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del sol education
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Del Sol conducts outreach activities that include school programs; string coaching and quartet masterclasses for young musicians, amateurs and professionals; and lecture-demonstrations. Coaching ActivitiesThis year, 2007, Del Sol appears in residency at Northeastern University in Boston and the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque. In the summer of 2006, the quartet was in residence at the Walden School in New Hampshire and the Tahoe Music Festival Academy in California. Del Sol participated as mentor faculty to coach and perform at Hot Springs Music Festival in Hot Springs, Arkansas, in 2004 and 2005. Lecture-DemonstrationsDel Sol regularly invites its audiences to pre-concert lectures, explaining and illuminating the music they perform, often joined by the composers featured in the concerts. In 2003, the quartet held a mini-residency at the University of San Francisco, presenting classes in conjunction with the Latino Studies and Women's Studies programs. Programs for Schools (Grades 3-8)The Del Sol String Quartet has had a long affiliation with Music at Kohl Mansion, offering shows to schools in Millbrae and Burlingame annually. In addition to presenting the assemblies, members of the Quartet visit classrooms for an in-depth introduction to the genre and the instruments. In January 2003, the quartet performed in Kohl Mansion's prestigious Family Concert series. PROGRAMS FOR YOUNG AUDIENCESThe programs below were developed with Music at Kohl Mansion. The paragraphs describe the music performances geared towards students in grades 3-5. The links are lesson enrichment materials to the Music in Schools performances. These six- to eight-page workbooks supplement and explain concepts the children learned directly from the musicians.Peace Through MusicThis 45-minute presentation challenges students to listen critically to musical examples while learning about ways to lead more peaceful lives. Students are introduced to new ways of compromising with peers, shown how conflict, peace, and celebration are portrayed in music, given examples of composers who successfully blend the music of different cultures, and they are exposed to powerful music that was written as a means of political protest.Artful CommunicationCommunication is a give and take using commonly understood rules and tools. One of these is patterns. Through listening to live music performed by the Del Sol String Quartet in 45-minute performances, students focus on why and how we write music, and on elements of musical language and patterning. Music from youthful composers represents four different centuries, four nationalities and four styles of music: Mozart, Arriaga, Antheil and Cmiel. Students are introduced to how easy it is to start creating and expressing oneself through music. All Aboard the Del Sol Express!!!Featuring a travel guide, musical maps and a colorful scrap book of sights and sounds from Latin America, this fast-paced program takes the young listener from the quartet's Bay Area home down to Mexico, Peru and Argentina, returning home via Cuba and the Caribbean. The audience will join the quartet in its travels, armed with a "phrase-book and a map" of the lands to be traversed. Math, History, Geography, Literature and Art will come to life in Del Sol's playing and analysis of the repertoire, all in an interactive show that captures the imagination of each child. Playing with E-motionEmphasizing the deeply human nature of music making, Del Sol presents a show that explains the communication process, from improvisation, composition, rehearsal right through to the performance of a piece of music. The audience is invited to conduct, dance and compose, sharing the joy of experiencing music viscerally, and learning about the immense range of emotions that music can evoke. Cooking up a Musical FeastEveryone loves to eat, and cooking a great meal that can be shared with friends is one of the joys of life. The Del Sol Quartet guides the listener through the entire process of coming up with a menu (the program), understanding the ingredients (the instruments and the sounds they can produce) cooking the feast (rehearsing) and finally the banquet (the concert). The guests share the huge variety of flavors: spicy tangos, improvised "salads," traditional favorites and, of course, a delightful light dessert.
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