Photo: Elisha Page, Argus Leader, 2012
The series, which lasts two weeks, includes four children’s concerts for kids kindergarten through fifth. Andrew Reinartz, executive director of Dakota Sky International Piano Festival, said the kids are invited to sit on stage around the piano. “Jose Luis" (the director) comes in for the festival and does a program where it’s a combination of performance, lecturing and education,” Reinartz said. “He gets the kids up and moving, they touch the piano and play a little bit. There was one year where he had them actually compose a piece together.” Jose Luis Hernandez-Estrada, director of children’s education for Dakota Sky, also is a conductor and pianist. Hernandez-Estrada has been active with Dakota Sky since its inception. “It’s important for an artist to communicate his art. Not just to general audiences but children and youngsters,” he said. “They are our future audiences, our future patrons of the arts, and it’s important they get the chance to discover the beauty of music in a practical and accessible way.”
Read the Fully Article by Payton Randle: http://www.argusleader.com/article/20120725/NEWS/307250044/Music-lessons-center-stage-kids-concert-series
See the Photo Gallery: http://www.argusleader.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=%2F201207241538%2FUPDATES%2F120724023