i love my family. they are great.

my dad’s cousin roxie – u of wi alum and fantastic u of wi band alum -
lives in south carolina with her beautiful family.

roxie and ralph (her brother) make me smile.
they remind me of the fun times i had as a kid in waukesha…
at the house on white rock road.
i use to be scared of the closet in the house
but i loved seeing “aunt” viv and seeing my grandparents
so i managed ok (wink, wink)!

plus it always resulted to a trip to john’s root beer. yummy.

my aunt viv (my grandpa’s sister) is a hoot – always the life of the party -
reminds me of shirley from lavern and shirley.
go figure it was taped in milwaukee!

anyway, the point of all of this is that roxie’s son gabe is the bomb.
he is amazingly talented. he’s playing at carnegie hall! i can’t wait to go to nyc and see him.

so proud of you gabe and i’m glad we’re related, because i’m surely no where near or even in the vicinity of being that talented!
good luck tomorrow and tuesday!

Wilson student’s talents to be enhanced at

Carnegie Hall

Wilson High School ninth grader Gabe Smallwood works on composing a music piece during Florence School District 1’s DOME music program. Smallwood is one of three youth in the United States chosen to have his works performed at Carnegie Hall in New York City in early February.

By ELIZABETH LAMB Published: June 15, 2011
FLORENCE, SC –

Wilson High School freshmanGabe Smallwood is in the spotlight thanks to his musical talents that will take him all the way to Carnegie Hall in New York City.

Gabe, who began playing piano at age 3, was selected as one of three students nationwide to be commissioned for new works for chorus and orchestra at the hall as part of the Carmina Burana Choral Project.

“You could say people are born with a passion to do it, and I’m one of those people. It just comes naturally,” Gabe said.

He spent the week beginning his composition at Florence School District 1’s DOME program summer camp, which identifies and supports artistically talented students.

Smallwood has written nearly 100 compositions so far, but he wrote an entirely new score to send to the competition, because he wasn’t satisfied with what he had already written.

He was selected for the project last week.

“At first I was shaking, my legs were shaking, and I called some people but I couldn’t even talk straight. I was really excited. Now, I’ve calmed down a little bit, but it hasn’t really sunk in that I’m going to Carnegie Hall,” Gabe said.

Dolores Johnson, who teaches music at Williams Middle School, worked closely with Gabe during the school year.

“He’s a Renaissance man. He’s only probably the second student I’ve ever had who’s a true Renaissance man. He’s very multi-talented,” Johnson said.

Johnson said she was excited to hear the news last week and has already purchased tickets for Smallwood’s debut, which is scheduled for Feb. 5 in the famous hall.

“I ran up and down the halls with the papers in my hand saying, ‘He made it, he made it!” Johnson said.

Gabe, who plays the organ with Cross and Crown Lutheran Church in Florence, still takes piano and French horn lessons and has played with the Florence Symphony Youth Orchestra.

His favorite composer is Johannes Bach.

“He brought the baroque music to its full maturity, and I just like all of the richness in his music,” Gabe said.

He hopes to attend The Juilliard School in New York and also study at the University of Leipzig in Germany.

Gabe’s compositions range from symphonies and oratorios, to cantatas, suites and sonatas.

No one other than himself has ever performed his music, but he’s looking forward to hearing the finished product in February and not just on computer software that he uses to compose.

“It’s a lot different than it would be if you put it on a computer and pressed play,” Gabe said.