Young fiddler Andrew Vogt makes his mark

It’s not what you would expect from a 10-year-old in a pair of red skinny jeans and a Spiderman sweatshirt.

In fact, Andrew Vogt looks like any kid his age, with a cool, shaggy hairstyle and sneakers. But Vogt is different from most kids his age, because since age 4 he has been playing the violin, and not just for fun.

Andrew and his band, Psycho Exploding Orangutans, play not only for audiences, but competitively as well. It all began, mother Annette Vogt said, when he was a baby. She involved him in music right from the start by playing classical CDs. She felt that as an infant, he responded to the music. When he was a baby, she took him to his first concert to see renowned fiddler Natalie McMasterson.

When he turned 4, his mother asked him if he wanted to begin playing violin, and he said yes. After beginning to learn on a classical violin, at age 5 he added the fiddle. Now, at  age 10, he plays both instruments remarkably well and has already played all over the world.

For his mother, travel has always been of great importance. She wanted to visit places abroad she had never been, and so she did just that. With her son in tow, the Vogts have traveled to all the fabulous points of Europe. Andrew, she says, always brought his fiddle along to places like Germany, France and Italy. In order to gain experience and a little ice cream money, Andrew would pull out his fiddle on the street and begin to play. People would generously place money in his empty case. Unafraid of any audience, the adventurous young musician played with gypsies in Budapest.

The fifth-grader keeps to a strict schedule at home, with a distinct focus on his growth as a musician. Every Saturday he plays for four hours with a group at Delaware Music School, using the Suzuki method for learning music. The method works first by ear, and then through reading notes. Each Monday, Andrew attends a classical violin lesson, and he also meets with a fiddle instructor once a month.

His mother credits another source for his musical advancement as well: YouTube. There are tons of videos on the site, as well as lots of access to music, which all feed into Andrew’s personal drive to learn more. It is that drive that took him to the Ocean City Convention Center Jan. 14, where he and Psycho Exploding Orangutans played at the annual Arts and Crafts Show.

Amongst the rustic wooden furniture, intricate carvings and glass jewelry, Andrew explained how the group got its name. “We all put words into a hat, and pulled them out.” It seems that besides the name, they might have also pulled out a little magic. “They don’t get much time to practice,” Annette said, in part because the four kids in the band must travel so far to get together. But you would never know it.

Ranging from 10 to 13 years old, the young musicians take to their stringed instruments and sound like a cohesive string band that has long played together. As people passed and stopped to listen, their faces said it all. There is a sophisticated sound coming from these pint-sized players that left their audience standing agape. Just like in the days when Andrew would play in Europe, people walk by, dropping dollars in the empty violin case.

As for what to do with that money? Andrew is saving for a full-sized violin to replace the three-quarter-sized one he's using. As for the band, they meet up regularly in various states where they compete throughout the summer months during festival season. In West Virginia at the Cliff Top Festival, the band won first place, and it was also awarded fourth place at the Old Fiddler's Convention in Galax, Va., where  competition is fierce.

The accomplishments are mighty for the four poised child musicians in the unassuming string band, but to give them a listen, it’s no mystery why. They enjoy themselves and what they do, and the camaraderie is evident from the first note. As for the future? The native Pennsylvanian musician says he’d like to be an artist. Music, as it turns out, may be a clear talent, but it is apparently a second love.

To contact Andrew or his band for performances, contact Annette Vogt at foxfieldcottage@verizon.net.