Engaging Youth in Classical Compositions
Classical music, sadly, remains a foreign language to many youngsters today. With budget cuts and closures, schools can’t introduce students to the tenses and tempos of the intimate compositions renowned as chamber music.
For most teens and tweens in Northeast Wisconsin, however, there is more than time and tempo – there’s momentum! – thanks to Midsummer’s Music, a Door County performing arts organization making exemplary efforts to introduce and engage youth of all ages to the syntax of chamber music … well beyond its boundaries.
Included in Midsummer’s three-fold mission is “to develop, enthuse, and educate audiences of all ages by emphasizing chamber music’s strongest assets — intimacy, vitality, quality, variety, and portability — through the most powerful experiences professional performers can generate” in real and virtual venues.
“There is a significant lack of exposure to classical music among our youth in Northeastern Wisconsin,” notes Executive Director Allyson Fleck. “Midsummer’s Music has designed a chamber music program for instrumental students extending throughout the Green Bay area.”
In 2018, Midsummer’s Music launched the Griffon String Quartet, a residency program in upper Wisconsin.
The Griffon offers outreach programs to school age children, private lessons, performance classes, and music instruction during and after school. Weekly coaching supports string education programs at elementary, middle, and high schools in the greater Green Bay area, while providing group performance opportunities to many.
“We believe it’s the first such residency of its kind,” states Dr. Fleck. “We looked nationwide to find an example. But, planning their own program and rehearsals, this truly is a unique experience for young and upcoming classical musicians.”
Most quartets are composed of freelancers or individuals employed by a university, in which “quartet” is a part of their artistic residency. This is an extraordinary situation where the profession performs chamber music for all area residents (almost all offerings are free) and has that support come from an organization which, itself, is an ensemble, rather than an academic institution.
Griffon String Quartet members have advanced degrees and significant professional experience, both as performers and teachers. Demonstrating an intimate sense of ensemble passion, commitment, and excitement, they work at a variety of venues and are a recognized cultural cornerstone in the community.
Midsummer’s presents outreach style performances to young students in all-inclusive and extracurricular programs. Music appreciation videos and interactive presentations enable children to engage with instruments through their own musical interpretations, while undertaking technical projects involving acoustical instrument building. In the process, students benefit by team-making through collaborative relationships with classmates.
The Griffon String Quartet provides individual and group lessons infused with detailed strategies for stringed instrument instruction … as well as music history, theory, and social studies, along with an introduction to women and minority composers—all via the Internet (for now), due to Covid restrictions.
“Door County has no ‘strings’ programs in its schools,” notes Fleck, “which is one of the reasons we wanted to bring this opportunity to our community, even as we supplement those in Green Bay.”
Sponsored by grants from Green Bay area and the state of Wisconsin (CARES), the Griffon has been working virtually all academic year with 100 students at Green Bay’s Washington Middle School.
Students learn to practice independently and to succeed at their weekly goals, adopting and adapting requisite repertoires for future auditions and recitals.
Ambitious and motivated, the Griffon performs at more than 100 events each year: concerts and community festivals, classes, school assemblies, museums, library collaborations, churches, childhood community organizations, and senior centers.
The Griffon performed for Door County Reads “Big Read” event most recently, spotlighting music from the time of Shakespeare.
(Sponsored by the NEA Big Read, Door County Reads is a winter program that encourages the community to read and discuss a book while celebrating it with theatrical and musical performances, writing workshops, and other events related to the book and its culture.)
With the departure of one member of its ensemble, the Griffon has had to improvise and interpret classical chamber music composed for quartets to its current trio configuration.
Members Vini Sant’Ana (violin), Blakeley Menghini (viola), and Ryan Louie (cello) are beginning to review applications from candidates eager to recast the multi-talented threesome as a quartet.
“It’s a real honor to be able to spend our time in chamber music, making our own decisions – without a conductor – that we can experiment with together,” says Blakeley.
Ryan adds, “there’s no greater repertoire in the world, in my opinion, than a string quartet.”
“We reach out to instrumental students as well as youth in general,” stresses Midsummer Music’s Executive Director. “An example of non-instrumental study is the Boys and Girls Club, where students enjoy weekly videos (due to COVID) about music appreciation and theory. Most of them will not study strings with the Griffon … but we hope that our music enriches and enhances their lives.”
The Griffon continues working remotely with children in Door County and Brown County by creating entertaining educational videos that introduce some of the basics of music.
Violinist Vini introduces young viewers to “articulation” in this video:
In addition to the Griffon String Quartet, Midsummer’s hosts a Composer in Residence, “Coffee Talk” educational presentations during the summer, and other opportunities to learn more about chamber music online and on the ground.
Deconstructing barriers between enthusiasts and performers, Midsummer’s Music is nurturing new audiences for chamber and classical music by engaging “youth” of all ages.
To learn more about Midsummer’s Music and enjoy performances online, check out the chamber music organization’s website — www.midsummersmusic.com – and *Like* its Facebook page.