Tacoma Symphony & Carnegie Hall’s Weill Music Institute partner for expansion of popular program
Tacoma Symphony partners with Carnegie Hall’s Weill Music Institute for expansion of popular Simply Symphonic education program
Students and orchestras come together world-wide in Carnegie Hall’s Weill Music Institute Link Up program. Tacoma Symphony Orchestra is joining over 70 other orchestras across the globe as a new Link Up partner orchestra, in an expansion of its popular education program Simply Symphonic. “The strength of the Link Up program is that students are given the opportunity to be active participants in making music. Few other art forms provide the opportunity to participate collectively, which is a special magic of music”, says new Music Director Sarah Ioannides.
The Link Up program offers an opportunity to build upon the already successfulSimply Symphonic program, introducing students in fifth grade to the joys of orchestral music. Students first learn to sing or play an instrument in their classrooms, depending up on the teacher and school capabilities and preferences. Then, they bring these skills to the concert hall, performing with a professional orchestra from their seats. Link Up now reaches nearly 250,000 students nationwide and is expanding beyond the US, partnering with orchestras in Canada, Spain, and Japan.
As part of this new arrangement, participating schools will receive up-to-date curriculum guides for each teacher (featuring lessons on singing, playing the soprano recorder or violin, reading and notating music, and composing and improvising music) with an accompanying CD and DVD, as well as workbooks for each student. Tacoma Symphony recruits local teachers and students for participation and provide professional development workshops and direct support for participating local teachers, as it has for Simply Symphonic’s nearly two-decade tenure.
In Tacoma, nearly 4,300 students from over 70 schools and 11 districts will be participating in Simply Symphonic during the 2014-2015 academic year. Concerts last for under an hour and are scheduled for Tuesday and Wednesday, April 14 and 16. Held in Tacoma’s historic Pantages Theater, Tacoma Symphony Orchestra musicians present the culminating interactive concerts, at the direction of new Music Director new Sarah Ioannides. Many students have never had the opportunity to attend a live concert and are delighted at the beauty of the theater as well as the professional orchestra and instruments. Upon entering the performance hall, one student turned to his teacher and exclaimed, "We are in heaven!”
Simply Symphonic is open to all fifth-grade classrooms in the greater Pierce County area with scholarships available for schools with student populations in need. The TSO commits to providing access to this award-winning program by keeping the participation fee low fee at $3 per student. Since student fees cover only 15% of the program costs, the TSO seeks sponsors to provide additional support.
More information may be found at tacomasymphony.org or by calling 253.272.7264.