By
Jeanette Brown, Special to KP News
Photos by Karina Whitmarsh
Key Peninsula resident Paula Vander
Poel is the new executive director at Peninsula
Youth Orchestra Association. Vander Poel moved to
Lakebay from Bonney Lake with her family four years
ago. And yes, she is Dutch — coming from the
Amsterdam area.
Paula Vander Poel at a recent audition
for PYO |
“Land reclaimed from the sea” is the
meaning of the name, according to Vander Poel, and
she and her family enjoy living near the water.
She knows how developmentally
important music is for children, and began her
relationship with the Gig Harbor-based string
orchestra when she enrolled her youngest daughter,
Kristine, now 12, in the program. Kristine had
fallen in love with the violin and pretty soon all
three of Vander Poel’s children were playing:
Ashley, 15, plays the cello and Luke, 13, plays the
viola. Vander Poel soon found herself volunteering
for the organization.
“I would sit in on the classes and it
was just natural for me to help,” she says. “When
the executive director position came open this past
April, I put in my application, interviewed and
accepted this paid position.”
Camille Walther waits for her turn to
play during the
auditions |
Vander Poel, who grew up in the
Milwaukee and Green Bay areas of Wisconsin, attended
Ambassador College in Texas, then a four-year
program in Pasadena, Calif., graduating with a
bachelor’s degree in 1990. Her major was theology
and she minored in German. College is where she met
her husband; the couple wed in September 1990 after
graduation.
She says she always had an interest
in music. The new position allows Vander Poel, who
home schools all three of her children, to work from
home. She has also set up a mini-office at the
rehearsal location at Harbor Covenant Church, so she
can assist parents and work at that location. All
PYO’s instructors are state certified, making it
easy for home-schoolers to document credit, and this
past year the group also started offering high
school credit.
The career move seemed like a natural
fit for several reasons. “I love the orchestra,”
Vander Poel says. “I want to see it progress and
expand. It’s easy to promote something I believe in
so strongly.”
No. 1 on the agenda is to make sure
that those in the local community are aware of the
program. “We have at least three concerts per year
and another goal is to add to our free concert
mailing list,” she says.
Hanna Broback auditions in front of
Karla
Timmerman-Epperson
(director of Debut & Encore). |
Vander Poel tells a story about an
early experience she had at PYO when she was sitting
in on her daughter’s class: “Mrs. Epperson seemed to
envelop the kids. They loved her grandmotherly
energy and excitement for kids and music. She
teaches them from the very beginning, 20 or so in a
class, how to hold an instrument — not to let your
wrist touch and keep your shoulder under the violin,
how to hold the bow. Mrs. Epperson is a professional
cellist, so she always has funny little comments
about how the cellists have more fun — the violins,
violas and basses always counter that strongly.
Anyway, as we are sitting in class, my older two
children picked up on what was being taught and the
following year decided that they all wanted to be
involved.”
Vander Poel stepped into her new
position as the PYO is entering its 10th
year. The nonprofit organization was started in 1998
by Paul and Karen Pew to provide local students with
string instruction, something they found missing in
public schools. Now students come from as far away
as Port Orchard and Puyallup to participate. PYO
offers string instruction and opportunities to
perform throughout the school year for all four
orchestras and is one of the only youth orchestras
to offer instruction to total beginners as well as
more advanced students. In addition, every summer
the PYO runs a weeklong string camp.
Christopher Armstrong, whose family
recently
relocated to the area, auditions in
front of
Stephanie Hellekson
(director for the Junior Orchestra) |
PYO details
Scholarships are offered through a
confidential application based on need. PYO is
currently enrolling and will accept students into
October. Midseason registration will be held Jan.
15-Feb. 15. The organization may be contacted by
phone at 534-5384 or email to info@harborpyo.org.
The office is located at Harbor Covenant Church,
5601 Gustafson in Gig Harbor, and is open Thursdays
from 4 to 6 p.m.
