Wednesday, June 22, 2011 Archive
-- There was a Canadian Idol winner, a Mohawk College jazz band, Mayor Bob Bratina willing to part with a violin he gave up trying to play and a gym full of students, staff, parents and guests thrilled that instrumental music is centre stage at King George Elementary School.
On June 17, King George hosted the year-end celebration of the pilot music program An Instrument for Every Child (AIFEC). AIFEC exposes students starting in Grade 1 to violins, violas, cellos, trumpets, trombones, horns, flutes, clarinets, guitars, mandolins, accordions, recorders, percussion and two ethnic instruments such as the balalaika.
“We really are feeding the brain today,” Board Chair Judith Bishop told the crowd assembled, before Canadian Idol winner Brian Melo took the stage. “And music is fun, isn’t it?” she asked the students. “It is something that you are going to have life-long.”
Image: Grade 1 student Christian Breen celebrates his diploma for An Instrument for Every Child, beside classmates Katrina Clarke, with Mayor Bob Bratina looking on.
An Instrument for Every Child is being led by the Hamilton Music Collective in partnership with the Hamilton Philharmonic Orchestra, with HWDSB a partner. Inspired by similar work in Germany and El Sistema in Venezuela, it began as a pilot project in Hamilton in fall 2010 at King George.
“An Instrument for Every Child is not just another music project. It is a social project at heart, and we are very excited that AIFEC is becoming a reality in Hamilton,” said Astrid Hepner, Chair of the Hamilton Music Collective.
Started with a $125,000 seed grant from local philanthropist Paul Lloyd, the program is in its first year at the Gage Street North school. In fall 2011, however, it will expand to Dr. Davey elementary, thanks in part to an ArcelorMittal Dofasco donation of $15,000 that a company official announced at the event.
Although the Ontario Curriculum reserves space for music at all levels, music with orchestra instruments typically begins in grades 6 or 7. Before that, students usually experience voice, recorders and rhythm instruments.
To augment this, AIFEC will ensure that students in grades 1 to 4 will learn to play a musical instrument and will receive general music education within the Ontario school curriculum. The long-term vision for the program is to have it grow, so that every child in Hamilton is part of An Instrument for Every Child.
Year one is about familiarizing students with instruments. In the second year students, choose the instrument that they want to play. The instructor will work with small groups of four to six children. Lessons take place once a week in the school. Lessons continue in the third and fourth year with an introduction of basic ensemble play.
In Germany, An Instrument for Every Child began when founder Manfred Grunenberg introduced it in 2003 to 300 children in 10 elementary schools. It is based on the belief that cultural education is a basic ingredient in a healthy society, and that culture has the power to transform a city. AIFEC now reaches 50,000 children in 900 elementary schools.
At the King George celebration, Hepner said she’s been “impressed with the enthusiasm and support we encountered in this first year.” Like Bishop, she praised the benefits of music instruction for students. “Music feeds our children’s souls and their minds.”
View more photos here.
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