Eighth grade cellist Sam Sykes of Dubuque, IA, entertained relatives, the public, and library patrons and staff at two performances on Saturday, February 14, 2015, at Odell Public Library, 307 S. Madison Street, Morrison, IL. Scheduled to play first from 10:00 to 11:00 a.m., Sykes began around 9:30, because so many people were there. His mother, Carrie Edlund Sykes, commented her son had wondered if anyone would come to hear him play on a chilly Saturday morning.
He need not have been concerned. Several who knew him and many who did not enjoyed the 15 composers he showcased, including a toddler who yelled her appreciation each time the audience applauded. It was a delightful solo concert by an accomplished 13-year-old musician. Sykes would lunch with family and return to perform from 1:00 to 2:00 p.m. The youth’s father, Phil Sykes, is the brother of Charla Sykes Olson (Michael.) Donna VanKampen (Leon) stated Phil is her nephew; Phil’s father, Bill, was her brother. At the 10:15 a.m. worship service Sunday, February 15, he played Prelude #1 of the Bach Suite, at Morrison United Methodist Church, 200 W. Lincolnway, Morrison–his maternal grandmother Anne (John) Frame’s church.
Sam Sykes was in his comfort zone this weekend, but he is at ease wherever he performs. He said as a two-year-old he heard a cello concert at the Dubuque Library and asked his mother to let him play this stringed instrument that was taller than he.
“I begged, and begged, and begged until I was three.” Carrie told him lessons using the Suzuki method were not available until that age. Ten years later, he noted, “I’m almost out of the [Suzuki] books.”
Expertise is developed through a private teacher; participation in the school jazz and show bands; performances in the string section of the Dubuque Youth Symphony Orchestra and, by invitation, the Platteville[, WI,] Symphony Orchestra.
There are wide ranging interests away from music. Sykes travels to various states to play soccer and runs Cross Country and Track at school. It is an understatement to say he likes computers. “I have a lot of computers,” he said. He has written code; solves world-wide problems online; programmed an Android app. In a First Lego League he builds robots and competes with them.
He will audition for the American Symphony Institute summer camp, which he attended for the past five years. “Chamber Program” classes include chamber, orchestra, master, technique, and repertoire classes, over two weeks. Formal recitals are part of the camp activities, too; chamber and orchestra groups perform.
Then there are his numerous Youtube/sybemusic videos, produced with a friend. This one was a November 24, 2014, symphony performance, a three-part Vivaldi Double Cello Concerto, with youth musician Sam Naumann. The performance earned Sam second place in a concerto competition. The Counting Stars self-produced video illustrates how to incorporate sound looping, over which Sam plays the melody. He uses a loop peddle for this effect. Another shows his electric vibrating cello–without a wooden body–with a twist. He and a friend switch instruments, and Sam plays the drums. The skeleton cello is used “mostly in jazz and show bands, to be louder.”
His cello’s tone allows him to play music more slowly. “I don’t want it too bright.”
Sykes has considered teaching music in the future. His favorite composer at this time is Johann Sebastian Bach. His passion was clear: “I love symphonies!”