Trumpets blare and ring through the hall as the orchestra thunders into a spectacular rendition of the final movement of Tchaikovsky's Fifth Symphony. Formally dressed musicians with years of experience fill the stage. With a final crash of the cymbals, the piece is over and the hall echoes with wild applause.

If you stop by the Fountain Square Theatre every other Friday night, you'll find hordes of teens from Lebanon High and other area schools swinging, tapping and whirling to a bouncy beat more typical of Glenn Miller and Duke Ellington than YoungBloodZ. Today, swing dancing is popular in Indianapolis and nationwide -- for all age groups.

“I've been all around the world /I've been a new sensation /But it doesn't really matter /In this g-generation /The sophomore slump is an uphill battle.” – Jason Mraz When an artist has a successful debut album, it is sometimes difficult to follow up with music that is not only as good as the first album, but new and improved – music that people will enjoy just as much as before.

Before signing a record deal with Virgin Records, Hope Partlow was an typical farm girl growing up north of Memphis, Tenn. Partlow went to a public school, and did chores around her 100-acre farm. She started singing gospel and country songs with her father at the age of 5. And she received her first record deal when she was 14 years old. Now at 18, she has traveled the country performing music from “Who We Are,” her finely-written pop album.

"I honestly don't care if their music is on tune or off tune; all I care about is if they're having a good time." Tom Vornholt, owner of Franklin's Club Logos, which caters to an under-21 crowd They've come and gone for more than 40 years, but these risk-takers are still cool, original and evocative, according to music experts. In Indianapolis, they have names like The Naked Neighbors, Unikque and

Alfred Savia tells how he started in his school band and wound up working with Indianapolis and Evansville orchestras. You may think classical music and conducting are boring. Think again. "Most likely, someone who feels that way just has not given it a chance," says Alfred Savia, the 38-year-old associate conductor of the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra. "Just give it a chance and most peopl

The influence of rap music is everywhere, from Grammy winners OutKast and Beyonce to Baby Phat and Sean John clothing brands. Search for "rap music" on Google, and you'll get more than 550,000 hits. But can rap's influence extend to an individual's character and decisions, as one study suggests? Teens at the Indianapolis Juvenile Correctional Facility say "no." Most of the girls listen to rap dail

Parents and concerned adults have long worried about rap music's effects on children, with its sexual and sometimes violent imagery and lyrics. Now, one study of teen girls has linked large amounts of rap video viewing to risky or violent behavior. Last year, researchers from Emory University in Atlanta and the University of Alabama at Birmingham reported on a study involving 522 black females enr

Free music! Download songs from virtually any artist at no charge! Sounds like a dream come true for budget-minded music lovers, but a nightmare for musicians trying to earn a living. Less than two years ago, consumers actually had to go to a music store and pay for music by their favorite artists. The other option was to tape songs off the radio or a borrowed CD onto a cassette, often with low-qu

Children's Express is looking for kids between the ages of 12 to 18 to participate in a roundtable discussion. The topic is about why Nirvana is/was so popular. A roundtable discussion is when a group of people with the same interest or opinions discuss a topic. If you would like to participate in this roundtable, please contact Children's Express before Dec. 15 at (317) 921-4125.

Most people have heard of the band Nirvana and its hits such as Smells Like Teen Spirit or Rape Me. However, some people might pass them off as just the latest in a long line of bands to appear, sing a song or two, then disappear in favor of another band, especially since lead singer Kurt Cobain died last year. In reality, though, band members Cobain, Krist Novoselic and Dave Grohl had an ext

"If you can see these children's eyes when they hear their song -- they have tubes in their arms; they have oxygen to their face. They are small, they are hurting, and they hear their name and their song come out and such a smile comes to their face, a twinkle in their eye." Such are the reactions to Songs of Love, explained Steve Rudoff, whose youth group at Congregation Beth-El Zedeck is helping

