July 13 2009 Issue
Mankato school offers music for English learners
MANKATO, Minn. (AP) — Four young pairs of eyes are trained quietly on instructor Patti Tryhus.
She tells her eager pupils to align their noses, elbows and toes with the strings of their violins. She reminds them to have
good posture and distribute weight evenly across both feet.
Nearby, a small handful of music educators and academicians are holding their breath, anxious to see how well these four
English-language learning students can play.
Someone presses play on a CD player in the front of the room and the unmistakable, dulcet tones of Johann Pachelbel's "Canon in D Major" begin whisping through the speakers. As if on cue, four elbows begin drawing four bows across over four
wooden instruments.
And suddenly, the basement classroom at Franklin Elementary is alive with music.
"You sound so fantastic," says a tall stranger at the conclusion of their practice session. "Just fantastic."