In Tune Fall 2012

special photo page:

page 3sound the retreat!

FALL 2012 voL. vI, no. II

www.ccmsIngs.org

ALSO IN THIS ISSUE: concErT & LYrIc cHoIrs coLLABorATE wITH

AmErIcAn KodáLY InsTITuTE • “WINTER JOY” CONCERT PREVIEW • & MORE!

2 in tune: the newsletter of the children’s chorus of maryland vol. vi, no. ii

I’ve been thinking about creativity a lot recently. I used to think that the word creativity was most

appropriately attached to artists such as Bach or Beethoven or Da Vinci or Monet: artists who created something from nothing out of the musings of their minds and hearts. Last year, I was handed a Newsweek article on creativity that caused me to rethink some things. The article summarized recent thought on the subject revealing that creativity is, at its essence, problem solving. Of course! Those beloved masters, creating out of their passion and intelligence, were working out problems. Bach was among the first of musicians to exploit thematic mate-rial in music: augment it, diminish it, set it at the 5th and delay its start, invert it, and make it work mathematically in a piece. Beethoven broke through the constraints of the clas-sical era to expand musical form in never-before known ways. Da Vinci worked out the problems of recreating human form on canvas which made art more lifelike and Monet sought to interpret landscapes in a more emotional way through impres-sions of blurred edges and blended hue. Each worked out his artistic problem and in the end created something of meaning: something that works; something that lasts and inspires; something that moves us.What about other creative geniuses? What about the ones who create vaccines, new technology, discover cures, and write peace treaties? What about those who work out problems with numbers, formulas, and words; who out of the musings of their minds and hearts combined with their passion and intelligence, create something of mean-ing? They too create something that works; something that lasts and inspires; something that moves us. Creativ-ity is their domain, too.We know there is a correlation between the right and left hemisphere of the brain where creative thought and detailed, disciplined planning reside. Countless studies have proven that students who study and practice music

create bridges between the hemispheres. When children are faced with notes and rhythms on a page — a musi-cal problem to solve — they are solving it on multivalent planes. What do the notes sound like? If something is repeated, how can we vary it, should we vary it? Is there anything that is familiar to us about this piece? How can we connect it with what we already know? Do we like how the melody and rhythms come together? Do we sing it fast or slow? How loud is too loud? How soft is too soft? Which parts of our bodies should we use to make the sound come out better? The list of problems goes on and the children are working hard to solve all of them.

Eventually, and sometimes with the help of a teacher, they solve each problem they

encounter. Skill is built and the prob-lems get more intense; the solutions

harder to find. But the children WILL find them both at the end

of the journey AND all the way through it. And you know what? They are creating!

I cannot promise you that your children will become world famous concert artists.

Nor can I promise that your children will cure cancer or win

the Nobel Prize. But I can prom-ise you they are establishing impor-

tant neural connections when they rehearse and perform and those neural

connections will help them solve problems in multiple arenas over and over again in their lives. The magic of music study for a child is that while the study edifies his or her whole person, it also brings him or her joy. Joy rises every time a musical problem is solved. The constantly recurring cycle of encountering and solving problems creates a never ending fount of joy-doses that over time, builds confidence and grows a passion for creating.

Parents, you are giving your children a tremendous gift in supporting their musical growth. There are rough wa-ters ahead but there are also great rewards and much joy. In every class and rehearsal, they create something that works; something that lasts and inspires; and something that moves us. Thank you for the privilege of teaching your children!

—Dr. Alyson Shirk

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vol. vi, no. ii in tune: the newsletter of the children’s chorus of maryland 3

sound the retreat!Singing, swimming and s’mores provided the foundation for CCM’s fifth annual Concert Choir Retreat. Thanks to the generosity of the Nikirk family, who once again offered their “Northern Oasis” for the event, CCM’s Concert Choir members had the opportunity to camp, relax, rehearse, and develop a cohesive sound before the CCM year had even begun. Committee chairs Emily Hines and Allison Nikirk, together with Artistic Director Alyson Shirk and a host of volunteers, came together to provide food, equipment, fun and even fireworks! (Many thanks to John Nikirk for this excellent addition to the festivities.) And while an electrical storm required a brief evacuation, the CCM students rose to the challenge and occupied themselves by—what else—singing through the storm!


