THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, September 3, 1995 TAG: 9508310269
SECTION: CAROLINA COAST PAGE: 40 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: Mary Ellen Riddle
LENGTH: Medium: 87 lines
Emanating from the walls of the massive brick church on Main and Dyer streets in Elizabeth City are strains of Mozart's music.
The sound mixes with the very air that moves through nearby communities flushed with poverty and is breathed in by druggies as they sell their wares.
Who would have thought they'd be vicariously sniffing classical stuff?
The Albemarle School of the Arts is beginning another year at the First Baptist Church downtown. Financially challenged elementary schoolchildren attend after school to study violin, voice, recorder, cello, drama and art for free through a grant from the North Carolina Arts Council.
It may be children's only chance to encounter this kind of cultural arts program. Private lessons are few. Fine arts programs in the area's local schools are as impoverished as the students, with one art teacher claiming to receive only $200 for an entire year.
But the Albemarle School of the Arts doesn't dwell on the rampant lack of governmental and systemwide support for the arts. The school is about youthful voices rising above poverty to sing Dona Nobis Pacem or to squeak out ``Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star'' on violin.
It's about painting self portraits, studying Post-Impressionism and reciting lines from ``Hansel and Gretel,'' rather than falling prey to neighborhood drug dealers. It's about growth, opportunity and friendship.
The ASA program came into being last year. It's a three-year pilot program that illustrates partnership at its best. Groups helping the state arts council support the school include the Pasquotank Arts Council, College of The Albemarle, Albemarle Community Chorus, the local library, area public schools and the First Baptist Church.
The head of the COA music department, Dr. Leland Chou, directs the program that targets third- through sixth-graders.
``We try to accommodate as many children as possible,'' said Chou, who has been performing, conducting and teaching for more than 30 years. ``It's a learning process - so they can develop a habit or discipline.
``Children love to sing. That's their first instinct. They have that instrument in them. All they have to do is bring it out as early as possible.''
Qiana Lamb is attending the school for the second year after participating in art, drama, chorus and recorder last year. The 11-year-old plans on adding violin to her repertoire.
Qiana already spends all her allowance on paints. A picture she created last year at ASA now hangs in the Elizabeth City-Pasquotank Schools administration building. She says the classes give her a break from routine.
``It gives me something else to do than go home and watch TV,'' she said. ``You get to make good friends here. There's a whole lotta people who came here I never heard of before, but now we're good friends.''
Last year 40 students participated in classes, and two recitals were performed along with two art showings. Opening night was packed with parents, relatives, siblings and friends.
Family participation is encouraged. Children entering the program must be accompanied by an adult to and from class. Chou interviews with the students and parent or guardian.
And parents are encouraged to stay while the children work.
Gernell Gramby, 10, is taking violin for the second year. Her mother, Eundene, and sister, Darvell, attended practices last year.
``She has a fit,'' Gramby says of Darvell, who wants to play too. Already, the 2-year-old knows how to hold the violin from emulating her sister.
``I never got a chance to do anything like that,'' Gramby said. ``I played the piano, like a lot of girls my age, but I didn't have the opportunity to play the violin. I thought it would be a great experience to learn to play the violin.
``She did very well last year,'' Gramby said of her daughter. ``I was impressed. Her heart is in it. That's what gets me.''
Lucina McClean travels from Virginia Beach to teach violin at the school. Armed with a combined master's degree in ethnic music and anthropology, she brings to the students an extensive musical background. Her students will be exposed to music from the Baroque, Classical and Romantic periods spanning four centuries.
``Today I find cultural deprivation among young people in general, but in particular in regard to classical music,'' McClean said. ``Many of the children today have not been to a symphony or a string quartet.
``I hope this program develops and continues as an enrichment for the children from Elizabeth City.'' MEMO: Mary Ellen Riddle covers the arts on the Outer Banks for The Carolina
Coast. Send comments and questions to her at P.O. Box 10, Nags Head,
N.C. 27959.
by CNB