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Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

LC student’s concert will benefit food bank

Kendall Watson is a pianist and a junior at LC. She has been composing her own music since she was 7. (Colin Mulvany / The Spokesman-Review)

When Kendall Watson turned 5, she got an electric keyboard for her birthday. Lots of kids get keyboards for their birthdays and lots of keyboards end up in the back of closets once the batteries run down, and they are never missed. Well, in Watson’s case that’s not what happened.

“I was hooked. I didn’t know how to play the keyboard, so I was just kind of hitting the keys, but I loved it,” said Watson. “By the time I was 7 I was taking lessons and I was writing my own music.”

On Saturday Watson will performing some of her own compositions and as well as Christmas music at a solo concert in Lewis and Clark High School’s auditorium.

“The concert was my dad’s idea,” said Watson. “I kept thinking it wasn’t going to happen, but here we are.”

Watson is 16 and a junior at LC, and she said she didn’t grow up in a family of musicians. Her mom played piano when she was younger and her grandfather played as well, but that’s pretty much it.

“I guess my genre is new age, it’s a lot like David Lanz’s music,” said Watson.

Though she’s been taking lessons since she was 7, Watson said sheet music isn’t her strong side.

“I learn by ear. The music I compose I play a bunch of times, I don’t write it down, but I remember it,” said Watson. “I remember almost all the pieces from when I was younger. I’ve written about 20.”

Among the classical composers, she really likes Chopin and Beethoven and of course, she said, she’d love to make music her profession.

“Right now it’s a matter of getting out there and getting known,” said Watson.

The idea to make her concert benefit the Second Harvest Food Bank came up because it coincides with Lewis and Clark’s annual canned food drive.

“It’s just a nice way to give back to the community,” said Watson. “So many families need extra food, especially around the holidays so it seemed like good timing.”