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Weill Music Institute’s Link Up program, "The Orchestra Sings," will be presented Wednesday, March 18 at Westhill High School .
All of Stamford's 1,350 third-graders are participating in a yearlong, hands-on music curriculum about orchestral repertoire. Carnegie Hall’s Weill Music Institute provided professional development and teacher guidebooks. Specific concepts taught include rhythm, melody, tempo, orchestration and composition.
Teachers guide students in exploring music through a composer’s lens. Students participate in music-making, performing their repertoire using a recorder, voice or body percussion as well as creating music compositions inspired by orchestral music they have studied.
This performance often serves as a student’s first concert experience and provides them with the opportunity to apply the musical concepts they have studied. "The Link Up program for third-grade students is a perfect complement to the current American Experience concert, which is presented to fourth- and fifth-graders in the district. We are dedicated to ensuring all students are made aware of classical and orchestral music,” said Stamford Symphony CEO Barbara Soroca.
Other educational initiatives provided by the Stamford Symphony include:
- Children under 18 always are welcome at Sunday afternoon concerts free of charge with an accompanying adult.
- Musikids, a free interactive workshop, where children learn how to listen and understand the music, is at 2 p.m. on Sundays , before the concert.
- Advance the Arts, a fund-raising enrichment program, allows for schools to sell Sunday concert tickets within their school community.
- Stamford Symphony For Kids at Stepping Stones Museum, for children under 10, offers a variety of programs including an exploration into musical instrument families.
- An ongoing mentoring partnership with the HARTT School of Music includes Masterclass opportunities with world renowned musicians as well as training for exceptional students who receive the opportunity to learn by performing with the orchestra.
- Stamford Symphony works hand-in-hand with all fourth- and fifth-grade music teachers in the Stamford school system to prepare children for a concert that focuses on their American history curriculum. Selected Stamford High School students receive the opportunity to sit side-by-side with professional musicians.
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