SO HARRY POTTER, A MINECRAFTER,

AND A BOBBY SOXER WALK INTO A

CCM REHEARSAL…

CCM NEWSLETTER CREDITSDESIgNER Kathrine KuoCoNTRIbuToRS meryem ahmadian, ramona galey, garrett oie, alyson ShirkPhoTogRaPhERS renée Bishop, Wolfgang Justen, maureen martin, allison nikirk, lisa Parsons, amelia SchulerEDIToR andrea Burgoyne

You FouND IT! Send an email to [email protected], with “I Found It” in the subject line, to be entered into a drawing for a restaurant gift certificate. Please put your name and phone number in the body of the email.

Come Join the Fun!do you know a child who loves to sing?

Send them our way! Interviews for the next season are being scheduled noW.

Encourage young musicians to sign up for an interview. call the ccm office at

(410) 494-1480 or visit the website: www.ccmsings.org.

thanks for helping spread the word about children’s chorus of maryland!

a local collaboration

Over the summer many students from Concert and Lyric choir

participated in collaboration with the American Kodály Institute (AKI) at Loyola College. AKI had its roots in CCM’s pedagogic process and began as an organization for Kodály-based teacher training. Under the directorship of Amy Branum Huggins, AKI became a master degree-conferring program residing at Loyola College. Every summer, dozens of teachers flock to Maryland in order to work on their degrees and learn the value of Kodály-based music education. Amy Branum Huggins contacted CCM to see if, as the pre-miere Kodály-based choir in the Baltimore area, we might want to collaborate and provide a children’s choir upon which the teachers in training could practice their newly gained skills. We said, “Yes!” Every day for a week, students poured in the doors for summer camp, free of charge for CCM families, and sang, played games, and built their skills under Judy Dubose’s (Fredrick Children’s Chorus Artistic Director) expert and watchful eye. They also had extra sessions with Judy where they learned techniques and played musical games and had an all-around grand time! CCM looks forward to future partnerships with AKI.

—Dr. Alyson Shirk


meet [Jackie Henderson]Early this year, CCM sought to add a part-time position to the staff.

We were seeking someone who would focus on outreach, marketing and social networking, and help expand awareness of CCM’s programs in the community. Our search led us to Jackie Henderson—and we are still pinching ourselves, at having found someone with the skills we needed, and so much more. Jackie comes to CCM with vast experience in the non-profit world. She has served as Director of the “Suited to Succeed” program, and Executive Director of “Encouraging Youth to Dream” and the “Starz 2 Be Youth Foundation”. For one agency, she wrote grants that increased the annual budget by 282% in four years. For another, her initiatives led to an 8-fold increase in the population served. Her skills extend to budget management, personnel management, publicity and even writing curriculum for training programs. As a volunteer she has served as the State Representative for Women Work, as President of the Harford Council of Community Services, and in numerous other volunteer positions, focusing on such things as collecting food and school supplies, and coordinating her church’s program of “adopting” families in need. Jackie is the mother of two adult children, though she hastens to add, “No grandchildren—sigh.” When asked what drew her to CCM, Jackie says, “I enjoy working to benefit children and helping to offer them opportunities they might not otherwise have. When offered the opportunity, individuals so often shine and reach much further than they ever thought they could. I feel very gratified when I can help anyone reach their goals and beyond.”As Ramona Galey focuses her attentions on her role as CCM’s General Director, Jackie will be picking up the Executive Director’s responsibilities, overseeing administrative functions while continuing her marketing and outreach efforts. About her hopes for CCM’s future, Jackie says, “As an agency, I think CCM does a wonderful job working with talented students. The thing I value most about CCM’s mission and function is the confidence, support and increased skill levels that are imparted to our students. Research shows that learning to sing and read music improves academic performance as well as socialization behaviors. I would like to see CCM branch out into other venues to offer these opportunities to even more students who might not currently be able to access our benefits. I would hope to see CCM get to the point financially that we can purchase and support our own facility. And I hope that we will never lose sight of our original goals and our original program, as they are such an asset to the students, families and communities we serve, and the core of what we do.”

—Andrea Burgoyne

NovEMbERCCM Demonstration Day Sat., november 10 at loyola Universityregular rehearsal times

Alternate Rehearsal Day due to Thanksgiving Holiday mon., november 19 at St. timothy’sregular rehearsal times

NO CCM for Thanksgiving Holiday Wed., november 21 & Sat., november 24

Grand Rehearsal # 1 Wed., november 28 at gordon centertime tBa (approx. rehearsal times)

DECEMbER Grand Rehearsal # 2 Sat., december 1 at St. timothy’scall times tBa

2012 Holiday ConcertSun., december 2 at gordon center concert begins at 3:00 pm

JaNuaRY CCM Classes Resume Wed., January 9

MaRCh Early Bird Discount Deadline for 2013-2014 Fri., march 15

No CCM for Spring BreakWed., march 13 & Sat., march 16

No CCM for Easter Holiday Sat., march 30

MaY Grand Rehearsal # 1Wed., may 1 at gordon centertBa (approx. rehearsal times)

