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Every year the Charlottesville & University
Symphony Orchestra reaches thousands of students
from grades K-12 through its Preludes outreach
program. Preludes takes members of the orchestra
into classrooms in Charlottesville, Albemarle
and surrounding areas, offering a variety of musical
programs. Participating members include the professional
principal musicians, who are faculty in the McIntire
Department of Music, as well as many of the orchestra's
student and community musicians.
In Preludes, children become acquainted with the
names and characteristics of the orchestral instruments;
the sounds that instruments produce; which instruments
are similar and how they are different. Students
also learn how music is used as a language and
a means of expression. Older students are often
coached on their own instruments in master classes
or group tutorial settings. Programs are tailored
to the needs of individual schools so that the
experience is relevant to the school program and
the students' education.
Members of the orchestra began visiting schools through the Preludes program in the Fall of 2001. The programs introduce youth to the instruments
of the orchestra and bring innovation to traditional
classroom studies. A teacher at Cunningham Elementary
School called the program "very informative,
age appropriate, and creative. As a teacher, I
would give them an A-plus." A Cale Elementary
School student said of one visit, "I didn't
like the music you played, because I LOVED it."
For
further information about our outreach programs,
please contact Elizabeth Roberts, Outreach Coordinator,
at ear4x@virginia.edu
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