POST FALLS - When Brad Richter plays the guitar, his fingers dance across the strings and it's as though the instrument speaks to him.

Students were in quiet awe Wednesday morning in the Post Falls High School band room as he performed "Dance of the Harvest Fires," a song he wrote several years ago to reflect his memories of watching farmers burn the fields during harvest season in America's heartland.

"It's really cool how he can do that," said freshman Lexi Demute, 14. "I would love to be able to do that one day."

Richter, of Tucson, Ariz., is an internationally trained musician who is playing at the Jacklin Arts and Cultural Center tonight. He spent a few days with Post Falls youths, guest teaching in their music classes and conducting workshops to educate the new guitar players about technique and forming good playing habits.

"I think it's really cool and it's really helpful, especially because I want to practice a lot and become as good as him," said PFHS sophomore Taylor Nelson, 16. "It's amazing to watch him."

Richter walked through guitar instructor Matt Barkley's classroom, giving feedback on students' guitar form as they warmed up on a few notes and situated their fingers, wrists, elbows and arms to efficiently and comfortably play. He provided constructive criticism in a positive way, his eyes smiling as he showed students how to improve.

"You never need to think about what leg to use next when you're walking down the hallway, right?" he said to the class. "That's how it needs to be with those fingers."

Barkley stood in the rear of the class, watching over his students as they listened to Richter's lessons.

"A lot of our band and choir classes are tailored to an experienced musician," Barkley said. "These guys here, a lot are brand new to music, they've never touched an instrument before."

Sophomore Jordan Kiehn, 15, said she thinks having Richter as a guest teacher is exciting for the class.

"I think it makes us all want to work even harder in class and I'm really excited because I want to be able to do that, too, because my brother used to play, and so it was an inspiration," she said.

Richter has been returning to Post Falls to play concerts and share his love of music with students for 10 years. He said a class like Barkley's is inspiring because he sees the pupils focus on their lessons and put energy into learning.

"What got me started doing this is, I wish I would have had that in high school," Richter said. "My high school didn't have a guitar class and I was from a small town that didn't have any guitar teachers, so I taught myself and made a lot of mistakes along the way. And I was a kid who wasn't a fantastic student, either, but I think I might have done better if I would have had something like Mr. Barkley's class in school."

Richter began composing music at the age of 12 and, with no formal training, was awarded the Presidential Scholarship to the American Conservatory of Music in Chicago when he was 19. After completing his undergraduate degrees in performance and composition, he earned a scholarship to the Royal College of Music in London where he won several awards.

He was invited to perform at the JACC at its first event years ago and has been coming back ever since. He said he would like to see a true guitar program develop in North Idaho schools.

"My hope is to make it as intensive as the band or orchestra or choir program," he said. "So that we have kids who are playing guitar at school for four years and maybe get a scholarship to a college for playing guitar, they have performances and they work together."

He discussed the benefits of music education, from academic success to graduation rates.

"All those things are a big part of it, to try to play some little role in keeping a few more kids in school and give them something they enjoy and feel good about during the day," he said. "The more things that a school has to give a kid an opportunity to feel special, you know, there are athletics and a lot of kids feel connected to that and that's their thing in school, so guitar is one more thing that somebody can excel at and feel like it's their special corner of the school."

Richter and musician Viktor Uzur will perform as the Richter Uzur Duo tonight at 7:30 at the JACC, 405 N. William St. Tickets are $25 or $20 for students and can be purchased at www.thejacklincenter.org.

Info: 457-8950