Lansing resident Kate Marsh plays her clarinet Monday, Nov. 12, 2012, at the MSU Community Music School. Marsh was participating in a rehearsal for New Horizons, a group of adults who came together to learn and perform their instruments. James Ristau/The State News
Graduate student Anthony Stanco always knew he wanted to teach jazz. He just didn’t expect that he’d be sharing his knowledge with adults and senior citizens.
Stanco is a jazz teacher for New Horizons, an offshoot of the MSU Community Music School that aims to teach music to adults who might lack any prior experience playing an instrument. Because he previously worked mostly with young children, Stanco said he had to get used to training people of all ages.
“Adults, kind of like our parents, are kind of set in their ways,” Stanco said. “Breaking them from their habits is a little more difficult. Another difference is (adults) really appreciate and really want to learn the music.”
New Horizons hosted a miniconcert and open rehearsal at 7 p.m. on Monday evening at 841 Timberlane St. The group’s founding director, Patti Kroth, said the audience provides the right amount of pressure to improve the musicians’ confidence.
“It encourages them to put their best foot forward and work out their nerves a little bit,” she said.
Maribeth Fletcher has been a member of the New Horizons group for the past three years, along with her husband, who joined a year before her. Although she has been musically inclined throughout her life, she said she enjoys the opportunity to collaborate with other musicians while also honing her own skills.
“If you haven’t played your instrument in a long time and (you’re) looking to play it again and looking for camaraderie, or looking to play an instrument you hadn’t played before, it’s a good opportunity for that too,” she said.
Kroth said it isn’t unusual for adults to have musical skills.
“We do have some band members who play in other community bands but who maybe want to learn another instrument,” she said. “Then there are some people who just enjoy playing in our group.”
According to Fletcher, the brain needs constant improvement; she grew up playing piano and recently picked up percussion and the violin. She said learning how to play a new instrument is the perfect way to keep her mind active.
“It’s getting the cobwebs out of your mind,” she said. “It’s a right-brain endeavor; it’s different. I think it helps in all other aspects of life.”
Since the group was formed nine years ago, Kroth said she has enjoyed watching the musicians develop their instrumental skills. She said she hopes Monday’s concert allowed the performers to realize their true potential and to expand their musical confidence.
“Some people feel if they didn’t get to do something as a child, then it’s too late,” she said. “I want people to realize it’s never too late.”
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