The attraction was the Willow Glen Community Youth Band, which is made up of fourth- and fifth-graders from various elementary schools in the San Jose Unified School District.

After the band formed three years ago at Booksin Elementary School, parent volunteers like Rick Guptill wanted to expand the program to include other elementary schools in the district. In fall 2002, with the help of other parents, the reach of the band was expanded to include Willow Glen, Schallenberger, Hacienda and Galarza-Hammer elementary schools.

"The idea is for each school to have its own individual band, and the advanced community youth band is pulled from this group," Guptill said. "We have 50 kids in the program this year and hope to have 80 in the fall."

Jeff Jones, a parent liaison for Booksin Elementary, says he believes the band fills a musical instruction hole at the schools.

"It is a great opportunity to get kids into music," Jones said. "This situation allows kids to pick up an instrument and see what type of music is in them."

Scott Barnhill was the band leader at the April 16 coffeehouse performance. He is also an accomplished saxophone player, who decided after 17 years of playing throughout the Bay Area that he wanted to do something else.

"I sent out a flyer to different school districts advertising my teaching services," Barnhill said. "I got lots of calls, but the Booksin PTA really got behind the idea and funded it."

Barnhill says he is proud of the program. He notes that without it, most of the students would not be exposed to an instrument until middle school. At Booksin, students begin learning an instrument in third grade, and the only criteria for participation is a desire to play.

Children can choose to learn saxophone, trumpet, trombone, clarinet or flute. The fact that most of the students have never picked up an instrument or been part of a band does not deter Barnhill, who wants to motivate the children.

"I am not doing this job for the paycheck," Barnhill said. "I want to inspire kids to play music. Even if they don't end up sticking to it, at least they had an introduction."

Guptill, however, says he thinks many of the students will continue playing an instrument into middle school.

"The youth band is a good feeder program for middle school bands," Guptill said. "In the future we want to get an idea as to what middle schools are looking for so we can better prepare our students to make this transition."

According to the nonprofit foundation Music for All, music instruction in many elementary schools in California has taken a beating as the result of millions of dollars in budget cuts. The foundation's recently released report The Sound of Silence--The Unprecedented Decline of Music Education in California Public Schools, states there has been a 50 percent decline in music programs over the past five years. Those who teach music said this is a disturbing trend considering the U.S. Department of Education's statement that the skills learned through the discipline of music transfer to study, communication and cognitive skills that are useful in every part of school curriculum.

The final performance of the Willow Glen Community Youth Band before it breaks for the summer is at the Little Theater at Willow Glen Middle School, 2105 Cottle Ave., at 7 p.m. on May 27. The performance is open to the public and will include middle school as well as high school bands.