Each year the WSO brings music to over 22,000 students in Windsor and Essex County with its award-winning Education Concerts and Music Alive ensemble performances. The Education concerts take place in April and in May, and are an unforgettable experience for many students.
The material we cover in the course of these concerts can connect many of the other subjects students tackle. From the instruments of the orchestra to their construction materials, from hearing the notes to studying sound-waves, from listening to a melody to discovering its shape, our resources can help every teacher bring more imagination into the classroom. Music is a lot more than melody and rhythm.
K-3 Percussion Power!
The orchestra would not be as powerful as it is without the thunder of the percussion family. Students in Kindergarten through Grade 3 are invited to a musical romp that explores the difference between “membranaphones” (better known as drums) and “idiophones” (all other instruments that produce sound when struck: the cymbal, xylophone, bells, triangle, etc). We will also learn about percussion instruments from various parts of the world and how they can be used in orchestras, including instruments created by the indigenous peoples of North America, Latin America, and Africa.
Students are invited to participate in an interactive sing-along. A First Nations drumming session during the second half of the show will help promote an increased awareness, understanding and appreciation of the rich histories, cultures and perspectives of First Nation, Métis and Inuit peoples among all students and educators.
Major, Minor – Name That Tonality
This season, students in grades 4-6 are invited to Name That Tonality –an exploration of major and minor keys. How does minor music makes us feel melancholy, when major music has the power to cheer us up? Composers use the shift between major and minor tonality to give music its emotional impact, and through these concerts, students learn to identify and appreciate this elemental building block of musical expression.
Students are invited to learn the recorder part of “Frère Jacques” and make their debut playing along with the WSO! Then we’ll all play the musical game-show “Name That Tonality” with Johannes Brahms as our host and students from the audience as contestants. Not only will students enjoy some healthy competition, they’ll learn to listen with new ears to the secrets locked inside the score. Everyone wins when we listen to great music!
Blast-Off!—Music of the Spheres
“With music, I feel complete. It reminds me that humans possess genius and can use it to create beauty. Music classes in our schools can unlock the doors to creativity and self expression for Canada’s young people and help them expand their horizons.” - Dr. Marc Garneau, former head of the Canadian Space Agency and the first Canadian astronaut in space, 2006
We’re not leaving anyone out of the fun this year. Students in intermediate grades are invited to Blast Off! for an exploration of the universe and the careers of those who travel to its very outskirts. Embark on a musical voyage through the solar system and beyond with Maestro John Morris Russell, the Windsor Symphony Orchestra, and the Canadian Space Agency.
Striking multi-media images accompany live orchestral music as photos, videos, and computer-generated snapshots of our magnificent world appear on a big screen behind the musicians. Students will be introduced to the works that have been inspired by our incredible planet – some so much so that they have been sent on journeys into outer-space as “message in a bottle” recordings. Come along for the ride as we embark on an extraterrestrial voyage through sound and the solar system.