Eric Parsons / Star staff Nuvi Mehta, artistic director of the Ventura Music Festival, gives a special lesson to students at E.P. Foster School in Ventura.

The intensity of the bow touching the violin strings and playing the Irish song "Danny Boy" made the instrument seem alive and helped about 150 students at E.P. Foster School experience some inner peace.

"It gave me a very soothing and relaxing feeling," said Gabin Jenkins, a 10-year-old fourth-grader at the Ventura school.

Nuvi Mehta, artistic director of the Ventura Music Festival, gave the third- and fourth-graders a special music lesson last week. E.P. Foster is one of about 20 schools in Ventura and Oxnard participating in the festival's "Musicians in the Schools" educational outreach program. Each year, the program brings music to about 3,500 students over a three-week period.

"Music is like learning a language. It changes the way your brain works and processes information," said Mehta, who has been visiting schools in Ventura and San Diego counties for six years now.

Mehta said he tries to make the program an interactive experience, asking students questions such as "What is harmony?" — the theme for this year. Mehta, accompanied by pianist Hiromi Tilsner, taught E.P. Foster students how to change the chords of a song.

"They get to choose the chords, and we play it for them so they can hear what's going on," Mehta said.

Cheryl Heitmann, executive director of the Ventura Music Festival, said music helps children do better academically and mentally.

"Children who are exposed to music have a better attention span," said Heitmann. "Music helps children to calm down and focus more."

According to Mehta, many students are not exposed to music in school or at home, so it is a privilege to go to the schools and teach the arts.

"If they start thinking they can do something they couldn't do before, or if they begin to see things different after this presentation, that is the benefit they would get from music," said Mehta.

Michael Tapia, principal at E.P. Foster, said the school is grateful for such a program in an era when music education has been cut. "We want to teach children all aspects. Studies have shown that children who engage in artistic activities achieve more," he said.

During his presentation, Mehta also taught the children a little bit of art history by talking about the famous composer George Gershwin and introducing them to songs such as "American in Paris" and "Rhapsody in Blue."

"Music teaches discipline and hard work. It teaches you that whatever you want to achieve requires a lot of work," Mehta said.

Mehta has been playing violin since he was 6. His father is a pianist and his mother is a singer. His father's cousin is famed conductor Zubin Mehta.

Daisy Sumaya, a 9-year-old fourth-grader at E.P.Foster, said she had a good time during the music presentation. "I like the music and I would like to learn more about it," Daisy said.