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Music Education at the California Symphony
CALIFORNIA SYMPHONY BRINGS MUSIC TO THE SCHOOLS - ABC-7 NEWS
The California Symphony has made education outreach an integral part of its mission, with the belief that music plays a special role in people's lives and communities.
As a result of the decline in school-provided music education programs, the Symphony has made it its own responsibility to offer children more opportunities to explore and appreciate music. The Symphony offers several unique and age-appropriate music education programs for youth: Music-in-the-Schools, the Family Concert and Instrument Petting Zoo; the Children's Art Competition; and the Artist Outreach and Composer Outreach programs, in which guest artists or the Symphony's current Young American Composer-in-Residence, respectively, visit local schools.
The Music-in-the-Schools Program was created specifically to fill the void in elementary schools' arts education curricula. In this program, seven orchestra ensembles present special programs in nine elementary schools each year throughout Contra Costa County. The intensive program acquaints students with different orchestral instruments and provides a creative impact in their lives.
The California Symphony is the only organization in Contra Costa County that provides such an extensive music education program for elementary schools, but the orchestra's enrichment programs are not limited to children.
The Symphony also offers "Conversations with the Maestro", a pre-concert lecture series and the Symphony Salon Series. The Salon Series breaks the barrier between the musician and the audience by bringing small ensembles to private homes in a series of four concerts. Further outreach programs include the "Pops on the Plaza," an annual free concert at Todos Santos Park in Concord that attracts about 5,000 people. The Symphony is adding a second free concert in 2005 at Bishop Ranch in San Ramon.
By offering such an array of outreach programs, the California Symphony hopes to enhance the experience of live orchestral music in the Bay Area.
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