Michael Morgan was six years old when his father moved a neighbor’s unwanted piano into their living room. “And that’s really where the whole thing started,” he says. “My mother and grandmother had played the piano a little bit, but my father just thought it was a good thing to have in the house.” Young Michael started piano lessons, but it was when he saw a conductor（指挥）leading an orchestra on television that he realized what he really wanted to do.

At age eight, he began reading The Joy of Music by conductor and composer（作曲家）Leonard Bemstein and got to know how to direct with a baton（指挥棒）.

When Michael entered junior high, he joined an orchestra and band and learned to play many instruments. He was just 12 years old when his instructor asked him to compose and conduct a concert piece. And that was only the beginning. Throughout high school, he continued to develop his artistic talent, and after graduating, he headed to Oberlin Conservatory of Music.

Morgan is dedicated（致力于）to offering kids a chance to explore classical music. In his hometown of Oakland, California, he started to volunteer in local schools, conducting student orchestras and talking with kids about music. Later, Morgan developed MUSE (Music for Excellence), a music education program for kids.

He brings musicians from Oakland Symphony into classrooms to teach kids. He also works with teachers in after-school programs to teach students who can’t afford lessons.

Morgan says his work is mostly about providing young people with an entrance into music. “Instruments are a way for kids to express their feelings, and give them an interest they can carry with them through life,” he says.

How’s your vacation? I’m visiting my uncle in Spain. He lives in the sunny and beautiful city of Valencia in Spain.

Yesterday, I had great fun. My uncle took me to the tomato festival in Bunol, which is just 30 miles away from where my uncle lives. You have probably never heard of this festival before. Neither had I. The tomato festival is called “La Tomatina” in Spanish. It was the biggest and messiest tomato fight in the world. When we first got to the square where the festival took place, it was very crowded with people from all around the world, and many trucks (卡车) were carrying tomatoes. My uncle told me the crowded people here were around 38,000 and this was more than four times the population of Bunol.

The tomato fight started as soon as the first banger (破旧的汽车) was beaten. Then everyone including me started throwing tomatoes at each other. I took red tomatoes and threw them at anyone that ran, moved, bent down, or turned around. Tomatoes must be squashed (压扁) before people threw them in order not to hurt anybody.

After a little while, the streets, people and nearby buildings were splashed with red. There was no winner in this fight, but we all had fun. As soon as a second banger was beaten, people stopped throwing.

I really had a great time, I wish you were here, too. I hope I hear from you soon. Take care.

From Spain

Linda