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Log inArea teens taking tunes to Turkmenistan
Area teens taking tunes to Turkmenistan
by Outspoken on Mon Jul 28, 2008 4:07 am
Area teens taking tunes to Turkmenistan
BY MEGHAN V. MALLOY
Staff Writer Kennebec Journal
Milo Stanley is having a summer vacation some kids can only dream of.
The 13-year-old Richmond boy will accompany four other central Maine teens to Turkmenistan today to participate in the International Festival for Talented Children of the World, a music fest which gives youth around the world a chance to learn about other cultures and celebrate their own through the common bond of music.
"I'm really excited," said Milo, who has never been overseas until this trip. "I don't feel nervous at all."
Milo is part of a fiddling group called the Pineland Fiddlers, an offshoot of the Pineland Suzuki School. The teenage group going to the music festival includes four fiddlers and a guitar player. The quintet is the only group to represent the United States in Turkmenistan.
Milo has played the fiddle for seven years. He also plays the piano and guitar, and "a little bit of everything, really."
"I love to play music," he said. "It's fun, and it takes me places, and I get to meet people because of it."
Teacher Ellen Gawler said the Pineland Fiddlers will perform for a variety of people in Turkmenistan, ranging from the state government to orphanages and schools.
"To me, music is a way to bring people together, especially people from different countries," Gawler said. "Music, and dance also, are ways we can recognize the similarities we share. Our differences fall to the side."
The International Festival for Talented Children of the World had its inaugural celebration last summer, which was also in Turkmenistan. Participants play traditional music and wear traditional costume -- the Pineland Fiddlers will wear patchwork vests and play traditional Franco-American fiddle music native to Maine and Canada.
Twenty other countries will be represented at the festival, including Saudi Arabia, China, Germany and Russia.
http://kennebecjournal.mainetoday.com/news/local/5261135.html
Staff photo by Andy Molloy
BY MEGHAN V. MALLOY
Staff Writer Kennebec Journal
Milo Stanley is having a summer vacation some kids can only dream of.
The 13-year-old Richmond boy will accompany four other central Maine teens to Turkmenistan today to participate in the International Festival for Talented Children of the World, a music fest which gives youth around the world a chance to learn about other cultures and celebrate their own through the common bond of music.
"I'm really excited," said Milo, who has never been overseas until this trip. "I don't feel nervous at all."
Milo is part of a fiddling group called the Pineland Fiddlers, an offshoot of the Pineland Suzuki School. The teenage group going to the music festival includes four fiddlers and a guitar player. The quintet is the only group to represent the United States in Turkmenistan.
Milo has played the fiddle for seven years. He also plays the piano and guitar, and "a little bit of everything, really."
"I love to play music," he said. "It's fun, and it takes me places, and I get to meet people because of it."
Teacher Ellen Gawler said the Pineland Fiddlers will perform for a variety of people in Turkmenistan, ranging from the state government to orphanages and schools.
"To me, music is a way to bring people together, especially people from different countries," Gawler said. "Music, and dance also, are ways we can recognize the similarities we share. Our differences fall to the side."
The International Festival for Talented Children of the World had its inaugural celebration last summer, which was also in Turkmenistan. Participants play traditional music and wear traditional costume -- the Pineland Fiddlers will wear patchwork vests and play traditional Franco-American fiddle music native to Maine and Canada.
Twenty other countries will be represented at the festival, including Saudi Arabia, China, Germany and Russia.
http://kennebecjournal.mainetoday.com/news/local/5261135.html
Staff photo by Andy Molloy
"Music is a moral law. It gives soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination, and charm and gaiety to life and to everything."
Plato (427-347 BC)
Plato (427-347 BC)
