New Brunswick Symphony
Adopt-A Musician
Fredericton, N.B. Feb.1996
Pam Whitty
with
Sherrie-Lynn Butt and Sherry Rose
You Too Can Adopt a Musician
On November 19th, 1995, Andrew Miller, principal bass player for the New Brunswick Symphony and Sonya Adams principal cellist performed for children and parents at the now defunct National Exhibition Centre in Fredericton. Entitled Musically Speaking: How Low Can you Go? Base is Ace, Cello is Mellow, their performance set up connections between Andrew and three educators in Fredericton: Pam Whitty, UNB Curriculum Professor, Sherry Rose, fifth grade teacher and Sherrie-Lynn Butt,education student and percussionist. These connections lead to a piloting of the Adopt a Musician programme at Park Street School in early 1996 with the Thursday February 15th Symphony performance -"Music from the Heart."Jamie Parker, guest soloist, played Mendelssohn's Piano Concerto No1, opus 25.
Andrew Miller and Yvonne Kershaw, bassoonist with the Symphony visited Park St. School twice, once before the Symphony performance and once afterwards. In this newsletter, we - Pam, Sherrie-Lynn, and Sherry - outline some of the activities that took place in a fifth and sixth grade classrooms in conjunction with their the musicians' visit and our evening at the Symphony. We trust that our experiences might encourage others to Adopt a Musician and enrich their learning and that of the children in their classes.
1. Meeting with the Performers
Before the performers came to the school, we all met with them on a Saturday morning just as Yvonne and Andrew finished their teaching in the Fredericton Young Musicians programme at Memorial Hall. Sherrie-Lynn and Sherry had already been listening to classical music in class and having the children listen and draw in response to music.
We all discussed the two grades that the musicians would visit and answered questions and made suggestions to each other about how we might proceed.
For the children and the teachers in the school,meeting the performers was also meeting the instruments. "Up close and personal" as the saying goes. The children heard the voices of the instruments apart from the group. We often have a hard time figuring out what instrument is playing what because of how carefully directors work to blend the choir of instruments. Hearing even only two instruments - the bass and bassoon - gave the children a place to root their listening. They learned what the bass and bassoon looked like and how they sounded. When they heard these instruments at the symphony, they were able to discover what they were and were not doing. Hearing the instruments separately before the performance enabled them to distinguish these instruments from others For example when the high sounds were heard - they clearly recognized that it was not the Andrew playing the bass.
There are times during the performance when musicians hold their instruments as though they are playing - when in fact they are not. This is confusing for anyone. Knowing intimately what instruments sound like is a key to figuring out what people are up to on stage.
Putting names to faces is also important. It was valuable for the children to see that the musicians are real people, who wear real clothes, and chat with other real people, and have a real sense of humour.
2. Listening to the Music Before the Performance
Having the children listen to the music before the performance made them familiar with it. They had the opportunity to learn parts of it and decide what they liked and what they did not. Our discussion of the music lead us to wonder about it and we thought of questions which might be answered by the performance.
Who plays that loud part?
How many of the instruments are playing here?
What instrument is making that sound?
Will the performance be exactly like the cd?
Being aware of how the must sounded, piqued the children's attention and they were more attentive to what was physically going on with the instruments than they would have otherwise been.
Listening to the music before hand also opened opportunities to discuss instrumentation, notation of music, conducting style - dynamics, musical variables which might affect the sound of this particular performance. Instead of being absolutely puzzled in what was a new situation for many (all) of the children, they had a few discussions to consider while they attended the concert.
Music familiarity and awareness gives us an edge when we attend live performance. We know what to expect and we can anticipate our favourite sections of the music.When the children heard Jamie Parker start the Concerto there was a bit of a buzz of recognition that they spoke about the next day in class.
Revisiting the music and remembering what people on the stage were doing makes the experience more memorable. The more memorable the experience. The more likely children are to visit the symphony again.
3. Use of the Program Before the Performance
NOBODY knows exactly what to do or how to act at the symphony unless they are told or take what they know from other types of performances and judge themselves accordingly. Adults taking adults for the first time might say "don't clap here or here." Children need the same sort of briefing. It is only fair they have the opportunity to know what is expected of them - like any other person.
One of the best things we did to prepare the children in terms of .....before the Symphony was to have Yvonne obtain a few copies of the programme for us. Seeing the programs before the performance allowed them to make connections between what they were reading, what they hear on cd in the classroom, and what they saw while the performance was going on. When they read "Principle violinist" in the program, they were able to identify Mr. Adams on the stage.
Because of their discussion, the program text was meaningful. Because the children had discussed the programme at length before the performance and been given time to raise questions, they knew how to read the programm and to behave appropriately. For example, they could predict what was coming next, when to clap. They were aware of the composers of each piece. The questions raised around the programme discussion in class went beyond details to do with the actual performance night. For example, other questions included: why are there so many ads; who are the Friends of the Symphony; why are there more males than females in the Symphony.
4. Extension of Invitation to Parents. Connecting Home and School
When parents are invited to attend the symphony, discussions of the music and the whole experience is not limited to the classroom. Children discuss the symphony with their class and parents and can share with both. This is a great way to let parents know what is going on in the classroom and it is a great connection for parents to make to child's and teacher's work. Their participation in this type of activity opens the door for discussion about what IS in fact going on there.
It is an opportunity for parents to see that their children are capable of participating in sophisticated types of entertainment. If they did not go to the symphony, they would not have SEEN for themselves that children can enjoy the symphony. They will be more likely to take them again when they do not have visions of their children falling asleep or of children climbing over and under seats during the performance.
In this case all the aprents wre invited through teh children. Three letters were sent home discussing the Adopt-A-Musician programme, the support received by music speacialist and university studet Sherrie-Lynn
5. Two Different Approaches in the Classroom
Rather than have the musicians tell all the chiuldrne were given the opportunity to ask the musicians quesitonsthus enabling them to acess what they were most curious to know. was most important eNot all children are the same - not all teachers are the same. Be flexible. Flexibility with any similar program can only lend itself to success. classes in the district may have the opportunity to participate in similar programs, they will not proceed in exactly the same way with different teachers, students, and musicians involved.
Children's questions are important. Like any of us, children are more interested in situations where they can discover answers to questions through their own investigation - even if the investigation is question and answer. I would suggest distancing the lecture method in the classroom, especially with young children. As soon as new people and instruments enter the classroom, there will be plenty of questions. As some children may not be accustomed to asking questions in a public setting, they should be encourage to do so.
6. Symphony and Curricular Integration
The Math behind the Music - is this something you would like to include? I realize it was not a consideration when you took on the project. It might, however, be a consideration for other teachers interested in a similar classroom experience.
I think we could encourage others to get involved by letting them know that more happened than just listening to cd's during class time - art, math, rhythm studies, music, public speaking.
7. University Involvement
Thank you.
8. Other
We have to include the children in the newsletter somehow if we are going to use their work or their photos.
These columns are neat and I think the newsletter is a GREAT idea, even if only for the conference.
Actually, a regular newsletter about music in the district would be interesting. It would be a way of letting people know how musically MUCH or LITTLE is going on around in the schools.
About adding and taking away from this text, I can courier a disk with this information to you, rather than have you type it all in again - or I can do the newsletter from here. What ever you think is fine with me.
