music. In addition to the advanced students\u2019 symphony, he also teaches and directs two orchestras each at Bayfield Elementary and Middle schools, one at Bayfield High School and the Durango Chamber Music Academy.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019d had one other experience of working with a student composer,\u201d he said, \u201cwhen the San Juan Symphony decided to do a piece by Corey Protheroe. I saw the remarkable things it did for his confidence. I thought this could catapult this student\u2019s confidence in his music.\u201d<\/p>\n
Dugan said Patrick is a talented pianist, but his hands haven\u2019t grown as fast as his expertise.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s playing (Fr\u00e9d\u00e9ric) Chopin\u2019s preludes and (Ludwig van) Beethoven\u2019s sonatas,\u201d Dugan said, \u201cbut we have to make adjustments because of his small hands. Sometimes, we adjust the fingering, maybe playing one note in a chord with his left hand. I\u2019d love to see him play Brahms, but his fingers just aren\u2019t long enough yet.\u201d<\/p>\n
But whatever she assigns, he completes it.<\/p>\n
\u201cTalent is a gift, and it\u2019s great,\u201d she said. \u201cBut if you don\u2019t put in the hard work, talent is nothing, and his work ethic is so terrific. He does it for the love of music and the joy it brings not only himself but other people.<\/p>\n
\u201cI consider him a prodigy. But he\u2019s also just like any other kid, a pretty happy-go-lucky kid. And he\u2019s a humble little human being.\u201d<\/p>\n
Soccer, mountain biking, hiking, camping and freestyle skiing are all on his list of fun things to do.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m interested in architecture, too, and I\u2019m really into science,\u201d Patrick said.<\/p>\n
His parents take care to keep it that way, Anna McBrayer said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve been really careful not to overcommit,\u201d she said. \u201cThe music is just our normal.\u201d<\/p>\n