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~ FAMILY BIO ~
BRANDON is our violin guy and in Suzuki book 9 (they go up to 10). He also plays clarinet, bass & contrabass clarinet, mandolin, viola, cello and upright bass. He's been a member of the Wichita Youth Symphony for 4 yrs and loves it! In '07 he won a $3,350 music grant which paid for a new violin, a Coda bow, plus a week at the highly acclaimed Ottawa Suzuki camp/KS! In '08 he won a $300 music grant from the OK International Bluegrass Festival (OIBF) & had the honor of playing on Byron Berline's stage 10/4 as a recipient!
Brandon has won a 4H purple ribbon/regional (violin), 4H blue & TOP blue/state (violin); 1st place in 2 contests for "most practice time"; 2nd place duet with Travis in the school talent show; 'AP' (highest rating possible!) in the Pioneer League (PL) Contest 2006 (violin), '1' regional '07 & '08, '2' state '08; selected to play in the KMEA Honor Orchestra '07, '08 & '09 as well as State KMEA. He also enjoys drawing architectural home designs in his spare time (?) and even won 1st PLACE in the KS State Fair! Much more...
It's not unusual to hear Brandon practice 1-4 hrs each day. Classical music is his main style but he helps the family out these days with fiddling. His favorite past time is - well, take a wild guess......MUSIC!!
UPDATE: Has 2 main parts in the school drama 11/09.
3/9 started track. 5/18 chosen to play the National
Anthem for the 8th grade graduation with Travis.
Received a "I" at the State Festival Concert 5/09.
MIKE is a Senior Engineer at an aircraft company in Wichita. It's a good thing, too, because he has a lot of people to feed! He plays the cello, usually during the Christmas holiday, & even played a fiddle tune with Joshua in '08 at Chitwood's Music Barn. As of 2006, he now plays our gospel songs on the upright bass. Mom talked him into it! There's a lot of work behind-the-scenes he does such as helping with the tuning, hauling, arranging of instruments, taking care of children, etc. Too numerous to list everything!
RONNETTA plays the clarinet but took on the task of learning to play the guitar about 3 yrs ago to help bring the family's music together. The upright bass became another instrument to learn & really enjoys that too, but for now, the guitar is her main one to play. She loves God, her family and music!
CONTRATULATIONS BRANDON!!!!
~ Placed 3rd chair in SCKMEA 11/09 ~
BRANDON is our violin guy and in Suzuki book 9 (they go up to 10). He also plays clarinet, bass & contrabass clarinet, mandolin, viola, cello and upright bass. He's been a member of the Wichita Youth Symphony for 4 yrs and loves it! In '07 he won a $3,350 music grant which paid for a new violin, a Coda bow, plus a week at the highly acclaimed Ottawa Suzuki camp/KS! In '08 he won a $300 music grant from the OK International Bluegrass Festival (OIBF) & had the honor of playing on Byron Berline's stage 10/4 as a recipient!
Brandon has won a 4H purple ribbon/regional (violin), 4H blue & TOP blue/state (violin); 1st place in 2 contests for "most practice time"; 2nd place duet with Travis in the school talent show; 'AP' (highest rating possible!) in the Pioneer League (PL) Contest 2006 (violin), '1' regional '07 & '08, '2' state '08; selected to play in the KMEA Honor Orchestra '07, '08 & '09 as well as State KMEA. He also enjoys drawing architectural home designs in his spare time (?) and even won 1st PLACE in the KS State Fair! Much more...
It's not unusual to hear Brandon practice 1-4 hrs each day. Classical music is his main style but he helps the family out these days with fiddling. His favorite past time is - well, take a wild guess......MUSIC!!
UPDATE: Has 2 main parts in the school drama 11/09.
3/9 started track. 5/18 chosen to play the National
Anthem for the 8th grade graduation with Travis.
Received a "I" at the State Festival Concert 5/09.
(Photo of our windmill taken by
Brandon ~ 2006)
(Farmers
Market '07)
TRAVIS decided to switch to the banjo from the violin & became faster than his teacher (quoting the teacher)! He still plays the violin and does great on Orange Blossom Special! He plays the trumpet very well too - 1st chair in school. The upright bass was added in '08. In '06 he won a $3,000 music grant which paid for a new Deering banjo & a week in CO with Pete Wernick. He also won a $300 grant in '08 from the OIBF (in OK).
Travis is a hard worker, straight 'A' student, 1st chair trumpet player (2 yrs in a row), won 1st place in the school talent show 5/07 AND 5/08, won 2nd place in the KS State Fair 9/08 for a wooden bowl he made (complex design) & also a pencil drawing etched of his grandpa. A real joy in his life is working with Dad & Grandpa on the John Deere tractors & driving them! Can't tell from his photo, huh?
