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NEW STRING PROGRAM AT SOUTHWESTERN ELEMENTARY
The hills are alive with
music, or rather the halls of Southwestern Elementary as
fourth and fifth grade students begin a pilot program of
string instruction provided by The Ohio Valley Symphony.
Instructor Ian Jessee, a long time OVS member and a ten
year teaching veteran of the Kanawha County Schools
string program, will be on hand once a week for classes
at Southwestern. “I’m excited about being able to start
up a new program,” said Jessee, “their enthusiasm was
very inspiring to me.”
The classes are available
to any interested Southwestern student at no charge. In
addition to music, students learn self-discipline, group
cooperation, problem solving, goal setting,
self-expression, memory skills, concentration, poise,
enhanced physical coordination, high self-esteem, and
the importance of teamwork -- skills in great demand in
almost every aspect of life. Like all the arts, music
has a profound effect on the academic success of
students as well. Music instruction affects math and
reading scores with string students having higher scores
on standardized tests and they also have significantly
higher GPAs.
The string instruction program is being funded through
The Ohio Valley Symphony’s Endowment that was set up
some years ago by Ann Carson Dater. “Mrs. Dater feels
that the world would be a better place if more people
listened to classical symphonic music,” remarks Lora
Lynn Snow, OVS manager and a former teacher at
Southwestern. “Mrs. Dater took violin lessons herself as
a child and she is very excited about the new classes we
are offering.”
In addition to the classes, each string student will be
given free admission to any Ohio Valley Symphony concert
when accompanied by a parent or guardian. “My teaching
experience at Southwestern was very instrumental in my
founding the orchestra,” said Snow. “I saw how hungry
the students were for quality music and I felt there was
a real need for a professional orchestra in our area so
students would have a high level to aspire to.”
The next Ohio Valley Symphony concert is November 8 at 8
pm and will feature Halloween inspired music, a perfect
opportunity to expose budding musicians to live
symphonic music. For more information, check out our
website at www.ohiovalleysymphony.org.
Members of The Ohio Valley
Symphony made a tour of all ten Gallia
County Elementary schools with an "Introduction to
Strings" program
courtesy of the Music Performance Trust Fund and the Ann
Carson Dater
Endowment. Celebrating March as "Music in our Schools"
month, the group
presented a 45 minute program covering the different
styles of string
techniques by performing a variety of music styles.
Each musician had a chance to demonstrate their
instrument alone as
well as within the ensemble. Tone colors and production,
basic physics
of music (including harmonics and wave lengths),
contrasting live
acoustic music vs. electronic music (and explaining the
basic premise
of MPTF), fiddle tunes (American and Romanian Gypsy
music) were all
topics that were covered. A hands on segment of the
program included
selecting children from the audience to take a turn
playing small sized
violins, cello and bass to get a taste of making music
with an actual
instrument in their hands.
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This young man is getting some tips
on playing the violin from Ariel Artistic Director, Lora Lynn Snow during
The Ohio Valley Symphony's Spring String Tour to celebrate March as
"Music in our Schools" Month. |
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One young man shows his delight in
learning to play a violin during The Ohio Valley Symphony's Spring
String tour in the Gallia County Schools this past week. |
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Children from the audience get a
chance to try out an actual instrument in front of their peers during the Ohio Valley Symphony
Spring String Tour of the Gallia County Schools. This concert was
to help celebrate March as "Music in Our Schools" Month by performing live
professional music for over 3,000 elementary children in the county. |
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This concert was
made possible by the Music Performance Trust
Fund and the Ann Carson Dater Endowment.
Musicians shown left to right are Cristinel
Bacanu and Laura Geier, Local #179, Lora Lynn
Snow, Ariel Founder and Artistic Director,
Locals # 362-691 and 136, Desiree Miller, Local
# 179, Patrik De Los Santos, Local # 60-471 and
Maria Kindt, Local # 179. |
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For additional information about string classes and
lessons, contact Lora Lynn Snow.
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