By Donald H. Harrison  

LA JOLLA, Calif.—Organizers of the San Diego Jewish  Music Festival had the opportunity to incorporate into their festival a performance by the San Diego Symphony of George Kleinsinger's "Tubby the Tuba," along with "Critters"  by local composer John Lorge. But how could these charming pieces be made to fit into the overall Jewish theme of the festival?   

On Sunday, April 2, the answer became clear—they could fit by analogy.  Just as the different animals on the biblical ark all went to the same place, thanks to their conductor, Noah, so too do the instruments in  the San Diego Symphony all play the same works of music, thanks to guest conductor, Matthew Garbutt.

To drive home the point, a model of Noah's Ark big enough for three or four costumed children to stand in was  constructed in a breezeway of the Lawrence Family JCC.  Young concert-goers  were invited to come in and see "Noah," "his wife," and "some of the animals" and, then, while they were at it, to "pet" the instruments that perform in the Ark that we know as an orchestra.

The children were permitted to draw a bow across a violin, to blow a horn, and to beat a drum either as the dessert or an appetizer to a morning and afternoon "Toon Tunes" Concert at the Center located in the La Jolla section of San Diego.

Our grandson, Shor, who is almost 5, happily tried the various instruments, but seemed the  most impressed by the violin proffered to him by Eileen Wingard, a family friend at whose home Shor has enjoyed vegetarian Passover seders. For him, the drum was "old hat" because he has a small set in the "sleepover room" Nancy and I maintain for him at our home.  

For Nathaniel Manor, 3, and other children who made their way through the crowded hands-on exhibit, the drum was far more irresistible, under the tutelage of James Miles, the Symphony's education and outreach director.

You might expect that a musical piece about animals would imitate how they sound, but "Critters" instead was a musical essay on how various animals move, including the kangaroo, porcupine, yak, hippopotamus, lizard, electric eel, elephant, tiger and the seal.

Ken Bell, a narrator with the deepest of voices, read couplets about each of the animals. "The porcupine is somewhat silly, he also is somewhat quilly."  "Sniggely, sniggley sag; the yak is covered with shag." "What fun to be a hippopotamus and weigh a ton from top to bottomus."  

Clever as the poems were, the audience proved to be a tough crowd.  With some infants crying, some preschoolers calling "mommy," and others having cases of the 'fidgeties," Bell and the orchestra had their work cut out for them.

The story of "Tubby the Tuba," who wanted to play a melody and not just oompah-pah-pah, seemed to capture the attention of more children, including grandson Shor who climbed onto my lap for the performance.  Nancy surreptitiously took a time exposure photo of the two of us listening to the concert.

In this musical story, another animal of which Noah surely would have been proud—a bullfrog—teaches Tubby the Tuba that one's voice can be both deep and yet melodious.  On returning to the orchestra, Tubby paid little attention to his usual teasing by some of the other instruments.  He bided his time until he had the opportunity to show the new conductor, Signore Pizzicato, how beautifully he could play a tune. Charmed, Pizzicato invited Tubby to continue and eventually the entire orchestra followed his lead. The artistry of Scott Sutherland on tuba was spotlighted during this piece.

Shor, Nancy and I  were delighted with this, another in our continuing series of adventures built around the story of Noah and the Ark. In the not so distant past, Shor and I had attended a dress rehearsal of a church opera based on the story, had read two versions of the biblical tale, enjoyed a color-changing T-shirt bearing a picture of the Ark, and had watched the DVD Fantasia 2000 in which Donald and Daisy Duck nearly get separated forever on the Ark. It's an open question who enjoys Ark-eology more, me or Shor.