“If one were to close their eyes and simply listen, the music would be that of a seasoned professional player of the highest caliber. When you open your eyes and see the music is produced by an 11, 10, and 7 year old, it makes the heart skip a few beats.” - Mark A. Norman, Conductor/Music Director, UNCG

Over in that corner, Tyler, age 11, is immersed in one of his passions: Assembling robotic stuff that actually walks or crawls. In the other corner, Christina, age 7, is delicately combing the hair of one of her numerous dolls. Down in the rec room, Ryan, 10, is zoned in on a computer game.

But this domestic scene that could be found in about 75 million other households in America is about to undergo a transformation.

“OK, guys, time to practice,” says father Paul Lindsay, wielding a trumpet in one hand and pointing to a trombone, another trumpet, and a tuba lined up against the family’s Virginia Beach living room wall.

In two minutes’ time, the Lindsay Family suddenly becomes one rocking, swinging musical unit often led, it seems, by an 11-year-old prodigy whose soulful, passionate trumpet licks have echoed through the rarefied air of Carnegie Hall and have jammed with seeming ease with the likes of Wynton Marsalis and many more of jazzdom’s most accomplished brass cats. Ryan manipulates his trombone with the touch of a seasoned master, and Christina oompahs away on the tuba, which is decorated with Disney princess images and must be held up by a metal stand in order for the diminutive girl to be able to play it.

Given Paul and mother Susan’s music pedigrees, it was probably a genetic certainty that the kids would follow suit. Tyler was only 3 when he began playing trumpet, viola, and piano. He soon discovered he could play trumpet and piano at the same time, a feat the Family features in its act. The young man started focusing on jazz at 9, and showed such remarkable aptitude that he has been able to jam with Marsalis, John Faddis, Chick Corea, Jimmy Heath, Paquito D’Rivera, Slide Hampton, James Moody, Steve Wilson, Richie Cole, and Larry Coryell and other jazz greats. Last year, he appeared at the NEA’s Jazz Master’s concert in New York with the John Faddis Jazz Orchestra and the Count Basie Jazz Orchestra.

Ryan has just experienced the special pleasure of having a nettlesome set of braces removed, which will help reveal his engaging smile and bright, enthusiastic personality. Another early beginner, Ryan started on the trombone, piano and viola at 5. He also possesses an extraordinary musical ear and superb memory skills. Ryan, who is in fourth grade, also plays bass guitar, euphonium, and drums.

The fact that Christina can negotiate the demands of the bulky brass tuba at all is an accomplishment in itself, yet she plays it almost offhandedly, as if it were the most natural thing in the world to be playing an instrument bigger than herself. She also plays the drums and piano, and picked up the viola when she turned 6.

Paul Lindsay has been playing trumpet since age 9, and received his master’s degree from Juilliard. He has performed with the Phoenix Symphony, the New Jersey Pops, was principal trumpet with the Orquesta Sinfonica de Venezuela and was a member of the United States Navy Band in Washington, D.C., for nine years. Paul teaches trumpet at the Navy School of Music in Norfolk.

Susan, who holds a master’s degree in French horn performance from the Peabody Conservatory and plays the instrument with the ensemble, often credits the family’s deep spirituality for its special talents, and its ability to keep a rigorous performance schedule while still being “a family” in the traditional sense. She had a long time to think about it, she says, during a serious, prolonged illness following the birth of her last child. She has never forgotten the experience, she says, nor how lucky she is to have regained her health along with the ability to fully enjoy her musically gifted family.

The couple home-schools the kids at their modest Virginia Beach home. Despite all the appearances, road shows, awestruck audiences and star treatment from an ever-increasing fan base, the Lindsays always remember that they are, first and foremost, a family. This simple fact, Susan hopes, will provide the same inspiration to others and it has to her and Paul.