University City girl gets aid with music lessons

Saidah Kindell got interested in the violin when she transferred to the Parkway School District. She joined the school orchestra and found a program that helped her afford private music lessons.

Fourteen-year-old Saidah transferred to the Parkway District when she was in fourth grade. She was too late for the mandatory violin lessons all third graders take in Parkway.

But, she immediately got interested in joining the Bellerive Elementary School’s orchestra. She also picked the violin as her instrument.

Saidah Kindell

Saidah said, “I like the challenge of the music.” Most of what she plays is classical music.

“We also do folk tunes of all kinds. But, I like the classical music the best,” she said.

She admits her parents sometime have to urge her to do her practicing. But, she said that one of her strengths is her dedication.

“I’m serious about my music and I don’t like my parents to nag me.” She said the desire to avoid the criticism “makes me more dedicated about my practicing.”

Now, Saidah practices about 45 minutes a day. That’s in addition to her music classes in school.

She admits that she “can get bored once in awhile with practice, particularly if she doesn’t like the piece she’s working on.

On the recommendation of her Parkway music teacher, Saidah applied for and earned a music scholarship from the Whitaker Foundation. The scholarship goes to selected students from low-income families to underwrite up to 90 per cent of the cost of private music lessons.

Her music tutor is Brian Kellum. He’s also the director of the Cameron Youth Orchestra. By showing good progress, Saidah was able to join the Cameron orchestra in December, 2002.

Between the Cameron and her school orchestra, Saidah gets a lot of chances to perform. She is now at Parkway Northeast Middle School.

Late in April, she was with her school orchestra when it performed in Kansas City.

The biggest audience that has seen her perform was during the All-District concert at Queeny Park. All the orchestras in the Parkway district performed in the arena at Queeny.

She said her best experience in music was being accepted into the Cameron Youth Orchestra. That is a select orchestra for African-American kids in metro St. Louis.

Her most embarrassing musical experience came in the middle of an orchestra concert.

“We had a rest period when everyone quit playing. But, I counted too fast and started to play again before everyone else,” she said.

But, she said she generally isn’t nervous when she’s playing a concert. “I get nervous before the concert starts. But, I’m not nervous while I’m playing,” she added.

Saidah said that all the kids in her family have played musical instruments.

One older brother, Hameed, 22, played the saxophone and clarinet. Another older brother, Mustafa, 21, played the trumpet. She said they didn’t continue music after school.

Her younger brother, 10-year-old Yusef, plays the violin also.

He started playing the violin when he transferred to the Parkway district in the third grade. That made him a part of the mandatory violin program at Parkway. Now in 4th grade, he has continued his violin playing.

Saidah said she doesn’t plan to make a career out of her music. She said she wants to stay active in music “but it’ll probably be a sidelight.”

She said she wants to go into nursing as a career. “I want to be a neonatal intensive care nurse,” she said.

Asked about that career choice, Saidah said she had a cousin who gave birth of a premature baby “who didn’t make it.” She said, “I was fascinated by how the nurses and doctors tried to help the baby.”

Besides her interest in music, another activity for Saidah is designing jewelry.

She has a little company called Aisha Designs. The company name uses her middle name. The word Aisha means life, she said.

She has been naming necklaces, earrings, bracelets and anklets since she was 10.