Grand Rehearsal # 2 Sat., may 4 at St. timothy’sCall Times: tBa

Spring Concert Sun., may 5 at gordon centerconcert begins at 3:00 pm

Coming attractions


october 4 La’Mya Flowers 8 Sophia Brookland10 Phyllis Jean Lehman16 Madison Côté 18 Noelle Plimpton 22 Alyssa Platt24 Meredith Pepin 26 Nina Feliciano november 1 Morgan Sessa12 Sophia Justen 19 Jesse Plank 25 Giulio Katinis30 Leon Kowalczykdecember8 Jordan Flowers20 Millicent WaldronJanuary5 Kate Halushka11 Ellen Nikirk12 Richard Adeniyi17 Eli Lehman19 Brian Lee22 Christopher Plimpton29 Caroline Cookfebruary7 Rebecca Margolis Giulia Parsons 14 Heather Elky 16 Lee Clum 18 Emma Balkoski21 Katherine Shock24 Mykenzie Cooper26 Julija DeVance27 Nora Hanley march 7 Abraham Plimpton 13 Audra Lane 16 Vyann Eteme21 Riley McNeill29 Jeremy Plimpton

birthdays

ccmers [in the spotlight]

…DID WE MENTION THE CANDY BUTTONS, THE PENGUIN, AND THE GLADIATOR?

Congratulations to JuLIaN baRoN, LYDIa EaSTMaN ,gRaCE hEFFERNaN and auDRa LaNE, for their performances in the Gilman/Bryn Mawr middle school play, The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe, at the Bryn Mawr School on November 9 and 10.

JuLIaN baRoN will be performing with Gilman’s Middle T’s and Middlemen at the Roland Park Country School Holiday Fair on December 1 at noon, and looks forward to performing with them on tour in Italy, during spring break 2013.

SaMuEL bIShoP will be appearing in The Sound of Music at Toby’s Dinner Theatre of Baltimore (5625 O’Donnell Street, Baltimore), beginning on Sunday, November 25, at 10:30 am. Doors open for the dinner and shows on Thursdays through Saturdays at 6pm, Sunday matinees at 10:30 am, and Sunday evenings at 5 pm through January 27, 2013. Since there are two children’s casts, e-mail Renee at [email protected] for specific show dates to see Sam perform. Call Toby’s at 410-649-1660 for tickets.

vIvIE ETEME will soon be appearing on the big screen! Vivie has been chosen to appear in the Hollywood film “Nina”, a biopic on the life of the late great “Nina Simone”, a child piano prodigy who grew up to become a famed, multi-genre artist, performing an eclectic mix of classical, gospel, folk and jazz vocal and piano music. Vivie will speak and perform one or two classical pieces in her

role as the young Nina Simone. Watch for her film to be released in 2013.

KIRSTEN aND abbY hINES will be performing in their high school’s fall musical “Legally Blonde.” Abby will be dancing and singing in the ensemble. Kirsten will be doing the same plus playing the part of Paulette, the hairdresser, on alternate nights. Blake High School, 300 Norwood Road, Silver Spring, MD. November 9, 10, 15, 16 & 17 at 7:30 pm.

oLIvIa MERRYMaN had the rare opportunity to hang out with a fanged rabbit this Halloween season in Red Branch Theatre’s production of Bunnicula. Olivia played the role of Toby in the musical adaptation of the beloved children’s novel.

Kudos to aLYSSa PLaTT, who won two art contests this Fall at Ilchester Elementary School. Her 5th grade peers voted for her design creation to be printed on their Class of 2013 t-shirts, and in a separate contest, her artwork was chosen by IES’s administration to grace the cover of this year’s school yearbook!

SaMuEL SChuLER and other piano students in the Annapolis area will come together for “Fall at the Mall” sponsored by Anne Arundel Music Teachers’ Association. Sam and his fellow musicians will perform piano recitals on the hour beginning at 10 am, at the Westfield Mall on Saturday, November 17.

CCM SEEKS BUILDING COMMITTEE MEMBERSccm is forming a committee to consider the purchase of St. timothy’s lutheran church. If you have an interest in this project, or expertise of any kind that might be applicable, we welcome your participation on this important committee. Please email andrea Burgoyne at [email protected], or ramona galey at [email protected] , for more information, or to volunteer. Please put “Building committee” in the subject line. thanks!


