by Timothy Rutt
Richard Meyer, orchestra teacher at Temple City's Oak Avenue Intermediate School, had been teaching almost three decades when he thought, "I've done all the other stuff -- it's time to do this, it's very important."
Giving Bach started because Meyer said that he "just got to the point where I wanted to build character in my students using music." For his student performers, "especially in middle school, they're socially learning -- many of these kids are shy and quet, and it's a little confidence booster."
For their audience, it's often a revelation: the concerts are interactive, meaning at different points the audience can mingle with the musicians as they play, even try out an instrument themselves.
"It's informative, we explain different kinds of instruments," Meyer said. "They get to play percussion, and ultimately thye sit in -- they sit right next to our kids -- and they'll let them hold (the instrument)."
The audience also gets a chance to form an orchestra of its own, putting on hard hats and playing "boomwhackers" against their heads.
