"It was clear that the wind players, each with a full, warm tone, have spent a great deal of time playing together and have cultivated a collective sensibility… an exciting and witty piece that showed off the group's tight interplay and excellent ensemble sense." – Benjamin Frandzel

One of the fun bits in our AIM show that involves the students is Astor Piazzolla’s famous Libertango. We first teach the children a rhythm on the instruments that they brought with them: their hands and legs! They perform the rhythm by clapping and tapping their legs: Clap, Tap-Tap, Clap, Tap-Tap, etc. Then, we ask them to perform with us while we play Libertango. They’re the percussion section!

In their exuberance (which we love) the students’ rhythm often turns into Clap, SMACK-SMACK… Clap, SMACK-SMACK – a lot like a crowd at a basketball game (think “We Will, We Will Rock You.”) Last Tuesday at Fairmont Elementary School, Kyle, our oboist, had a breakthrough… replace leg tapping with finger snapping – not loud… trickier coordination so no more rushing… brilliant! But could such a simple solution really work? Yes!! Our second performance went beautifully. The students were able to do the rhythm perfectly, but their “percussion” never got loud enough to keep them from hearing and enjoying the music.

This is how our AIM show is always evolving… each school audience is a little different but when problems emerge repeatedly that we need to address it’s a great feeling when we can find a brilliant solution.