School Performances & Workshops

Get up close and personal with the cast of the acclaimed children's theater show SUGAR SKULL! A Dia de Muertos Musical Adventure as they teach and perform selected Mexican dances and songs from the show. Students will dive into the diverse world of dance and music from the regions of Mexico by learning some of the following: the fun (and funny) Baile de los Viejitos from Michoacan, the African influenced Baile de los Diablos from Guerrero, and the ritual dance of the Aztecs - la Danza Meshica. Also, they will learn to sing Xochipitzahuatl, a song in Nahuatl, one of the Mexican indigenous languages that is still spoken today.

The World of Jazz takes students on a musical journey through America and abroad. The presentation begins with an introduction to the basic elements of music (melody, harmony, and rhythm). From there, the concept of improvisation is discussed, and students have an opportunity to come up with examples of how they improvise every day. LP And The Vinyl performs musical excerpts throughout this presentation, highlighting early jazz music from New Orleans, 1940's bebop from New York, and the jazz influenced sounds of bossa nova from Brazil. Students will come away with a greater understanding of how cultures from all around the world helped to shape jazz.

TY Zhang, a member of the ArcoStrum duo and Grand Prize Winner of Guitar Foundation of America ICAC 2017, will lead a classical guitar workshop designed to enhance performance, build proper techniques and tips, encourage new conversations and ideas, and gain deeper insight and understanding into the classical guitar industry.

Stolen Moments is a thoroughly captivating and informative program that introduces audiences to jazz music's rich history and to the names, faces and music of some of its many masters. On a broader level, Stolen Moments also highlights the interplay between the jazz movement and the evolution of American culture throughout the 20th Century, emphasizing the ways in which jazz has acted as a unifying force, bridging cultural, ethnic and economic differences; stimulated cultural fusions and new stylistic idioms; exemplified democratic ideals; and influenced other genres of music, both in the U.S. and abroad.

Do you enjoy Latin beat? Do you like salsa dancing? This interactive 45-minute program takes participants on a journey of different rhythms and melodies including Argentinean Tangos, Cuban Boleros, Caribbean Rumbas, and Venezuelan Joropos. Students will learn various rhythmic patterns, dance steps and the origin of many of these genres and how they relate to and influence Western classical music.