Decoda Outreach Event
Decoda Outreach Event at Cyndi Taylor Krier Juvenile Correctional Treatment Center on October 9, 2023
On Monday October 9, 2023, five members of the acclaimed chamber ensemble Decoda, accompanied by SACMS president Randolph Glickman, board member Pauline Glickman and myself, walked through the metal detector of Bexar County’s Cyndi Taylor Krier Juvenile Correctional Treatment Center, traversed the heavily-fenced barren courtyard, and entered their vacant gymnasium. “No phones,” said one of the staff, and the unfazed five got to work setting up their makeshift stage for an outreach event that would involve virtuosic playing, dialogue with the teenagers, and plenty of improvisation. As the first group of youths filed in, they peered with eagerness and curiosity at the musicians warming up. After the first three (of five) rows of teenagers lined up and sat down, bassoonist Brad Balliott slowly wandered to the back row while the others continued to prepare. “Any idea what instrument this is?” he casually asked a few curious audience members, who gave a smattering of wrong answers: “Clarinet?” … “oboe!” … “the horn?” As Brad asked if they played any instruments themselves, Decoda beckoned for him to rejoin them, and the event began.
Opening with an excerpt from the playful Stravinsky/Rameau arrangement that began their Sunday concert program at Trinity Baptist Church, the ensemble grabbed the kids’ attention with a catchy Baroque tune and steady pulse. After an exciting finish and a round of applause, each member took turns relating their personal connection to their own instrument. Icelandic cellist Saeunn Thorsteinsdottir conveyed the cello’s ability to connect directly to her soul, improvising a beautiful, passionate folkish tune over a deep drone. Flutist Catherine Gregory demonstrated the flute’s versatility, playing Debussy’s lyrical Syrinx before launching into a percussive, more contemporary excerpt that almost resembled beatboxing. Many of the kids laughed, giddy and bewildered. Pianist David Kaplan played music from Schumann’s Carnaval, first the epic opening “Preambule” to show off the piano’s ability to become an entire orchestra, and then the movement titled “Chopin” to demonstrate its sensitive lyrical capabilities. Violinist Clara Lyon began fiddling a bluegrass tune, to show her instrument’s wilder side. Finally, the bassoonist Brad Balliott, first playing the famous, goofy excerpt from Paul Dukas’s The Sorcerer’s Apprentice (popularized by the Disney movie “Fantasia”), showed that the bassoon can be melodic, too, singing a surprisingly lush melody with a bold tone.
The most innovative and gripping part of the event was Decoda’s engagement with the attendees in creating a unique song on the spot. Calling upon raised hands for ideas about character and mood, and even having them sing out melodies and rhythms that they would incorporate, Decoda pieced together a “Halloween”-themed song by adding material with one instrument at a time. Demonstrating the important layers in chamber music, each instrument added an element to the song (rhythmic, melodic, harmonic) at the guided suggestions of the youths themselves. This took immense skill, improvisational technique, patience, and sensibility from the musicians, and the resulting song was a rousing hit.
Decoda capped off the interactive performance with a work composed by member Brad Balliott, drawing inspiration from a melody composed by Jean-Michel Jarre for astronaut and saxophonist Ron McNair, who passed away in the Challenger disaster of 1986. McNair, having brought his saxophone with him to space, had intended to record the first original piece of music in space. Brad’s piece, using the bassoon as a saxophone, is an imaginative answer to the question: What might McNair’s piece have sounded like, had that tragedy not occurred? Bright, virtuosic arpeggios in the piano painted thousands of shining stars, and over a rhythmic current from the other instruments, the bassoon soared with a melody that evoked the vastness and wonder of space.
Not many musicians can lead an interactive, hour-long performance with teenagers from a detention center that is as captivating, engaging, and comfortable as the one given by Decoda that morning. It was a heartfelt gift to those kids, many of whom shouted out “thank you”s as they were led out of the gym. We at SACMS were touched, humbled and honored by this event’s success.
