By Signe Trewyn

UW-Whitewater will host an all-day music reception for kids of the community to learn songs, play instruments and expand their musical knowledge.

‘Sounds and Visions’ has been a part of UW-W since 2002. The program aims to expose UW-W parents and children to music.

The event features country, international and folk music in an effort to create an overall immersion in music.

Jacob Puccio has been involved with ‘Sounds and Visions’ since his freshman year of college, and his main instrument is the violin.

“I’m in string education, but I learned many more instruments, and I’m able to teach those once I’m in the field,” Puccio said.

During the event there will be small workshops for a variety of topics.

The “Instrument Petting Zoo” is where the children can pick out trumpets, trombones, clarinets and cellos.

The children decide later what instrument they can play, Puccio said.

Outreach Specialist Eric Field said his favorite part of the event is seeing the young children come in and learn all different aspects of music.

“The children do a lot of percussion and do different things with instruments,” Field said. “They go to rehearsals in the morning, and they go to different classrooms in the Center of the Arts.”

Not only does ‘Sounds and Visions’ allow young children the chance to learn about music, it also gives sophomores and freshmen in college a chance to lead the children through lessons.

“We want students to have a different knowledge of the music, overall have a fun time with music, students have so much fun here they come back next year,” Puccio said.

At the end of the day, the children work with their faculty in the choir and sing the music the faculty picked out for the concert.

“The faculty advisors choose two songs per group, depends on how many registered,” Puccio said. “We keep getting more and more every day. That directly determines how many pieces that will be on the concert.”

Field has been involved with event registration for eight years.

Field said the amount of children who attend varies but averages around 30 students. As for college instructors, the count is between 15 and 25 people.

“It’s neat to watch the students have a good time with the performance and, the parents are amazed at what they do,” Field said.

The music event will be held at 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Feb. 14 in the Light Recital Hall.