My childhood with great music, from Mozart to Ice-T

"Maestro, please!"

I can still hear my ballet teacher, Heidi, with her robust voice calling out to our faithful piano accompanist. It was one of many Saturday mornings that I spent at the barre studying classical ballet at the Andahazy School of Classical Ballet on Grand Avenue in St. Paul.

The studio was sunlit, with faded hardwood floors that creaked below us as we'd grand jete one by one. Often, we could safely predict the piece that our maestro was going to play for our solo leaps from one end of the studio to the other; other times, we were too presumptuous and our timing with the music wasn't quite right. But we didn't laugh at each other and our teachers didn't ridicule us after our missteps — the lesson was already learned.

Much like the music we came to know so well, those moments didn't require words, commentary, or explanation. We simply relished our time with the music, in both clumsy and graceful moments.

Lucky for me, ballet class was not my only exposure to classical music. It was a real and wonderful part of my upbringing. Aside from quality time with Handel and Tchaikovsky during my ballet studies, I grew up with classical music at home.

My parents were not musicians, nor were they music historians. However, they owned a music library many music historians would envy. My parents both enjoyed — and still enjoy — many genres of music, and invested in a vast record collection.

There was no music hierarchy in my house. On any given day, you could hear a Mozart horn concerto blaring loudly from the speakers in our family room, just as loudly as the singles from Ice-T's Power were being played the day before.

My parents taught me to be open and to really listen to music. From listening to classical music, I gained an understanding of instrumental color and the many parts of a composition. I still get a thrill when I hear a violin under a rap or R&B melody — for example, in a song produced by Kanye West or Dr. Dre. These present-day musicians have undoubtedly been influenced by classical composers. While we may never see the day when a rapper will give a shout-out to Beethoven or Bach during an award acceptance speech, I think it's pretty magical when these genres intersect on a recording — or in a record collection.

I consider myself lucky in that I grew up with exposure to classical music and learned very early that it didn't have to be intimidating or exclusionary. I was fortunate to have attended many classical concerts at Orchestra Hall on school field trips, and at Northrop Auditorium on the weekends with my family. I even had a (very) brief stint learning and playing the violin.

In all of my experiences with classical music as a youth, what I remember the most is feeling included. I was never made to feel that I was too young, too ethnic, too urban, or too uninformed to appreciate classical music. It was just a part of my life, and has been for as long as I can remember.

My ballet slippers were cast off long ago, but listening to Handel's Water Music, I am immediately transported back to the dance studio wearing my blue leotard, heart racing as I rehearse for the big performance. As I snap back to reality, I am happy to just let the music play.

Lissa Sanders now lives in Los Angeles, where she works for the University of Southern California's Annenberg School for Communication & Journalism and for CBS Radio Los Angeles.

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