Posted on 09/25/2012 11:58:09 AM PDT by Altariel
ll 11-year-old Camille Cruz wanted to do was play in her sixth-grade orchestra class at a Farmington, N.M., middle school using a violin her grandmother bought her.
This instrument is definitely different: Not only does it have sentimental value, it’s purple -- and that was where school officials drew the line. They insisted Camille had to play a violin the same color as everyone else’s, or she couldn’t play at all.
The student’s violin of a different color now has the town of Farmington (pop. 45,000) in a tizzy. After the local Daily Times newspaper published a story about Camille and her violin, online comments flooded the newspaper’s website. Folks are now discussing the story at coffee houses and over backyard fences.
“It’s been the talk of the town,” Daily Times reporter Ryan Boetel told the Los Angeles Times. “The reaction has been incredibly mixed. Half the people say an orchestra is a team that should come together as one. Others say that anything that prevents a child from joining a school orchestra is a bad thing.”
For Camille and her mother, Sherry Lopez, the brouhaha is all about standing up for who you are, even if the color of your violin is different from everyone else’s.
"This whole thing is like telling Axl Rose he has to use some guitar from Kmart," Lopez told The Times. "He doesn't want to use that. He wants to use his own guitar. And so does Camille. It’s a sense of pride. This violin is hers. She wants to use her own instrument. But the school was just so adamant. She didn’t match. She stood out. It was all about the color of the instrument and not her talents as a musician.”
(Excerpt) Read more at latimes.com ...
Farmington embarrassing us again.... ;)
Besides Hillary herself, the most insane, brutal and aggressive totalitarian monsters in this country are public school teachers and administrators.
Not even D.C. Democrats come near them.
They are frothing-mouth rabid.
Do they have a rule book? Does the rule book say that all instruments must have a uniform appearance? No? Then there is no violation, and they are being unfair.
People get caught up in superficial stuff and they end up paying too little importance to the stuff that matters. This is why we got Obama — a lot of people looked at his color and gave a big thumbs up, but they forgot to vet him or look at his proposed policies. His political philosophy didn’t matter, right? They guy had the color they were looking for.
Some day, perhaps we can all look a little deeper than the surface.
How would a Hendrix version of “Purple Haze” sound on the violin?
Sometimes some idiot puts a Steinway on stage when I have an engagement.
Which I refuse to play. They haven’t made a decent piano since the early 70’s.
If they don’t replace it with the appropriate Baldwin SD-10 I will, (and have), cancelled.
Let this girl use her own violin. I’m sure a real conductor wouldn’t care, only the untalented hack who couldn’t cut it as a performer and has to work for the public school system.
Herbert von Karajan and Georg Solti spin in their graves.
I bet if it had an Obama sticker on it, they’ll make a special place in their trophy case for it.
Hate to say it, but I go with the school on this one. If it’s an orchestra, that means something in terms of a performance group. They all dress mostly one way, they perform as a unit.
The proper response is to start your own group with your own rules. Once you consent to ‘the man’ supporting your art, ‘the man’ gets to make rules.
The principle of the King’s Coin does not apply here given that the students have to buy their own instruments.
Hmmmmmmmmmmmmm
I have a grandchild in 6th grade who plays the violin...
I dont think the color matters in TN schools...
I’ll ask her though...
Wrong.
Its not up to the school. If it was its only up to the conductor. And in the world of classical music, the conductor IS the absolute dictator.
But no one, not even Toscanini with his legendary temper, would criticize any of their players’ personal instruments.
Yep, I think you called it right. No documented infraction, no foul. This is silly. Would a blond wood violin have set them off as well?
What she should do perhaps is stand on the sidewalk outside the school, put a blanket on the ground and play for passersby. She could also put up a sign saying she is playing for tuition money for a new school.
OK people lets get real and judge this case on the facts and circumstances as they exist in the real world.
These are sixth graders and we are trying to teach them music. In the real world teaching sixth graders only happens in an environment of discipline.
Discipline goes out the window when you start making exceptions for individuals. Either everyone is the same or everyone is different.
Also if you remember the sixth grade as I do anyone who could be singled out became a target. It may end up being a mercy they did this girl by not letting her have her special violin.
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