Students make music and instruments

Students
Students from Webster Magnet in St Paul perform "The Phoenix and the Fish" in a space between two buildings at the Ordway Center.
MPR photo/Euan Kerr

Students from Webster Magnet School in St. Paul created one of the many performances at the event

Philip Blackburn
Philip Blackburn of the American Composers Forum performs with the students from Webster Magnet School.
MPR photo/Euan Kerr

They were aided by Philip Blackburn of the American Composers Forum.

"The title, 'The Phoenix and the Fish' suggest two animals who never meet," Blackburn said. "The phoenix rises into the air out of the ashes, and I don't see where the fish would come in because it's under the water most of the time. But never the less, this is a kind of courting between the phoenix and the fish, and there are movements and choreography that are appropriate for these things. And if they ever did meet perhaps this is what it would sound like," Blackburn said.

The student performers not only composed the piece, they made many of the instruments too.