No Need to “Climb Ev’ry Mountain” to Hear Alpine Music
Austrian folk musician makes MIS halls come alive with sounds of accordion, alphorn
Fifth and sixth graders will bring The Sound of Music: Youth Edition to the stage at McCulloch Intermediate School this December, but students didn’t have to wait for the show to sample some Alpine music.
On Nov. 12, the halls were alive with the sounds of yodeling, the piano and button accordions, and the alphorn, a long, wooden horn traditionally used by Swiss shepherds for communication and herding.
Students learned about the instruments from an expert. Alex Meixner, a Grammy-nominated Polka Hall of Famer and Austrian Folk Musician, visited the school from New Braunfels thanks to MIS/HPMS theater director Genevieve Croft and an HP Arts grant.
Students clapped and swayed as Meixner, who can be heard on the Grammy-winning album Music and Friends, played everything from The Sound of Music’s “Edelweiss” to Ozzy Osbourne’s “Crazy Train.”
“It’s not your School of Rock type of presentation,” Croft said. “But they’ve been pretty into it.”
Meixner performed for fifth graders, many sixth graders, and members of The Sound of Music’s cast and crew, but this wasn’t a solo show. Students joined him on-stage to sing, try their hand at the accordion, and give the alphorn a blow as Meixner answered questions from his audience.
“You see the spark of kids’ interests being lit when they see an instrument they’ve never seen before,” Meixner said, explaining that his performance could encourage even more learning. “They get interested in something here. They start looking it up online, and they find other music. It’s a fascinating process to watch that education happen.”
Sixth-grader Ines Mufraggi, who plays Maria in The Sound of Music, gave the alphorn a try onstage. After instruction from Meixner, she managed to produce several trumpet-like notes. Then she performed the show’s iconic title song while Meixner accompanied her on the accordion.
“I was nervous,” she said. “But I think it was really fun. Honestly, the accordion just makes a really cool sound.”
Sixth-grader Griffin Lazebnik, who has the role of Captain von Trapp, also tackled an accordion-accompanied melody. Other young thespians joined Meixner for a lesson on Alpine yodeling. There are two main kinds, he explained, a slow version and a “fast, acrobatic” yodel.
Croft said that she hoped the visit generated excitement for The Sound of Music, as well as created an enriching experience for students. She’s been a fan of Meixner’s for years, and he performed at her wedding 16 years ago.
“I thought, gosh, what a great way to introduce the kids to this style of music, and to show them that polka, accordion is really cool,” she said.
After Meixner left, the students got down to the serious business of rehearsing for The Sound of Music. Croft challenged them to find their spark, or what motivated them to do their very best each day to make the performance special.
“You guys got to sing with a Grammy winning and Grammy nominated musician today,” she told students. “That’s cool. So, that’s my spark.”