Have you heard the news? CCM is going to Hungary in July! We are excited to visit CCM’s

pedagogic home and the birthplace of Zoltán Kodály, the man who created the system of music education that CCM practices. Here is a little biographical information about Zoltán Kodály, reprinted by kind permission from Boosey & Hawkes.Along with Béla Bartók, Zoltán Kodály is one of the two major figures in Hungarian music in the twentieth century. Composer, pioneering ethnomusicologist, groundbreaking educationalist and critic, Kodály enjoyed a status in his native land that is perhaps unrivalled by any other figure anywhere else in the world. Kodály was born in Kecskemét, in Hungary, on 16 December 1882. Though from a musical family, his initial inclination was towards literary studies. As his father was a railway official, the Kodály family had a rather peripatetic existence: from 1884 until 1891 they lived in Galánta (later to be immortalised in the orchestral dances Kodály based on folk music from the area), then moving to Nagyszombat, where Zoltán studied violin and piano and sang in the cathedral choir —an early introduction to the importance of choral singing. He explored the scores in the cathedral music library, and taught himself the cello to make up the numbers for his father’s domestic quartet-evenings. And he was already composing: in 1897 the school orchestra played an overture of his, to be followed by a Mass for chorus and orchestra a year later. His higher education began at the University of Sciences in Budapest in 1900, but the call of music proved too strong and in 1902 he enrolled at the Academy of Music, taking a Ph.D. in 1906 with a thesis entitled “Strophic Construction in Hungarian Folk Song”. He was now composing prolifically—and he had already begun his fieldtrips, collecting folksongs in the Hungarian countryside with his close friend Béla Bartók; though they published their first joint collection early on, it was not until 1951 that their comprehensive critical edition of Hungarian folksongs appeared.

As with Bartók, Kodály’s own music was coloured by the joint influence of Hungarian folksong and of Debussy and French impressionism (he spent some months in Paris, where he attended Widor’s lectures). On his return to Budapest in 1907 he was appointed teacher of theory at the Academy of Music, and a year later he began to teach composition. He was to teach there for the rest of his life: upon his retirement as a professor, he was brought back as the Director of the Academy in 1945. His compositions began to make headway outside Hungary around 1910, stimulated by concerts in which Bartók and Kodály presented their own music. The real breakthrough came in 1923, with a commission to celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of the union of the two cities of Buda and Pest. The result was the Psalmus Hungaricus, a powerful setting of a sixteenth-century

Hungarian version of Psalm LV which established Kodály as both a national cultural leader and a figure of international standing. The first of the two operas which followed, Háry Janos (1926) and The Spinning Room (1932), yielded a suite that soon became internationally popular, as did the orchestral Dances from Marossek (1930) and Dances from Galánta (1933), all presenting an authentic

Hungarian national idiom in a manner that allowed it international prominence. His other orchestral works include a Concerto for Orchestra (1939–40) a Symphony (1957–61) and, one of his best-known scores, the Variations on a Hungarian Folk Song (1938–39), often referred to as the ‘Peacock Variations’. Among his choral-orchestral output the Missa Brevis (1942–44) enjoys considerable esteem, as does the Budavár Te Deum (1936). Kodály’s authority as a musical pedagogue is almost as high as his reputation as a composer. The ‘Kodály method’ he developed exploits the natural musicality of children to open the pleasures of performance to them, and has become a commonplace of music teaching all around the world. He composed an enormous quantity of choral exercises explicitly intended to encourage amateur singers to extend their techniques, so that his music is likely to remain an active part of the world’s musical life as long as people still want to sing.

Hungary Bound! Part 2

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Children’s Chorus of Maryland is funded by an operating grant from the Maryland State Arts Council, an agency dedicated to cultivating a vibrant cultural community where the arts thrive. Funding for the Maryland State Arts Council is also provided by the National Endowment for the Arts, a federal agency.

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C o N C E R T P R E v I E WChildren’s Chorus of Maryland is pleased to present “Winter Joy.” With repertoire ranging from Johannes Ockeghem to Irving Berlin, this performance hails the delights of the winter season through its varied repertoire. Children’s Chorus of Maryland invites special guests Eyal Bor, clarinet, Jacqueline Betz, violin, and Kenneth Whitley, cello, as collaborative artists this season. From a rousing Wassail to subtly nuanced jazz chords to soothing Handelian strains, there is something for everyone to musically enjoy in this concert! Sunday, December 2, 2012, 3:00 PM at Gordon Center for Performing Arts, 3506 Gwynnbrook Avenue, Owings Mills. Visit www.ccmsings.org to purchase tickets. For more information, call 410-494-1480.

In Tune Fall 2012

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Transcript of In Tune Fall 2012