One of the many in-school education events in September included the TSO Percussion Duo performing for students at East View Elementary School in Sault Ste Marie. Don Kuehn and John Rudolph are a great team and never fail to captivate their audience, whether they are aged 4 or 94! At today’s performance, the Junior Kindergarten students (age 4) arrived about 10 minutes early for the performance, which took place in the school’s gym. Don & John couldn’t resist giving them their own special little performance. First John showed the children the Japanese temple bowl, and each one of them had a chance to hit the bowl with the mallet to produce a beautiful ringing sound. Then Don shared the wooden frogs — which were a big hit (if you’ll pardon the pun). When you stroke the back of the frog with a wooden stick, it sounds like a frog croaking. The large, medium and small wooden frogs (which the children immediately referred to as the Daddy Frog, Mommy Frog and Baby Frog), were carefully passed down the line until each one of them had discovered the unique ‘voice” of each frog. And then Don led them in the creation of a rainstorm, starting with gently falling rain (rubbing your fingers together), which led to heavier rain (patting your thighs), thunder (stomping your feet), and lightening (clapping your arms overhead and yelling “KABOOM”!). And then the storm subsided and all of the actions were done in reverse. The children had a great time but — truthfully — I think Don and John had just as much fun.
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