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LOS ANGELES CHAPTER: NEWS
MAKING MUSIC RESIDENCY AT EAGLE ROCK COMES TO CONCLUSION
(JUNE 2003) On April 5, the chapter’s Making Music residency with the Eagle Rock Community Cultural Center culminated with a performance of "Eagle Rock Rhythms." Under the leadership of composer-in-residence David O, the 12 participants, ages 10 through 13, performed group compositions on fantastic percussion instruments of their own making. The works, which included group improvisations with spoken word and short musical-theater pieces, reflected the participants’ cultural heritages, histories, and mythologies. A number of these themes evolved from "Grandparents Day," when parents and grandparents joined the children to share their cultural experiences and histories.
Making
Music involves children in communities that are underserved by the arts,
teaching them how to build their own instruments, play in ensembles,
write graphic scores, and collaborate in group improvisations. It also
introduces them to the fundamentals of music literacy and music technology.
This season’s final Making Music performance took place on May
2 at the Chinatown Youth Center. This program, led by composers-in-residence
Robert Fernandez and Penny Pan, featured a huge percussion ensemble
of children from Los Angeles’ Chinatown, who performed their own
color-coded graphic scores, before a large, enthusiastic audience of
friends and relatives.
MCAULEY COMPLETES COMPOSER RESIDENCY AT POSEIDON SCHOOL
(JUNE
2003) On April 4, composer James McAuley wrapped up his chapter-sponsored
residency at Poseidon School, a Los Angeles school for at-risk youth,
by leading a group of student guitarists through a rousing concert program.
The six students, ages 14 to 18, made their way through a selection
of blues and jazz songs, to whistles and stomps from the student audience.
The concert’s highpoint was a heart-wrenching performance of "Somewhere
Over the Rainbow," sung by a Poseidon student with McAuley on guitar.