NewsBlog Editor’s Note: This post is the fifth of a series written by CMIE Guided Intern Hermann Hudde, as part of the documentation for Hudde’s CMIE Guided Internship. See other posts in this series here.

Project STEP was created in 1982 in answer to the need for including minorities or other cultural communities that do not have access to the classical music world. According to its home page history, ” Project STEP (String Training and Educational Program) identifies musically talented Black and Latino students and provides them with a comprehensive music training program, the primary goal of which is to prepare them to compete and succeed in the challenging, rewarding world of classical music. The program was spearheaded 25 years ago by the Boston Symphony Orchestra as a means of addressing the under-representation of Blacks and Latinos in orchestras. The founders’ idea was to identify and train minority students who did not have ready access to the best available training. Today the Boston Symphony Orchestra, the New England Conservatory, and the Boston University School of Music support Project STEP with cash contributions and in-kind donations of space and services, and as advisors on our Board of Directors.”

The program provides music instructions by very talented teachers to African-American and Latin-American children and youth in order to generate diversity among the orchestra’s members. The program has several different levels:

• Focus: This beginning level is divided into Sections I and II. During the first section children start having recorder lessons and receive instructions in the fundamental’s of music. During Section II, the children begins learning violin, viola, cello and bass.
• Pre-Training Division: In this level the children continue receiving instrumental lessons, but at the same time instruction in chamber music and orchestra is added. At the same time they are required to participate in community concerts, attend concerts, write reports, and take part in clinics and master classes. Academic excellence at school is also required.
• Training Division: Continuation of the former division.
• Pre-College Division: At this final level, the students are required to play exams to finish the program.

According to the information on the PS homepage, the students participate in the following suggested music education program:

• Weekly private lessons
• Weekly class instruction in music theory and solfege
• For advanced students, piano lessons may substitute for theory classes
• Two master classes each season taught by established artists
• Chamber music coaching
• Student recitals
• Orchestral music coaching
• Opportunity to attend numerous performances each year by established artists and ensembles
• Summer music study
• Parent Council with monthly meetings
• Continuing guidance into the conservatory / university level and beyond
• Low-interest loans available for the purchase of musical instruments after graduation.

NewsBlog Editor’s Note: This post is the fourth of a series written by CMIE Guided Intern Hermann Hudde, as part of the documentation for Hudde’s CMIE Guided Internship. See other posts in this series here.

The duo played two educational recitals. The first performance was played for children who are not involved in the music programs. They were very curious about what a musician’s life like, asking questions such as: Do you have parents who are musicians? When did you start playing your instrument? What influenced you to play music?. Ficsor and Finehouse performed a serenade by William Bolcom about a not very handsome man who loved a woman and was trying to make her to fall in love with him. Before they played, Ficsor & Finehouse  explained that the composer often uses stories as inspiration for musical works.

The second performance used the same music, but the second group of children were all involved in the string program so their questions were more focused on violin playing. The musicians used the opportunity to ask the children questions such as: Do you know what a cadenza is? What does a Serenade mean to you? Do you know where the Ponticello is? The children were engaged by these questions about their instruments and replied as well with questions such as: How do you play harmonics on the violin? How do you learn a new piece of music? Do you compose music too? Additionally, the children were curious to know how the players meet and rehearse since they live in Boston and Santa Barbara.

NewsBlog Editor’s Note: This post is the third of a series written by CMIE Guided Intern Hermann Hudde, as part of the documentation for Hudde’s CMIE Guided Internship. See other posts in this series here.

As a part of my guided internship, the BSO education office organized a meeting between BPS children and the composer William Bolcom, whose opus Eighth Symphony for Chorus and Orchestra was premiered by the BSO on Tuesday, February 28. The composer was accompanied by the violinist Philip Ficsor and the pianist Constantine Finehouse who are on tour promoting their CD American Double which features Bolcom’s duos for violin and piano. Ficsor and Finehouse started a conversation with the children and the composer with the intention of engaging the children, making them curious about what a composer is and what he does. They asked the composer how his life in music was began and the composer used this opportunity to talk about his childhood and his life. Then the musicians asked the young audience what they felt when they listened to a modern piece of music in comparison to a classical period opus. When some said they found it “ugly” or “strange”, Philip used the opportunity to talk about the power of the modern music to express all kinds of emotions. Then the composer was asked about his composition process, and he explained that he tended to be inspired first by images from nature or poetry.. The duo then told the audience that they would start playing a Bolcom’s Serenade for violin and piano which is based on the story of an ugly man who felt in love with a princess and was trying everything to win her love. They played across the different sections of the piece and invited the children to identify the emotions being expressed, and then the duo concluded, playing the whole opus.

