Performing Arts: Music

In the Elementary division, we have been learning about program music. Program music is instrumental music that tells a story without words. We listened to Smetana's "The Moldau," a piece for orchestra that follows the course of the river Moldau, depicting the scenery along the way. Together we heard a farmer's wedding party, a group of mermaids dancing under the moonlight, and some powerful river rapids!

The Middle Schoolers are hard at work preparing their songs for the Spring Sing, coming up on March 21st! It's been very exciting seeing students who performed for the first time at the Winter concert continue to take on new musical challenges and step into the spotlight in new ways.

High School has been working on their Garageband projects and preparing for the Spring Sing, as well. We've been exploring different styles of classical music, focusing this week on Minimalism. We learned how composer Steve Reich creates complex music based on simple ideas as we listened to and discussed his "Clapping Music" and "Piano Phase."

​– Tobias Banks, K-12 Performing Arts