BE A MARCHING BULLDOG

Families flock to Koncerts for Kids series

Five years ago Dr. Gary Gilroy, associate director of bands at Fresno State, began enlisting everyone from Marching Band members to music faculty in establishing a concert series for children and their families. Today youngsters from all over the Valley come to the university's Concert Hall to hear both classical and popular music or, during football season, to Bulldog Stadium to "Be a Marching Bulldog."

The concerts are both educational and enter-taining. "They have been very well received," Gilroy said. "Everyone likes them a lot."

And who wouldn't? Participants shown here at the October event in Bulldog Stadium were admitted for $5 per family (or $2 per person). First they enjoyed a Marching Band show and demonstrations by the various instrumental sections that make up the band. Then youngsters and adults alike took to the field for a spirited marching rendition of the Fresno State Fight Song.

Co-sponsored by The Fresno Bee, the series is modeled after a program begun at the University of Oregon.

"The Concert Hall is packed," Gilroy said of the events that take place on selected Saturday mornings in the Music Building.

Gilroy said music students have gotten practice creating instrumental arrangements. For example, members of a trumpet section performed a student arrangement of "Popeye, the Sailor Man" to demonstrate the sounds of their instruments.

Music major Wesley Luttrell wrote the script for the recent stadium show, and campus radio station manager Joe Moore was the narrator.