Staff Writer

ONEONTA — What child hasn't made up a tune at least once in her life?

Now, with the help of Hartwick College Professor Alejandro Rutty and student Khalilah Smith, those tunes might be performed on compact disc by a chamber orchestra.

"We know there are many children who play or even just fool around with an instrument and make their own melodies," said Rutty, an assistant professor of music. "What we want to do is collect that."

Rutty and Smith, a music student who works with Rutty, are seeking composers younger than 12 to create melodies for a compact disc. Rutty and Hartwick students will arrange and produce the selected melodies, which will be played by a chamber orchestra for the disc.

"There is something amazing that happens when children start making music," Rutty said. "It's very refreshing."

Interested children can hum their original melody or play it on an instrument, record it and send it in to enter, he said. Rutty said he wants to help local children who write songs but don't know how to arrange them for others to play.

"You know there are all these children who are talented, but can't write a song for an orchestra," he said. "We want to be their producers."

Smith, a junior, will sort through the entries and choose several for the final product. She said she will sort the melodies based on type, how easy they are to harmonize and how well they will fit in the overall composition of the CD.

Several entries Smith has already received impressed her.

"They are very good," she said. "I'd like to see a lot of entrants."

Rutty said Timothy McKane, a teacher at Oneonta Middle School, will help him arrange interviews of children for the disc.

McKane said he is working with elementary school teachers to get their students involved.

"The theme of the interviews will be standard of living for them," McKane said. "What their ideal home is, their ideal town."

Some teachers have expressed interest, he said.

"They also sense the excitement in the this because they saw the last project we did," McKane said.

Rutty, McKane and students at Hartwick and Oneonta Middle School worked together last year to create "I Did My Bit," a compilation of interviews of World War II veterans.

Melodies can be sent to Smith in care of the Hartwick College Music Department, 11 Hartwick Drive, Oneonta. A competition application form is available on the college's website at www.hartwick.edu/music/childcomposer.

"We want every kid in the region to send us melodies," Rutty said. "We really want to reach as many people as we can."

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