Guitarist Brad Richter Visits Valley Schools

April 8th, 2008 at 02:35pm Aspen Music Festival 355

Aspen Music Festival and School Director of Educational Outreach Deborah Barnekow is on the road again this week with guitarist Brad Richter. The week-long school residency ends this Friday with a free community performance at Harris Concert Hall. The following is Debby's daily blog:

With much preparation and anticipation, Brad Richter, guitar arrived in the valley for a second week of residency in the valley schools in this season's AMFS M.O.R.E. Program. His focus this year has been two-fold-teaching in the high schools with guitar programs and working with elementary schools on a poetry writing project. Roaring Fork (Carbondale) and Basalt High Schools both have guitar classes as part of their daily curriculum with students who are serious in their studies.

In the morning Brad worked with the RFHS students. Lucas Pulver has been studying classically  for a few years-he is going on to college to major in guitar. He will be playing on Friday's Music and M.OR.E. concert. The class there has a variety of levels in ability but we hope to have a quartet also perform. Brad's next school was the Carbondale Community School where the students (K-8th grade) remembered him and his music well. Many asked for their favorite pieces and wished to hear again the stories that inspired the pieces. One fellow, a first grader, said how much he liked Brad's music because it made a variety of "pictures wash through my mind!"

In the afternoon, Brad worked with Natalie DeFelice's 4th grade class at Aspen Elementary School, one of our M.O.R.E. PLUS schools. Here we began with a piece, familiar to them and put various words into 6 categories: color, action, object, feelings, place, and miscellaneous. Each child picked a word and a theme that could include the words was discussed. Each child then used their word in a sentence. Once we listened, edited and then arranged the sentences in an order that would make sense, Brad played the piece again with the children saying their sentences to it. There was further editing in the form-separation of some sentences, pauses for the music, etc. and then another reading. The children were fascinated with the process as was Natalie in the level of their creativity. This class is eager for people to hear their piece!

Entry Filed under: Music, Classical Music, Education, Basalt, Carbondale, Aspen, Colorado, The West, Aspen Music Festival, United Post