Kid mixes classical music and skateboarding

Fourteen-year-old Evan Antoine will take a big step forward in his classical music training this fall. But, he’ll also continue to shoot and edit original skateboard films.

Evan Antoine

The former Ritenour Middle School student this fall will begin cello lessons with UMSL Professor Kurt Baldwin. Evan will be one of only two non-college students taking lessons from the college professor.

Evan will be a freshman at Ritenour High School this fall. He’s taken cello lessons for nine years.

But, his interests are much more varied than just music.

For one thing, he’s an honor student who likes school. His favorite subjects are English and math. He also won the Ritenour Middle School’s spelling bee last spring. He was selected as the school’s outstanding music student.

This fall, he said he may try out for Ritenour High’s soccer and basketball teams.

But, his favorite sports activity is skateboarding. And, the making films about the sport.

Like almost every serious skateboarder, he has the injuries to prove his interest. “I fractured my cheekbone and got a concussion in one fall,” he said.

But, he does more than just skate. He and some of his friends like to make instructional films of the sport. They even provide background music on the VHS tapes.

“We shoot with a camcorder. Then, we transfer that to a computer for editing. After editing, we put it back into the camcorder in order to make the VHS tapes,” he said.

The music he plays on his cello is mostly classical music. But, that isn’t the type of musical accompaniment he uses on his skateboard films. Sometimes, he puts in customized music to suit the tape buyer’s tastes.

He said his most unusual background music was Prince’s recording of “Head.”

He said his most difficult skateboard course he’s tried was Extreme Park in Louisville, Ky.

Although he’s gone to summer music camps in Chicago and Ithaca, N.Y. in the past, he’s not going this summer. Rather, he’s taking a physical education class this summer.

“I want to get my P.E. requirement out of the way so I’ll have time to take some college courses later on in high school,” he said.

Evan has been exposed to music early on at home. His father, Gilbert, is a cellist with the Finger Lakes Symphony in upstate New York. His mother, Deborah, is a music teacher at Normandy Middle and High Schools. She plays and teaches the violin and piano.

He said his best musical experience happened earlier this spring. He was one of two soloists who performed at the Young Heroes in Music concert in May.

The Young Heroes program is sponsored by KFUO Radio. It brings together outstanding young African-American musicians for live concerts at the Missouri Botanical Garden. The May 8 concert was broadcast live on Classic 99’s Classic Kids Saturday program.

One of the pieces he played in the Heroes concert was W.H. Squire’s “Tarantella.” He said that’s his favorite piece of music. “It’s fun to play and it’s fast,” he said.

He played his music from memory. He said, “I don’t have any trouble with memorization.”

Evan said the biggest live audience to hear him play was at the Ritenour School District’s String Concert. He had a cello solo before an audience of 800.

Evan admits he doesn’t like to practice very much. However, he also said he practices “from 45 minutes to an hour” every day.

“I’m disciplined as far as practice is concerned,” he said.

He said he’s played concerts solo, in small groups and with whole orchestras. He said his favorite is to be in a small string ensemble.

His favorite musician is Yo Yo Ma. He said he’s seen the noted cellist in live concerts. Yo Yo Ma has appeared a number of times with the St. Louis Symphony in Powell Hall.

Although most of the music Evan plays is classical, he said his favorite type of music is rock. “But, there isn’t much place for the cello in rock music,” he added.

Although his parents are professional musicians and he’s devoted a lot of time to music, he isn’t sure he wants a career in music.

“I’m open to anything right now,” he said.