OUR ATELIERS K-8 MUSIC

In Grade 3, students explored music and musical concepts through the ukulele, giving them an introduction to the plucked string curriculum. They explored the roles of melody and harmony, by playing both roles at some time. Our third graders also led our school song, La Marcia, during assemblea.

Grade 4 Music gave students the opportunity to select their instrument by listening to them and trying them out. The fourth graders were able to choose from a selection of mandolin, mandola, guitar, and bass. This grade explored a wide range of music, with a slight emphasis on Italian classics.

Students in Grade 5 continued their exploration of music through plucked string instruments. While Italian music was studied, along with more complicated musical concepts, the students also explored the music of television themes, including The Ballad of Gilligan’s Isle and The Addams Family. They accompanied the Grade 1 students in a performance of Non Temere Halloween for our school community.

In IB-Middle Years Program Music, the students developed musical knowledge and skill by delving into the music of different times, communities, and cultures. Some of their favorite units centered around Contemporary Pop/Rock Music, Irish Music, Scottish

Music, Bluegrass, Tarantellas and Ragtime, and The Blues. These middle schoolers performed in two large concerts, as well as in smaller events throughout the year.

Specifically, Grade 6 Music made connections with the popular music of the 1960s and the 2020s, choosing to play music by late 1960s rock band Cream, and by contemporary band Imagine Dragons.

For the Spring Concert, Grade 7 elected to learn a Tarantella by mandolinist and luthier Raffaele Calace and the famous ragtime piece The Entertainer, exploring the structural similarities. They also explored the roots of Bluegrass music, following some back to the British Isles.

In Grade 8, students produced the entire Winter Performance, from stage plots to working the sound to managing the younger performers. This collaboration between music and design demonstrated the interconnectedness and collaborative nature of our curriculum. Students had the real world experience of putting on a large event.

Grade 8 music, in collaboration with Grade 8 Italian, put on two carnevale performances, bringing the music of the Renaissance and the characters of the Commedia dell’arte to our community.

Our Ambassador Ensemble had a busy year as well, with a record number of 19 members from different grades!

Ambassador Ensemble and some alumni performed at the Museo Italo Americano for their Festa dei Dolci, a December fundraiser centered around Italian treats. We also performed for La Scuola’s fundraiser, La Dolce Vita, bringing the sounds of the 1920s.

The La Scuola garden program provides students with a unique opportunity to be in the environment when learning about the environment. They practice empathy and touch, feel, and experience science and math firsthand. They feel a duty to steward the planet and to help others do so as well.

The natural environment quite often surprises children and provides them with the spontaneity that leads to new cognitive pathways, curiosities, and a sense of wonder.