Not-so-ordinary music delights arboretum guests

Peg Sindelar did not know what to expect at Sunday's not-so-ordinary percussion concert at the Morton Arboretum in Lisle.

The Wheaton resident said she enjoys classical music and worried that perhaps hearing one particular sound for nearly two hours would make it a bit repetitive.

But the sounds coming from Third Coast Percussion, an area quartet that incorporates standard percussion instruments, coffee cans and conch shells into its performances, won Sindelar over.

“I thought I wouldn't like it because it's all one sound,” she said during an intermission at the show. “But I was wrong.”

Sindelar and her friend, Therese Heier, both Wheaton residents and season ticket holders at the arboretum's chamber concert series, were among the roughly 200 people who packed into the Thornhill Education Center for the show, the third of five in the series. The quartet was invited to perform because of their unique sound, said organizer Rita Hassert.

The show attracted audiences of all ages and that was partially the goal in booking the band, Hassert said.

“It's an opportunity to bring in a crowd who might not usually come to the arboretum in the winter,” she said. “It's great to hear them use natural objects. And, of course, we're all about trees. It's a way to meld the arts and sciences.”

As children and adults bobbed their heads along and tapped their feet, Chicago's classically trained quartet mixed in classic and original compositions, while also playing with the crowd in between songs.

The crowd gasped in approval when David Skidmore played a conch shell, which emitted a deep oboe-like sound.

Not everyone was impressed, however. Manhattan resident Barbara Denckla said she felt the music lacked character and became repetitive.

“There is only so much you can do with a drum,” she said, noting that she also had season tickets and tends to visit on concert days. “You don't want everything to sound the same.”

But Heier said she liked the performance and also thought it served another purpose, noting that five small children who sat in front of her seemed to enjoy themselves.

“I was impressed,” Heier said. “It was wonderful. It's also a way to attract young people to classical music.”