However, when he started to hear, he didn't know what he was hearing, said Linda Curnutt, hearing specialist/consultant for the Utah Schools for the Deaf and Blind. With the implant came auditory and verbal therapy.

Trujillo's parents wanted him to try band, and Curnutt said they decided to try the clarinet.

Trujillo, an eighth-grade student, started playing this year. Lauralyn Anderson, Cedar Middle School band teacher, said she requires private lessons for students who didn't take band at the intermediate school.

Trujillo takes private lessons at the Trouvere School of Music once a week, and his teacher, Heather Forbes, said he is her hardest-working student.

Trujillo said he likes playing the clarinet so his mom can hear him play well, and it's nice for people to be able to listen to the clarinet.

His favorite thing is to see how music works and listen to it so he can play better, he said.

Trujillo, now 14, said he didn't used to like music, but now he has a couple of CDs he likes to listen to.

Curnutt said when Alvaro first got his cochlear implant, he hated music because it was just noise to him. She said he used to complain that his father would put on his Mexican music and he hated it.

Trujillo said he started to listen to music sometimes in seventh grade. He enjoys it more now that he can read music and figure out the sounds and understands what music is.

Through therapy, Trujillo has learned what sounds are and how to interpret them. Curnutt said in therapy she introduces sounds and they talk about what they mean, for example, what letters sound like and the sound of different voices.

"He hears, but he doesn't know what he's hearing," she said.

Trujillo has come so far, Curnutt said, although he still has a lot of work to do with his speech.

Anderson said in just eight months, Trujillo has caught up to the other band students. He is a good student; he fits right in and does what he's supposed to do.

She's learned to tell when Trujillo is off and how to communicate in class without his interpreter, she said. He's become independent, plus he has some friends in class who make sure he stays on track.

Sometimes it's a challenge to communicate with him in private lessons, Forbes said. She has to do things a little differently. She uses a lot of mimicry - she will play and Alvaro will follow her.

The biggest problem isn't Trujillo understanding Forbes, she said, It's her not always understanding him. But Alvaro knows what they'll do in lessons, and if there are any questions she shows him on her clarinet and he corrects himself.

Trujillo said sometimes he plays poorly. The first time he heard himself squeak on the clarinet, he pulled his implant out and threw it because the sound was so loud.

When Forbes first started teaching Trujillo, it was different because music was such a new concept for him, she said. Other students have heard music all their lives.

Forbes said she remembers playing "Jingle Bells" for Trujillo, and he thought it was such a weird song.

"It showed me how much we take music for granted," she said.

She's amazed at how much he can pick up; he's improved dramatically, Forbes said.

Curnutt said when she went to Trujillo's first performance, she cried because it's unbelievable how well he's doing.

It's marvelous what deaf children can do given the opportunity, she said. When she used to live in California, she taught deaf children to dance.

People asked her why she would do that because they can't hear the music, Curnutt said. But in the end, those students had better rhythm than students who can hear and the dance turned out unbelievable.

She's very grateful for the technology that allows Trujillo and other students to hear, Curnutt said. The implant makes a huge difference.

It's unusual for someone to get a cochlear implant at 10 years old, she said. People usually get it around 1 or 2 years old.

The implant is inside the inner ear, and there are electronics that pick up sounds. Normally, there are small hairs in the inner ear that pick up sounds. The implant sends the electronic impulses to a computer Trujillo wears in a small box behind his ear.

Trujillo has profound sensory neural loss, which qualified him to receive the implant, she said. Trujillo's mom heard about the implant and came to Curnutt to see if her son could get the help to hear, even though he was older.

Trujillo said it felt good to have the implant because he learned how to talk to his friends and learned to listen so he can play in the band.

Aimee Montoya, owner of Trouvere School of Music, said it's remarkable that Trujillo has taken on this challenge. A lot of kids who have heard music all their lives aren't as dedicated as he is.

"I'll never quit," Trujillo said.

Anderson said it's something that a lot of kids with cochlear implants could do if they tried. Trujillo has shown a lot of kids what can be done.

Montoya said during his theory sessions Trujillo can differentiate pitches better than a lot of students, which may be the implant but could definitely be that Alvaro is a better listener than most kids.

Trujillo said other kids with implants should try band because they could do it, too. He wouldn't trade his ability to read the music and be able to practice it for anything.

The hardest thing for him has been the reeds that come with the clarinet, he said. He currently has four reeds in "the coffin" because they've broken. But he plans to stick with the clarinet.

Although everyone tells him what he has done is miraculous, Trujillo insists it's just something he does. He's a normal kid who hates homework, likes to play games and make jokes.

By Meg Cady