When you see the initials M.J., you probably think of Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson or Michael Jackson. Is there anyone else who is qualified enough to be considered for this elite group? How about Montell Jordan? He has become one of the hottest new R & B artists this year with his hit song, "This Is How We Do It." Children's Express talked with him this summer about his background and his mu

The blues is an expression of feeling, therefore something you should respect. It came out of hardships most of us can't imagine. The first to tell you this and many other fact-filled stories is legendary blues mandolinist Yank Rachell. Children's Express recently interviewed Rachell in his Indianapolis home about his life and his music. Rachell was born on a farm in Brownsville, Tenn., 85 yea

It's dark. It's loud. The crowd is going crazy. For two local bands, DizeAzeD and the Hooligans, this is a typical Saturday night. Y-Press talked with Nicole Anderson, 19; Macey Frank, 18; and Dannie Frank, 15; from DizeAzeD and Jonny Nagel, 20, from the Hooligans about their lives in the music circuit. The punk-rock Hooligans were created about two years ago when Jonny's older brother, Mike, met

No one doubts that high school football players work hard: They practice most of the summer despite the heat, preparing for a season culminating (they hope) in regional and state contests. Not everyone realizes, however, that marching bands work just as hard and are just as competitive as football teams. Casey Turner, 17, St. Peters, Mo., described a typical marching band contest: "It's just teena

Standing on a street corner in the United States, you might hear music reverberating out of a nearby car window or see someone listening to a song on headphones. If you asked a teen what music is, the response probably would be that it is a form of entertainment. In Brazil, you are likely to see groups of kids on the streets using their hands as drumsticks to keep the beat on tables and chairs. If

Some say it is right, some say it is wrong, but everyone agrees it's a way to save money. For people who download music, it's a matter of thrift and convenience to get music from many different Internet sources. For people opposed to it, it is stealing or pirating copyrighted material. Teens who download music have used the argument "one more person won't hurt" many times since Shawn Fanning, crea

Singer/songwriter Peter Yarrow is best known for his role in the popular folk music group Peter, Paul and Mary. However, music is not his only passion. He has participated in the civil rights movement, performing at such events as the Selma-Montgomery peace march and the rally in which Martin Luther King Jr. gave his "I Have a Dream" speech. More recently, he founded a program directed at school-a

To musicians, the goal of making music is to get a message across to listeners and affect them, whether by brightening their day with a joke or changing their views on the United States' two-party system. Making people think about politics is what artists like Rage Against the Machine, Pearl Jam, Eminem and U2 do every day. But does music with political overtones face more obstacles than music wit

Ronald Craig Jr., 17, is clear about where his love of music comes from. "I've known music before I came out the womb. I am married to music," he said. But Ronald doesn't dream of Carnegie Hall. Instead, he works to transform everyday sounds into his own unconventional art. Ronald, aka "DJ Xcel," is a beatboxer in the group MOB, which stands for "mind over body" or "master of beatboxing." Joined b

To many students, activities such as choir, band, color guard or athletics are an important part of their school experience. They drill and practice for hours to compete against other teams, and many say later that the experience made an impression on them. For more and more students, stepping, an African-American art form with roots in African history, has had a similar impact. Stepping groups ca

For 15-year-old Lauren Slemenda, her mom's encouragement was the reason she picked up an instrument in the sixth grade. She was not sure she would like it, but soon began to love it. Last year, when her musical confidence waned, she began questioning her ability. After three or four auditions in a row at which she didn't get any of the parts, she felt defeated and wanted to quit. But she didn't. "

B arefoot 'n' Sandals is a rock group from New Palestine with Christian values. Though band members -- Megan Stiffler, 17, Mike McCall, 17, Forrest Craig, 18, Adam Speicher, 17, and Chris Ballard, 17 -- don't fit the stereotypical rocker image, the musical influences are sound. "Just because (we) don't fall into the temptations that most rockers do, that doesn't make it any less rock," Stiffler sa