L.A. middle school honors musicians perform at the Kodak

A concert that almost wasn't filled much of the Kodak Theatre on Sunday night with an enthusiastic audience of parents and other fans of more than 300 middle school musicians.

The fifth annual L.A. Unified Middle School Honors Music Program, along with a recent concert for elementary school musicians, had been eliminated last fall to save money. Julie Korenstein, one of four school board members who attended the concert, told the audience that she was outraged by the cuts, and went to Supt. David Brewer to lobby for the funds. When she was rebuffed, she sponsored a resolution to restore them. It was approved unanimously. Giving Brewer the benefit of the doubt, she said he wasn't familiar with the concerts and didn't know how important they were to the district's music program.

If Brewer was in the house Sunday, no one introduced him. His office this morning said the concert was not on his calendar. Korenstein said he attended the recent elementary schools honor concert.

She said this morning that she remained worried about the future of the concerts, given the prospect of budget cuts ahead. "There's no way I will vote for the budget" if the concerts are eliminated, she said.

The two concerts cost $150,000, according to her office.

(Coming clean: I attended the concert because one of my children performed.)

-- Mary MacVean

Comments

[yuki kijima]

i was in the band. we played... i think 3 or 4 songs. it was nice and air conditioned. i played the french horn and had fun making friends. my lips got dry often too. the kodiak theatre is nice and big.there was this cute girl playing the fllute in front of me and in the back with the tubas, was my friend josh, he was from my school. ya.