Second Grade Music Students Shine In Winter Performance
Second grade music and strings students took an audience of parents and their peers on a musical journey to meet 12 famous composers through music and song.
The program, directed by faculty music teacher and choral director Carolyn Montini, entertained the audience assembled February 8 in the Barker Performing Arts Center with a host of musical selections. The chorus sang numbers about composers from the 1600’s through the 1900’s, ranging from Frideric Handel, to Frederic Chopin and Claude Debussy.
" Congratulations to all of our second grade violin students who worked so hard to perform in this beautiful concert together with our second grade choir students,” Strings Program Coordinator Belen Clifford said.
“ I am thrilled with how promptly they learned this new repertoire after our Holiday Concert in December. I would also like to congratulate our parents, who showed great support and were a beautiful audience during our program. Many thanks to all our Second Grade teachers and everybody involved in this program for providing a warm and supportive environment for all our Second Grade students."
The second grade string ensemble is the largest strings group in the lower school, with a total of 27 students. Most String Ensembles, according to Clifford, have an average of 15 students.
The second grade musical has been an annual tradition for many years, with a new theme and music arrangement each year.
The second grade musical has been an annual tradition for many years, with a new theme and music arrangement each year.
"This year for the first time we combined the string and the choral students in highlighting the music of the masters," program coordinator Carolyn Montini said.
"The string students beautifully played their violins and the choral students sang arrangements of well-known works with words that taught everyone about the lives of Handel, Haydn, Mozart, and Tchaikovsky to name just a few. The memorization task was huge and the children rose to the challenge. The children were the teachers, educating everyone in the audience during the three performances. The music of these composers has stood the test of time and is one of the finer things that life offers us. The children often expressed whose music they liked best. I don't believe they will ever forget the stories they told or the rich melodies the sang. At the end of the day it was hard to believe that they had conquered so much and they were only seven years old. Bravo Second Grade! I am so proud of my choral students. Where words fail, music speaks."
"The string students beautifully played their violins and the choral students sang arrangements of well-known works with words that taught everyone about the lives of Handel, Haydn, Mozart, and Tchaikovsky to name just a few. The memorization task was huge and the children rose to the challenge. The children were the teachers, educating everyone in the audience during the three performances. The music of these composers has stood the test of time and is one of the finer things that life offers us. The children often expressed whose music they liked best. I don't believe they will ever forget the stories they told or the rich melodies the sang. At the end of the day it was hard to believe that they had conquered so much and they were only seven years old. Bravo Second Grade! I am so proud of my choral students. Where words fail, music speaks."
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