Where kids pull the strings

The sound of trumpets, cellos and children's voices trickles through Borders Bookstore. Following the noise, one arrives at the store's southwest corner, where a group of parents and kids sit on planet, star and sun-speckled semi-circular steps. \nAmy Benson, John Richardson and Cheryl Schuster, Bloomington Symphony Orchestra violinists and the objects of the group's enchantment, sit at the bottom. \nCassie plays the cello under Schuster's guidance, while mom, Paula, and five-month-old sister, Anya, watch.\n"And I'm five already," Cassie suddenly exclaims to Schuster, while carefully gliding the bow over the instrument.\nSeven Bloomington Symphony Orchestra musicians entertained and delighted local children Saturday from 10 a.m. to noon in a "Meet the instruments" event at Borders Bookstore. "Meet the instruments" is part of the BSO's educational outreach programs held several times yearly. \nPart of the BSO's mission is to encourage the understanding, appreciation and mastery of music, according to the group's Web site.\n"I think it's very important for people to get exposed to music, beyond passively listening to the radio, and see how it's made," Richardson said.\nMost of the children shyly cling to their parents, listening as Benson and Schuster make "silly" noises on the instruments. But after gentle encouragement from the players, they timidly approach, with small smiles of pleasure curled around their mouths.\nSchuster shakes her head of chestnut curls up and down, mimicking the motions a cello player makes while performing. \n"I don't think they really do that," Cole Martin, Schuster's pupil at the moment, said, giggling.\n"See, cello players don't have to comb their hair before they go to a concert," Schuster said.\nIn the CD and DVDs section, Cole, and his brother, Cabot, examine various percussion instruments, including the snare drum, symbols and castanets. \n"They (children) almost never can get this close to the instruments," said Lisa Martin, mother of Cole and Cabot. "So, this just really gives them a feel for how music works and to explore it more."\nBSO conductor Leonardo Panigada stands by smiling. He said he enjoys the facial expressions and different reactions the children make when they first produce a sound. Richardson also takes an equal amount of delight from working with kids, he said.\n"I find the enthusiasm of the children very infectious," said Richardson, also an IU chemistry professor. \nNestled in a lone cove away from the cluster, Joe Padawan, a first-year BSO player and marching band instructor at Ellettsville's Edgewood High School, informs an older, blond-haired boy how to blow the trumpet.\n"Take a big breath and go 'phhhhhh,'" Padawan said, puffing out his cheeks.\nPadawan squirts the trombone with a mouthpiece disinfectant spray and asks Zarya Desouza, 3, if she would like to try. She shakes her head "no," content to watch and listen by her mother's side. \nInstead, Padawan plays "Twinkle, twinkle little star" -- a song Zarya instantly recognizes. Her mom, Kelly Desouza, decides to try the trombone. Her cheeks swell, and she blows, emitting a long squeak.\n"Mommy's not very good at it," Zarya said laughing.\n"The kids have a better sound than the parents do," Padawan said.\nJennifer Bryan, a BSO violinist and vice president for orchestra affairs who organized the day, sat watching Padawan and the Desouzas. \n"It's so neat to see children trying out a musical instrument for the first time," she said. "When you see the surprised look on the kids' faces when they can make a sound from the instrument is the most exciting thing."\nThe BSO will hold its first concert Oct. 20. Their annual children's concert is Nov. 24. Both concerts are at 3 p.m. the Buskirk Chumley Theatre.