Santa Barbara Symphony’s Music Van Rolls into the Classroom

Imagine filling a classroom with various musical instruments and then allowing a group of 3rd graders to play them to their hearts’ content. As one might expect, it is reverberating, disorganized chaos. 

But then imagine the joy, as well. 

That is the premise behind the Santa Barbara Symphony’s Music Van program, which gives 2,000 students from more than 40 schools from Carpinteria to Lompoc the opportunity to see, hear, and play real musical instruments. For many of those students, it’s their first time holding one. 

“It opens up a whole new world for them,” said Kathryn Martin, president and CEO of the symphony, trying to talk over a classroom erupting with discordant noise. 

For the first day of the program this school year on October 9, the Music Van docents paid a visit to Montecito Union Elementary School. A small group of kids sat in the middle of the room, surrounded by tables draped in blue felt that were each dedicated to a family of instruments — strings, woodwinds, brass, and percussion — accompanied by multiple sets of mouthpieces, sterilized between classes.

Professional musician Kristine Pacheco demonstrated mastery of the strings section, including renditions of both “Baby Shark” and the Jaws theme on the cello. Then everyone joined in to play the different musical roles of Peter and the Wolf, starting with Lynne Halterlein on the oboe. 

Did you know that the French horn sounds like ice cream? At least, that’s what volunteer Marguerite Amer said. She had all the children close their eyes and imagine their favorite flavor of ice cream melting on a hot summer day as she played a melancholy tune on the French horn. 

Percussion was demonstrated through a story told by Mary Jane Cooper, the program’s lead volunteer of 18 years. The diverse array of instruments mimicked the sounds of a suspicious noise, a journey across gravel and upstairs to investigate, and the opening of a door, only to be greeted by a scary monster. Cooper clacked and shook and rattled to convey the mysterious, spooky investigation and the sounds of fleeing home to jump and hide under the covers. 

While they enthralled the kids with musical storytelling, the docents also took the time to share some orchestral knowledge — including that the modern harp has 47 strings.

Music programs are limited in many Santa Barbara schools, Cooper explained. Kids just don’t have the same access to instruments and musical experimentation in school as they did in the past, prompting the local community to fill in the gaps in music education. Cooper said that they frequently receive thank-you notes from the kids, overjoyed about what they were able to play.

That’s why the van — filled with orchestral instruments donated by Nick Rail Music — brings the music to the classroom. It’s fully funded by the symphony and their donors, and free for all 3rd-grade classes that sign up. 

The project started in 1978 and is run in-house, led by Education Manager Marie Hébert. Docents typically do two to three one-hour sessions a day, three days a week. Other than two professional musicians the symphony hires to do demonstrations, it is run completely by volunteers. 

They run from October to February during the school year. More information about the program can be found at thesymphony.org/education/music-van.