MUSICIANS OF THE SUN

Kayla Marra played a contra bass xylophone with the choir.

Dave Deisher, left, portrayed "The Wind" as other students played soprano recorders, from left, Jami Dement as the "Fish Woman," Catherine Moreton as the "Alligator Woman" and Lorrin Lynn as the "Turtle Woman."

The hand drum section included, from left, Cory Huskey, Brad Gaines and Jonathan Bernhardt.

Pam Dumey doesn't miss a beat.

That's not easy when you're directing 90 fifth- and sixth-graders.

Dumey teaches music at Clippard Elementary School in Cape Girardeau. The students are members of the Clippard Elementary Choir.

The choir will perform "Musicians of the Sun" Saturday at the Missouri Music Educators Association state convention at Tan-Tar-A Resort at the Lake of the Ozarks.

Dumey said it is a unique opportunity for the Clippard students. One elementary choir in the whole state is chosen each year to perform at the convention.

Clippard's choir was chosen on the basis of an audition tape of last year's choir performing a Chinese folk tale.

This will mark the first appearance by Clippard students at the convention.

Counting teachers and parents from Clippard School, about 150 people will make the trip to the Lake of the Ozarks.

The trip isn't cheap. The group is taking three chartered buses. There is also a night's lodging in a motel. The group will spend Friday night at the Lake of the Ozarks before performing on Saturday.

Along the way, the group will stop at the St. Louis Science Center.

The school, through the efforts of students, parents and local businesses, raised about $7,000, Dumey said.

Enough money was raised to cover the trip and also buy eight musical instruments for the school.

"This never would have happened without the community's support," she said.

"Musicians of the Sun" is a 30-minute performance. The students sing, dance and play a variety of instruments from drums to xylophones, and even conch shells. The program features a variety of costumes and props.

Dumey and her students developed the program, based on the children's book, "Musicians of the Sun" by Gerald McDermott.

"It is an Aztec folk tale," said Dumey. "It is a myth about four musicians held captive by the sun."

The Lord of the Night calls on the wind to free the musicians so they can return to Earth and bring music to the Earth.

The program involves a variety of music, everything from an Apache melody to a Japanese lullaby.

Students rewrote the lyrics from a 15th century French dance for one of the numbers.

It concludes with Siyahamba, the traditional South African freedom song, accompanied by four students performing Yole, a West African mask dance. The art department at Clippard created the four colorful, large masks that are nearly as tall as the dancers.

The show is filled with various dances, most of them created through student improvisation. The Japanese lullaby, for example, is accompanied by a fan dance.

"There is always a visual illustration of the song and the story," said Dumey, who is in her third year of teaching at Clippard.

The students have been practicing since September.

"We quit rearranging and adding about two weeks ago," Dumey said.

At a morning practice in the school gym last week, Dumey intently directed the students in everything from singing to dancing.

"One, two, three, hop, back, two, three, hop," she instructed a group of students as they practiced one of the dances.

Fifth-grade teacher Rhonda Knepp watched the children practice. She will be among the teachers making the trip.

"She gets them to love music," Knepp said of Dumey.

Most of the practicing is done before school or in music class, said Knepp.

There's more to it than singing, dancing and making music, she said, adding: "They learn so much about cultures of different countries."

Knepp said the students also learn about responsibility and working together as a group.

Tom Jaster, who has a son and daughter in the choir, has volunteered his time to assist with practices.

"It's been a lot of fun," said Jaster, a former music teacher.

He said the upcoming performance will be a treat for the students. "I am real excited for them," said Jaster.

The choir recently performed "Musicians of the Sun" at Centenary United Methodist Church. The performance was videotaped for possible inclusion in a Web site that is being developed on how McDermott's books are being used in the nation's classrooms.

The choir is a non-select choir, open to all fifth- and sixth-graders at the school.

The students had to attend early morning practices, maintain good grades and have good behavior.

"They are ambassadors of the school so they have to be exemplary students," said Dumey.

For the students, even the practices are fun.

Choir member Lorrin Lynn likes dancing. "I have been dancing since I was 3," she said following a morning practice.

She said it was fun to make up the lyrics to one of the songs.

Fellow student Jami Dement enjoys playing the recorder, a wind instrument. "I think it is neat to play," said Jami.

Student Zach Kluesner narrates the program, reading from the "Musicians of the Sun" book.

Zach is looking forward to the trip and the chance to perform before the music educators.

"It's like a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for all of us," he said.