Local Students Create Their Own Compositions, Thanks to Barbara White

May 1st, 2007 at 04:37am Aspen Music Festival 355

Deborah Barnekow, director of educational outreach at the Aspen Music Festival and School, blogs this week about the AMFS's Composer Forum residency with composer Barbara White. White is beginning her second week working with budding Roaring Fork Valley student composers.

Day 0 -- As we start the 2nd week of the Composer Forum for 2007, I am reflecting on the first one five years ago. It began with a dream I had to help children of all ages express themselves through music in ways they had not done before. From experiments with my own students at the elementary level, I knew how much satisfaction they gained and how proud they were of their efforts. Composing is one of the State's music standards, but is quite difficult to teach. In many ways, even though I am a composer, teaching it made me examine the process closely.

When the state adopted the Six-Trait Writing Program, I knew the Music Festival should align the Forum with it. Both the writing and composing programs use the same language and process, resulting in critical thinking--something we want children to strive for. Our first Forum with composer Derek Bermel consisted of mainly elementary students since that was where I began. In the performance they were wonderfully not self-conscious about their pieces, hoping only that people would enjoy it!

Driving to the Eagle Airport to pick up Barbara White, our guest composer this year, I am pleased at how far this project has come. Now there are high school students composing pieces to be performed this Friday, May 4 at 6:30 PM at Harris Concert Hall. For all of them, it will be the second time their works have been played there! I am very excited to get the day started, and to hear the compositions at tonight's rehearsal.

Barbara White's Musical Odysseys Reaching Everyone residency — a model for programs nationwide — culminates this Friday evening at 6:30 pm in a free Young Composers Family Concert at Harris Concert Hall, showcasing the students’ own compositions and White's own works.

Entry Filed under: Classical Music, Education, Aspen, Aspen Music Festival