UPDATE: 2009; started jazz band 3/24; track 3/9
5/18 chosen to play the Nat'l Anthem (trumpet)
for his 8th grade graduation w/ Brandon (violin)
5/21 won 3rd place in school talent show w/ Josh
6/13 won 3rd place in banjo contest, Grove, OK
(2007 1st chair trumpet player 2 yrs in a row)
(1/07 with
Pete Wernick;
CO Banjo Camp)
(2 favorite things combined in 1 photo!)
JOSHUA switched back to the violin after temporarily taking cello lessons at the academy. He plays "9" instruments & is so multi-talented that I'm not even going to list all of them (see photos to the right)! I will mention the clogging, juggling, & riding a unicylce though (not at the same time, yet). He won a $300 grant in '08 like Brandon & Travis plus he won 1st place in the school talent show which he received $50! The teachers couldn't decide who to give 1st place to so Joshua AND Travis won! Isn't sibling rivalry fun? hahaJoshua is a great kid with a big heart & wants to be a pilot some day. As fast as he is in everything, he'll be a good one, I'm sure!
UPDATE: 8/09 placed 1st chair in band (trumpet)
started jazz band 3/24/09; track 3/9/09
5/21 won 3rd place in school talent show
with Travis ($5 each)
(Joshua with most of his instruments!)
RACHEL started out on the violin and switched to the mountain dulcimer in '07. Hopefully we'll see more of her playing at our concerts. She enjoys sign-language, clogging, passing out our home-made bookmarks to the audience & playing the upright bass. That's right! The upright bass! She plays that big ole thing & you can barely see her. She does a great job, too!
'09 she started playing the clarinet in band at school.
Rachel seems to have an interest in sewing (with the help of Grandma!) as well as clothing design and with having 4 little sisters she gets to do a lot of experimenting on them. They all have a good time playing when she's around! Little 3 yr old Laura can't talk well yet so she calls her "Yoyo". (hahaha) She's a good big sister!
May '09 she received $50 from Sunflower Bank for A's on her report card! Way to go!
RACHEL started out on the violin and switched to the mountain dulcimer in '07. Hopefully we'll see more of her playing at our concerts. She enjoys sign-language, clogging, passing out our home-made bookmarks to the audience & playing the upright bass. That's right! The upright bass! She plays that big ole thing & you can barely see her. She does a great job, too!
'09 she started playing the clarinet in band at school.
Rachel seems to have an interest in sewing (with the help of Grandma!) as well as clothing design and with having 4 little sisters she gets to do a lot of experimenting on them. They all have a good time playing when she's around! Little 3 yr old Laura can't talk well yet so she calls her "Yoyo". (hahaha) She's a good big sister!
May '09 she received $50 from Sunflower Bank for the A's on her report card! Way to go!
ANNA chose the mandolin and found 'her' instrument. She'll even fight Joshua over it. She's beginning to play the violin, has an interest in learning the banjo, and helps the little girls with the maracas. Our family makes homemade bookmarks to pass out at each show so that's where you'll find her - carrying a basket & a smile. She's our little clogger & a treat to the audience!
If there's anyone in our family that loves to read - it's Anna! She always has a book with her and reads at a level way above her age. It's exciting to think of watching her grow up and see what God has planned for her life!
Halstead, KS '08
Fine Arts & Crafts Festival
MELISSA got a new violin for her 5th birthday & started taking lessons from our teacher in September. She also started playing the washboard in '08 using a kitchen wire wisk (thimbles are too big!) on Turkey In The Straw & does a fabulous job! You should see her & little Laura as they immitate their siblings on Boil 'Em Cabbage where they play each others violin. They are quite the pair, let me tell you.
When she grins, her eyes sparkle - it's hard to find anything prettier!
(Playing washboard in Winfield
Acoustic Kids Showcase 9/08)
(Our little princess
cowgirl!
Spavinaw, OK - '07)
LAURA is the youngest of 8 so you can only imagine how spoiled she is.....but she's the joy of our life! She LOVES her little violin & totes it around everywhere. We let her start lessons in 9/08 and she's doing good! She can hum almost every song she hears and appears to be very musically oriented. She tries to clog like her siblings, plays maracas (on beat), blows the little train whistle, switches hats between the kids songs, carries a fishing pole & literally takes over the show. In '08 she started playing the spoons & literally hikes her knee up to play them! What a hoot to watch. The audience loves to watch her & we wonder if they notice anyone else!
(Photo above: playing in Acoustic Kids/Winfield 9/08)
(To the right: clogging & playing her RED spoons)
Melissa (left)
Laura (right)
(Spavinaw Lake, OK - '07)
*having fun*
"Take time for all things; great haste makes great waste."
Benjamin Franklin
