Appleton girl, 10, follows musical passion
Jen Zettel
Zoe Kraus%2C 10%2C will perform at the Yamaha National Junior Originals Concert in Cerritos%2C Calif.
She is one of only 13 students who were invited to perform.
Kraus%2C who is homeschooled%2C started playing the piano when she was 4-years-old.
APPLETON – When 10-year-old Zoe Kraus sits at the piano bench, she sheds the nerves that shook her voice a few minutes earlier.
She sits up tall and strong. Her small hands move purposefully over the keys. There is no sheet music in front of her — the notes are lodged in her memory, like the butterflies who inspired them.
On Sunday, Zoe will take the stage at the Yamaha National Junior Original Concert in Cerritos, Calif. She is one of only 13 students in the country selected to play a piece she composed. Her piece is called "Butterflies Dancing in the Wind."
The bouncy 41/2-minute jazz piece features a piano, an alto saxophone and drums. A family trip to the Milwaukee Public Museum's butterfly exhibit inspired the song.
The movement of the butterflies caught Zoe's attention, particularly "how they fluttered, and then they sat and rested for a little bit and then they went somewhere else" she said.
It took her two years to compose the piece, with the help of Donna Dahm, a teacher in the Heid Yamaha Music School in Appleton.
"She's learning how to compose music … and she's learning how to arrange, as well," Dahm said.
About 200 students submit original compositions to the contest every year, Dahm said. The students submit sheet music and a tape of themselves playing their piece. Yamaha covers all costs for students who are selected to perform in California, and gives them slots in the Yamaha Music Camp, which started Thursday and runs through Monday.
The family will stay in California for a few days after the camp ends to see the sights, including Disneyland and the San Diego Zoo.
Early beginnings
Zoe first started playing the piano when she was 4. She heard her older siblings — 14-year-old Makenna and 12-year-old Isaac — practicing in the family home and wanted to try it, said their mother, Vicky Kraus. Her father, Jeff, used to play the piano.
Makenna now focuses on singing, while Isaac has moved to the drums. There aren't any immediate plans for the Kraus children to start a band.
The early lessons for children in the Heid Yamaha Music School focus more on play than practice, which Vicky says makes it fun for the children.
"The kids think they're all playing and having a good time, but they're actually getting more out of it, which is a great way to learn," she said.
Zoe practices the piano about 90 minutes per day. She enjoys playing up tempo songs, including "Butterflies Dancing in the Wind."
This is the second concert Zoe has been invited to. The first was in New Jersey, where she performed a suite she wrote about her dog, Molly.
Yamaha recently asked Zoe to submit "Butterflies Dancing in the Wind" to its international composition competition, Dahm said. She might perform the song in Japan in the fall.
Vicky said the family is excited to support Zoe in California and anywhere else music takes her.
"It's a good experience for her because she loves what she does and she gets to experience different things out in California at the Yamaha Music Camp that she wouldn't get to in this area," she said.
— Jen Zettel: 920-993-1000, ext. 539, or jzettel@postcrescent.com; on Twitter @jenzettel