When they ended their performance, the BSO came to the stage and played the dress rehearsal from Bolcom’s Eighth Symphony for Chorus and Orchestra. In my opinion, positive this kind of encounter is a positive experience, because is difficult for non-musicians to meet composers and know more about their lives and works. The event also gave the opportunity the children to listen to an orchestra playing in a symphony hall and to observe the work that goes on between a composer and the musicians. All in all, it was a great way to make the whole concept of composing and performing seem more “real” and “normal” to the children.

NewsBlog Editor’s Note:This post is the second of a series written by CMIE Guided Intern Hermann Hudde, as part of the documentation for Hudde’s CMIE Guided Internship. See other posts in this series here.

As a part of my internship at the Boston Symphony, I participated in their Youth Concert Series. Since 1888 the BSO has offered the community this kind of program, but Harry Ellis Dickson revitalized this educational activity according to the BSO Website the porpoise of the Youth Concert Series is as follow: “Each Youth and Family concert includes music chosen for young audiences. Captivating and compelling, these interactive concerts are led by renowned conductors and introduce the wide spectrum of classical music to young people and families. The musical performance, often accompanied by theatrical and visual elements, creates an exciting experience and encourages interaction between the conductor and audience members.” The website also gives specific information about the concert series itself. As a part of their education program, the BSO was played concerts for Boston Publics Schools. The BSO also offered at the same time pre and post-concerts activities for the children including instrumental demonstrations and conversations with the musicians.

For the particular concert I participated in, the BSO chose the title “What do you hear?”. The program began with Mozart’s Symphony No. 40, 1st movement. Once the orchestra concluded its interpretation, the conductor Mr. Federico Cortese greeted the children and told them to listen very carefully to the next piece because it was written by a man who represented the values of liberty and freedom. Mr. Cortese also used this opportunity to talk about the French Revolution and its importance for humanity. Furthermore, Mr. Cortese explained what an Overture is with it functions. Then the BSO played Fidelio’s Overture by L.V. Beethoven.

After this children were introduced to two different stories about a young man and a young woman whose parents e not approved. The orchestra played excerpts from each work, after which the children were invited to express their opinions. In order to stimulate their creativity and curiosity. After this question and answer period, the conductor told the young audience to listen carefully to both opuses as they played them. When finished, the children were invited to respond using a microphone. After this session the orchestra played Berlioz’s “Romeo alone and Feast the Capulets” from Romeo and Juliet and Verdi’s Prelude to La Traviata.

To conclude the performance, the BSO used a video screen on which was projected an old movie scene about a man and a woman who were arguing with each other. The conductor announced to the children that they were going to play a piece that had a lot of questions and answers as in the old movie then began playing the first movement of Beethoven’s Symphony No. 5, in synchrony with the film. The children seemed to enjoy this a great deal and amused.

The Children receives a general exposure to the experience of listening to an orchestra in Symphony Hall. This seems an important first step for them to realize that they belong there too.

NewsBlog Editor’s Note: This post is the first of a series written by CMIE Guided Intern Hermann Hudde, as part of the documentation for Hudde’s CMIE Guided Internship. See other posts in this series here.

On January 29 I participated in a performance outreach educational concert as a part of my internship in music in education at the BSO Music Education Office, and the Youth Concert Series for Public Schools in Boston that the BSO organizes every year. This was for me was a very pleasant opportunity and experience because it allowed me to share music with a young audience as well as to introduce them to the guitar, which is not an instrument that belongs to the traditional orchestra. In order to better engage the children age 7 – 10, I asked the BSO M. Ed. office to post a world map, because my idea was to make with the children a world trip from Latin America to Europe using the guitar and its music as a link. Exposing the children to two kinds of music that are not commonly heard in Symphony Hall, in allows them to appreciate in diverse cultures, and to enhance their perspectives about music and styles.

I began the morning session by telling the children that I was very happy performing for them and that I knew that they had a lot of questions and curiosity about the guitar and the music. I started by playing the first movement of Mexican composer Manuel Ponce, Sonata Romantica’s which is a piece of music in Romantic style. As I finished this performance, I opened the dialogue with them and they asked all sort of questions that lead into an interesting discussion about the different types of guitars and styles; for example: Why do you use the fingers and not a pick? , Where is your amplifier? Are there differences between your guitar and the electric guitar?. I continued my performance with a piece by the Paraguayan composer Agustin Barrios Mangore.

