New Duvall Venue for Teen Musicians

Let’s face it, there are few opportunities for local teenagers to perform music in front of an audience, school programs aside. That’s about to change. Match, the Duvall coffeehouse and wine bar, is hosting a young artist spotlight the first Sunday afternoon of every month.

In partnership with Cathy Lowell of Foothills Music Academy, Match, 15705 Main Street NE, Duvall, is hosting the mini recitals from 1 – 3 p.m. The event is meant to spotlight musicians 18-years-old and younger. On Sunday, March 4, students from Woodinville High School’s jazz band will be performing

“I liked the idea that Match could provide a safe “family” type environment giving these talented young artists a place to perform in front of an audience,” said co-owner Jolene Green-Chase. “It also is great for the kids as it gives them another reason to practice.”

This is not an open mike situation; musicians must book the gig through Cathy Lowell, a private music teacher in Duvall and at Timbercrest Junior High.

“We want this to be a special thing for the musicians, a safe place both physically and emotionally,” she said. “But they have to have practiced a piece. We didn’t want an open mike thing, that’s just too chaotic.”

Another reason for making the event more formal than an open mike session is to avoid any teen musician being disappointed by not getting a chance to perform, according to Lowell.

Lowell plans to spotlight instruments that are usually only heard as part of an orchestra of school band, like the oboe and bassoon.

“These are instruments that are disappearing because you can’t hear them in the group, so kids don’t know what they sound like,” Lowell said.

Playing at Match allows the teens to step out of the anonymity, and safety, of an orchestra or band, and perform as soloists, or in small groups where the sound of each instrument can be heard individually.

“That can be really scary for these kids,” she said.

The teens will also get a taste of what the life of a musician can be like, Lowell added. Strangers at a coffeehouse are not the same devoted-parents audience they are used to performing for.

“We had a trial run last week with a vocalist and right in the middle of her song a staff member in the kitchen dropped a whole set of silverware. I said to her, ‘you’re bringing down the house.’ She just went right on singing like a true professional.