Meaghan Flynn Business Manager
C
the musical piece
arrying a passion for music since sixth grade, senior Bryan Dinman completes high school with two AllSuburban positions in symphonic and jazz groups. “My favorite part of playing the trumpet is being able to hear myself play,” Dinman said. “I get to hear all of my practice pay off.” Bryan’s mother, Mrs. Michelle Dinman, remembers her son at a young age, trying to play his dad’s trumpet or simply drumming along different surfaces. She believes that family support was a major influence on Bryan’s music throughout the years. His father played the trumpet in his college marching band while his uncle used to work as the assistant band director at Parkway Central. “Bryan has always been interested in music,” Mrs. Dinman said. “We had a feeling early on that he would be more into the trumpet as he got older.” Dinman participated in various musical groups throughout high school, including marching band, pit orchestra, jazz band and symphonic band. His solo and ensemble pieces also have earned Honor I ratings. Band director Mr. Doug Hoover said that Dinman’s knowledge of music style helps him as a leader in groups. “He brings a great sound to the group,” Hoover said. “His good style of music helps everyone learn vicariously through him.” In order to reach his particular level of music, Dinman attends summer band camps and jazz camps and takes private lessons. Beginning in seventh grade, Dinman met with a private instructor once a week for thirty minutes. “We chose his instructor because the lessons weren’t too intense,” Mrs. Dinman said. “We didn’t want the instructor to push Bryan past the point of him not enjoying his music anymore.”
HE
CORRALC 10
Seniors
May 9, 2014
Dinman added that guest clinicians, band directors and other music teachers have inspired him to keep practicing. “The band environment at Central is really encouraging,” Dinman said. Hoover believes that one of Dinman’s strongest musical abilities is his strong talent in sight-reading. Dinman’s ability to learn music quickly and fix his mistakes in his practice helps strengthen his skills. “He really models a strong musical aptitude,” Hoover said. “It gives everyone a good center to focus on.” Dinman’s describe him as initially shy and laid-back. Hoover said that it has taken him four years to realize Dinman’s comedic skills, and junior Jacob Parmley believes it is easy to become friends with Dinman because of his attitude. “He always displayed great musical leadership in the band,” Parmley said. “He always played the solos and came in at the right time in every piece. The band will be affected a lot next year because we are losing a great musician, but we will try to pick up the slack.” Dinman plans to attend the University of Kansas in the fall to study trumpet performance. He hopes to try composing in college as well. After college, Dinman wants to pursue a band director position or work as a music professor. “I don’t know if he totally knows what he wants to do with his major,” Mrs. Dinman said. “But I know that if he ends up doing anything with music, he will be successful.”
Liu tutors underprivileged Chinese children Jill Kealing Staff Writer
K
the cultural piece
Dinman pursues family path, music passion
elilah Liu may have been born the United States, but she still feels very strongly connected to her Chinese heritage. Last summer she, with the Kansas City Chinese Americans Association, even travelled to China to tutor underprivileged children. “I’ve always loved helping people and giving back to those who may not have the same opportunities,” Liu said. “So, when this opportunity arose, I immediately took them up on their offer.” Liu was one of the pioneers of this program. This was only the second year that KCCAA had travelled to China, so they were preparing based upon what they thought would be important for teaching their future students. “It was kinda haphazard because none of us really knew what we were doing,” Liu said. “We picked the classes we would want to teach and then started making lesson plans for all of them.” The preparations lasted a week, and then the group flew to China, followed by a 6-hour bus ride to an impoverished mountainous village. The first day, though, there was no teaching. Instead, it was spent deciding how best to use their very limited resources. “The leader of the KCCAA and the principals of local schools went around the village searching for the poorest of the poor to be interviewed for scholarships,” Liu said. However, for many of the students the issue was not easily solved. Liu remembers one boy who touched her
deeply. Both of the boy’s parents worked extremely long days on the farm for a yearly income that amounted to less than 2,000 renimbi, equivalent to $320. His situation had worsened due to his mom breaking her back, so he would skip school to work on the farm with his father every day. “He just broke my heart,” Liu said. “We tried to help him by telling him that if he studied hard he could get a good job and help his parents later.” While the community views may have been traditional, the village still had modern conveniences. Its inhabitants, for instance, had access to electricity, and Liu was able to teach computer skills. “We mostly just taught English, art and music, but when we got there I took over a computer class,” Liu said. However, these people didn’t use electricity as the majority of Americans do. For instance, on the Children’s Day the town decided to celebrate with a massive concert that night, but sacrifices had to be made. “For the whole day, the town turned off everything electric,” Liu said. “I think they did this to make sure they wouldn’t blow a fuse during the concert.” All of these things that surprised her gave her something of a different perspective on her life in the United States. “It made me thankful for all the things we do have,” Liu said. “I know we all hate school, but thank God for the education opportunities we do have.”