NewsBlog Editor’s Note: We are pleased to re-introduce to you Jenny Giardina, a new CMIE Guided Intern working as Teaching Artist and Documentation Specialist for her internship at the Josiah Quincy Upper School in Boston, MA. Jenny is a senior classical voice major finishing up her MIE Concentration. Our thanks to JQUS music teacher Laura Bouix for hosting Jenny’s guided internship.

Hello MIE NewsBlog readers!  My name is Jenny Giardina and I’m back for my second MIE Guided Internship as a “Creative Composition Workshop” leader in Boston’s Josiah Quincy Upper School.  Following the methods and practices of music educator R. Murray Schafer, I’ll be leading composition and improvisation classes with three separate bands: the high school band, comprised of 9th-12th graders, and the 8th and 7th grade bands.

R. Murray Schafer’s approach to music education emphasizes listening and creativity, encourages discussion, and builds a solid foundation for personal growth.  I’ll be referencing a few of his publications more often than others; these will include A Sound Education, The Composer in the Classroom, and The Thinking Ear.

Each week, I’ll be designing three lesson plans inspired and guided by Mr. Schafer’s ideas and experiences in these books.  I’ll upload a short-hand version of these plans onto the NewsBlog by Thursday evenings and submit a second entry following Fridays’ classes.  In the second entry I’ll discuss what worked, what didn’t, and what everyone learned, and I’ll include any pictures or scanned images from that week.

My goal during this internship is to encourage the students to create original ideas, improvise on these ideas, perform the resulting “compositions,” and grow in their self-confidence, both musically and otherwise.  Learning about music and musicianship will be a wonderfully unavoidable by-product of the exercises they’ll encounter, and I personally cannot wait to find out what I’ll learn over the course of this semester’s adventures.

Today was my first day in front of the classes and I used the following lesson plan:

HS Band:

Objective:  The students will exercise listening, creativity, and critical thinking in order to most accurately perform a composition.

Last week, the students were put into small groups and asked to compose a piece based on anything—Human, Natural, or Machine.  This week I’ll be asking them to diagram their compositions using symbols and drawings in a way that would allow another group to reproduce their piece.  Once they’ve finished their diagram they’ll hand it off to another group and I’ll call two of them to the front of the class.  Group A will play their piece while Group B looks on at their diagram.  Following the performance, group B will be given some time to figure out how to most closely imitate the performance with help from myself and the class.  Group B will then perform and the class will discuss what worked, what didn’t and how it could have been better.  We’ll do this with a few different pairs of groups.

8th Grade Band:

Objective: The students should become more aware of the sounds associated with certain people and places and transfer these sounds to their instruments in various ways.

The following are exercises extracted from A Sound Education, by R. Murray Schafer.

I’ll ask five students to stand to the side of the room and the rest of the class will close their eyes.  I’ll have one of the five walk across the front of the room and the class will have to guess who it is.  If they can’t, I’ll ask them to describe what it is that they can hear (clothing, jewelry, etc.) and see if we can’t figure it out.

What sounds do we associate with guys and girls?  In groups of three, students will make lists of sounds associated with the two genders, as well as sounds they hear when they think of the forest, the ocean, and a park.

I’ll then group the students by five and ask them to compose Human/Nature/Machine pieces.  With 15 minutes of class time to spare, we’ll regroup and perform the pieces.  Immediately following each performance the class will guess what each groups’ piece was about, and the group will explain and demonstrate.  I’ll ask students with instruments not represented in the piece to suggest what they might be able to add to the texture.

7th Grade Band:

Objective: After exercises in active listening, the students will create original compositions from interesting sounds they bring to class.

We’ll repeat the first exercise from the 8th grade band and follow with a slightly modified version of the sound association exercise.

After designing lists of sounds we associate with the genders and natural locations I’ll have the students write them on the board.  I’ll select two contrasting lists and ask the students to demonstrate what their instruments could represent from one of the lists.  Once we’ve found the sounds for one entire list I’ll facilitate an improvisation structured around creating the sounds of the chosen environment.

The students will have brought an interesting sound to class today; something ordinary that makes an extraordinary sound.  I’ll ask them to talk about why they brought their specific sound and what they think is interesting about it.  I’ll play for them a recording of my friends and I improvising with interesting sounds.  If there’s time, the students will be placed into small groups to compose an improvisatory piece using their sounds and one instrument per group, and perform them for the class.

Check out this video I made to promote the MIENC’s Mankato Walkabout Literacy Partnership program!

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.