In order to introduce the first Spanish piece by Manuel de Falla “Le Tombeau”, I told the children that this opus was written and dedicated to a friend of his, whose name was Claude Debussy, and that this work was very mysterious. The Tombeau is an impressionists’ style opus that employs a lot of effects that express a special color in the music as well as being visually very exciting for the audience. I told them that for me it was like a ghost’s piece of music, and then introduced them to the melody which has a very shadowy feeling. Children as well the teachers enjoyed this piece very much because I used these images in my opening presentation and invited the audience to use their creativity.

To conclude the outreach performance, I played the first movement Joaquin Rodrigo’s Sonata Giocosa. However I began the music I answered some of their questions and about the use of folklore and dance elements in music in general and in this composition especially. The children were very curious about everything and by the end of the outreach performance they were ready to go Symphony Hall to hear the orchestra playing the program “What do you hear?.”

For the second session the group was bigger than the first one, and I followed the same program, but left more time to have more interaction with the children. This group’s questions were more about the composers, the instrument and me as a musician; for example: It is difficult to play guitar?, Do you like Beethoven?, Which piece of music did you play at first?. To documentate the outreach event the BSO staff took pictures of each session.

It was a great experience for me that remind me of the feeling I had for music when I was that age - the sense of discovering a new world.

Since the Spring Semester of 2007 is now well underway, I thought I’d take this time to highlight some new relationships with schools and arts organizations being explored under the guise of the Music-in-Education Guided Internship Program. We have several guided interns pursuing teaching opportunities within the Boston Public School system.

With thanks to George Simpson, we are developing a relationship with the Roland Hayes School (a middle school in Roxbury, near Roxbury Community College), where two of our MIE Guided Interns (Kathryn Wigger & Amanda Romano) will be teaching group harp lessons and coaching a lap harp ensemble. The Roland Hayes School is Boston’s first public school for music. It also serves students from the Madison Park Vocational High School and other nearby schools. A collection of lap, lever, and pedal harps were donated to the Boston Public School system several years ago, and the Hayes School has kept them since; these harps will be the basis of the MIE Guided Internship.

Also, this semester, our partnership continues with the Boston Arts Academy! Haruka Horii, one of our graduate students in the MIE Concentration is back to teach jazz improvisation and is also coaching a jazz string ensemble.

Graduate vocalist Jessica Reed, of the NEC Opera Program, is using her MIE Guided Internship to start an after school choir club at the Hurley Elementary School. Jessica is also the recipient of a NEC Performance Outreach Fellowship.

Finally, this semester is also seeing a reinstatement of internships hosted by National Public Radio’s “From The Top” (FtT) radio show. Bianca Garcia, a FtT alum and current NEC grad student, is helping FtT to design its outreach component such that FtT’s young alums receive training for future artist-residency opportunities.

There are, as always, a number of Guided Interns working in the MIE Research Center … but since most of them are also Documentation Specialists (and thus, NewsBloggers), I figured I’d focus on students whose guided internships are off-campus.

- Randy

Randy Wong is Program Coordinator for the Center for Music-in-Education and Information Architect for the Music-in-Education National Consortium

This post is intended to solicit some feedback for a thought that has been occurring to me while participating in Paul Burdick’s MIE course, “Performing Artists in Community Outreach.” Throughout the first three weeks of class I have become familiar with various definitions of what a ‘community’ is, but couldn’t help but notice that when one uses the term ‘outreach,’ it often only refers to select/few types of communities. These are primarily for schools and assisted living centers.

To me there are many reasons for this. For example, I can see these two types of communities as gaining the most enrichment from an outreach program, especially that of music. There is no doubt that lives are enhanced by what a performing artist can do in these venues. Beyond that I also see a need for outreach within these institutions. Schools need people to come in from the outside world to display an infinite amount of things that prove invaluable to students. Assisted living centers need our performances to among many other things provide an escape from the everyday. This is by no means an exhaustive list of what we as performing artists can and of course actually do at these facilities, but what about the other communities?

Most of the people on this planet are not in grade schools nor are they in assisted living centers? Do these people in the long mid-roads of their life not need enrichment and outreach the same way as our young and our elderly? Can they not benefit all the same or perhaps even more? Is there some way we can bring outreach to other communities, more regular communities, communities we have yet to think of? Yet to penetrate?

What do you think?

-Andy

Andy Stetson is an undergraduate trumpet performance major in his senior year at NEC. As an MIE Concentration student, Andy was the lead organizer for the 2006 Music-in-Education National Consortium conference held at NEC, and has written an article titled “Hands Across The Americas: Experiencing the Transformative Power of Music in Venezuela,” which will be published in the Inaugural Issue of the Journal for Music-in-Education, 2007.