A mesmerizing musical performance Lodi Unified students witness the instrumental magic of Kubecca at Hutchins Street Square
Kids poured through the doors of the Charlene Lange Performing Arts Theatre just after 9 a.m. Thursday, chattering excitedly. They shouted and waved to friends as they found seats.
Soon, the entire theater was full. The lights dimmed, and the students cheered.
Then, Lodi Community Concert Association President Judi Halstead took the stage to welcome each of the fourth-, fifth- and sixth-grade classes — from Ellerth Larson, Ansel Adams, Leroy Nichols and Needham elementary schools — and introduce Kubecca.
“You’re going to love their unusual instruments and voices,” Halstead said.
Kubecca — aka Rebecca Lowe and Kuba Kawnik — took the stage and wasted no time.
“You ready to hear some music?” Lowe asked the crowd of kids, who screamed “YES!” in reply.
Then she launched into a cover of Jo Dee Messina’s “I’m Alright,” the students quickly clapping out the beat. “Are you alright out there, Lodi?” she yelled.
The kids erupted with joyful cheers.
The concert for the young students is part of the annual community outreach taken on by the Lodi Community Concert Association. In addition to lining up several concerts each year from a variety of musical styles, the association directs much of the proceeds from ticket sales to hosting a concert for students and paying for the buses to bring them to Hutchins Street Square.
For many of the students, the outreach concert is the first one they’ve ever seen.
That’s what several of the students at Thursday’s event said. One or two had seen a musical act before, but nothing like Kubecca, a trio of fourth-graders from Larson school said.
Kubecca may have opened their act with a song, but it quickly turned into a lesson on unusual instruments that had the students entranced. Kawnik played “Tico Tico,” a Brazilian tune, on the electric xylophone — first with two mallets as a traditional xylophone song, playing faster and faster until the kids gasped.
Then, after showing them how the electric version of the instrument could sound like a flute, banjo, pipe organ, violin or just about any other instrument, he played the same song with four mallets in bossa nova (or Brazilian jazz) style. It sounded like a completely different song, drawing delighted applause and laughter from the kids.
Then he showed them the kalimba — a wooden board with metal keys kind of like a “thumb piano,” Kawnik said — and entertained them by playing orchestral pieces like “The Imperial March” from “Star Wars” and the themes from “Indiana Jones” and “2001: A Space Odyssey” on the xylophone.
All the while, Lowe provided stellar vocals that got the kids clapping and the two kept up a steady patter on the stage.
But the odd instrument that wowed the kids — and adults — the most was yet to come.
“I have probably the most unusual instrument in the world,” Kawnik said.
He introduced the theremin, created by Russian physicist Leon Theremin in 1928. The theremin is an electric instrument, a wooden box with two antennas, and the player doesn’t make any contact. Instead, they move their hands closer to and farther away from the antennas, up and down, and add finger motions to control the sound.
“I can scare somebody,” Kawnik joked, and the kids began shouting. “You want me to do it now?” The theremin shrieked, and the kids jumped as laughter rang out.
Then, Kawnik played the theme from “The Day the Earth Stood Still.” The students were quiet as the eerie music filled the theater.
The unique, diverse show is one of two outreach events the Lodi Community Concert Association will host for students this year. Along with Kubecca’s country and Broadway vocals and unique instrumental odyssey, students will also be treated to a performance by flamenco comedy trio Olé in May.
Usually, the association only puts on one student concert per year, but a grant made a second outreach event possible, Halstead said.
The association is dedicated to promoting cultural arts through planning and sponsoring concerts in Lodi. For more information, visit