Schools
Simsbury Elementary Students Connect with Music Workshops
Article submitted by Simsbury Public Schools
At every grade level, the Simsbury Public Schools encourages all students to make connections to peers, teachers, and to the curriculum. A recent initiative by the Simsbury Enrichment & Extended Day (SEED) program and the Simsbury Arts Academy (SAA) gave elementary school students the chance to make such connections—to the beat of Latin jazz rhythms.
A grant from the state that promotes academic and social success for students participating in the Hartford Region Open Choice Program led SAA Director Cindy Rehm and SEED Director Nikki Mahan to put their heads together last year to figure out how to use the arts to provide high-quality enrichment experiences for their Simsbury and Open Choice students.
Noting that Latin jazz music was not an area that was covered extensively in the current curriculum, and given a unique opportunity for hands-on learning, they turned to Master Teaching Artist Ed Fast and his nationally acclaimed Latin Jazz ensemble Conga-Bop. Soon they had a comprehensive plan to expose the entire student body at all five elementary schools to this wonderful genre through concert performances and afterschool workshops, which will be held throughout the spring.
At one such workshop on April 12 at Squadron Line School, seven SEED students in grades 4 to 6, upon entering the music room and hearing the warm-up by Fast and his accompanist, Sam Parker, a professional musician and recent Hartt School of Music graduate, connected immediately to the music and to each other and began spontaneously dancing along.
Although their excitement was bubbling over, the students quickly settled down to watch Fast’s slideshow mapping the roots of Latin Jazz from New York, New Orleans, and California. Once the students had the history down, it was time for hands-on experience. Fast played a simple rhythm on a conga drum, followed by Parker playing solo notes on a piano.
When the two played their music in unison, it was obvious to the students that there was greater power in teamwork.
Fast then invited the students to expand his band from two pieces to ten to try out maracas, Vibra-Slaps, shakers, clackers, and a host of other exotic instruments. He explained a little about each percussion instrument, then prepared to jam with the students.
The teachers in the room—Rehm, Mahan, and Squadron Line School music teacher Miriam Schreiber—lent their expertise to help the students play the instruments they had selected, but it was also apparent that the teachers were thrilled to join the student in playing the different instruments themselves!
Rehm said, “This opportunity truly enriches the core music curriculum. Students meet and learn about a new genre of music; Latin Jazz from professional musicians who are teaching collaboratively with their own music teacher.”
Schreiber’s musical talents on the alto sax enhanced the ensemble for a song or two. She marveled how effective the workshop was in teaching the power of a team.
Said Schreiber, “What resonated with me was the concept of teamwork. You are really fitting the pieces together to make one.”
At the end of one improvised jam session with the students and adults, Fast asked, “Does anyone know the name of that song?” Students caught on quickly that this was a trick question, that the reason the song lacked a name is because this piece of music had never been played before—but they had created something brand new together.
At the end of the workshop, Open Choice student Jennifer Koita said she had “learned a lot about jazz music.” About playing solo versus playing with the group, her friend Mackenzie Lynch remarked, “I just made [the song I played] up, but everything sounds better as a team.” Koita agreed, summing up one of the most important themes of the workshop that could be applied not just to Latin jazz music but to friendship: “If you mess up, someone else can add a beat and help you.”
Ed Fast will be teaching at the Simsbury Arts Academy, now enrolling for the summer. For more information, visit the SAA website at www.simsbury.k12.ct.us/SAA.
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