District 99 Orchestra, World's Best Flute Beat Boxer To Perform at DGS

The world's best flute beat boxer is coming to Downers Grove South High School tonight.

Greg Pattillo and the two other members of PROJECT Trio will join the District 99 Orchestra at a special concert at 7 p.m. at South High School.

Pattillo beat boxes while playing the flute. He does it so well, in fact, that according to the group'swebsite, the New York Times said he was the "best person in the world at what he does." A video of him playing a remix of the theme from Inspector Gadget has garnered more than 22 million hits on YouTube. 

But Pattillo isn't the only talented musician in the group. All three members are classically trained.

Cellist Eric Stephenson is currently a member of the IRIS Chamber Orchestra in Memphis, Tenn., and the Colorado Music Festival. Bass player Peter Seymour has been a regular substitute for the Cleveland Orchestra and played in the New World Symphony.

The group plays several style of music, from jazz to rock to pop. The trio tours internationally, performing and working with students. The group has been featured on Nickolodeon and MTV.

District 99 Orchestra Director Jennifer Mullen said on the years when the orchestra does not have a big trip planned, she tries to bring in big name artists. Her brother found PROJECT Trio on YouTube and forwarded the video to her. The group happened to be in Chicago two years and came to perform two years ago at South. Even with late notice about the concert, 400 students showed up.

Nicole Mihelich, a senior at South, said she was pleasantly surprised by the group. Mihelich is a cello player in the District 99 orchestra.

"A lot of the times, I'm downtrodden with cello," Mihelich said.  "I can't get up and dance around with it when you're playing. But all players including celloist had a very high energy. It was very fun to watch."

This year, Mullen hopes even more people will come to the concert. Mullen has invited all of South's music students and talked to music directors at junior high and middle schools that feed into South. Posters have been posted throughout the school and students are passing out fliers.

Mihelich said she was worried at first about getting students to attend the concert.

"At first, I thought maybe non-music students might not be that interested in it," she said. "We're getting calls for order daily. It sounds like people are really excited about it."

Tickets for the concert are $15 and will be available at the door. Proceeds will go to pay for expenses from the district's exchange program with Bietigheim-Bissingen Musikschule, a school in Germany.

PROJECT Trio will perform most of the concert. But the District 99 orchestra will team up with the group to play one of the PROJECT Trio's original songs, "Winter in June." PROJECT Trio wrote a special arrangement of the song for the November performance.

PROJECT Trio and the District 99 orchestra will only have one rehearsal together before the concert. The group will also conduct a master class with the orchestra, working with the students on a different piece of music.

Mullen said professional musicians show her students where music can take them. 

"Students are really inspired by professional musicians," Mullen said. "It motivates them to practice their instruments and prepare their music for a higher level."

Because PROJECT Trio is a younger group, the students can also relate more to the musicians.

"The students see them as role models because (the members of PROJECT Trio are) younger," Mullen said. "They're more inspired by it. They can relate better to them."

Mullen said she hopes the group's electric music tastes will encourage her students to try new styles, too.

"You can play your orchestral instrument and play that kind of music," Mullen said. "It will open their minds in terms of their perceptions in terms of what kind of music they can play."

Mihelich said she hopes her excitement for the concert will be contagious.

"It's always great to play with professionals who love what they do," she said. "I'm really excited to have them hear us play."