Glimmerglass

Most of my life I lived only hours away from Cooperstown, NY, a region bursting with history, a vibrant arts community, and numerous tourist attractions -- but I had never been to visit before! Last week, I swung by the area for a day to see my friend Stephanie Foley Davis perform as Ma Moss in The Tenderland, performed at Glimmerglass Opera. A few things I learned:

- Many recognize and love Aaron Copland's music for its folk-inspired melodies, dance rhythms, and slow harmonic progressions that bring to mind a soaring landscape. When paired with a beautiful state park, a cute historic town, and the Baseball Hall of Fame, you find yourself enraptured in Americana.

- The entire region is named after the author, James Fenimore Cooper. His Leatherstocking Tales inspired the naming of "The Leatherstocking Region," and his reference to that "glimmer glass" led to the naming of the lake, state park, and opera company.

- Glimmerglass Opera is the place to go to hear extremely talented young performers (ie: in their 20's). The Tenderland featured all up-and-coming singers participating in the Young Artist Program for the summer. The production was stellar, and the cast had strong, clear, warm voices with well-honed techniques. You can check out one of the reviews here.

Interested in learning more about opera? Our voice teachers can help!

Kids!

Friday wraps up Week 1 of the Eastern Music Festival Kid's Camp/Music Academy Collaboration! Kids ages 4-6 got a chance to work with our teachers - learning about instrument families, singing songs, and working on basic exercises in melody, harmony, and rhythm. Props to our teachers who battled with a roomful of tots for hours on end! That's tough work. Tomorrow, the little ones will be visiting The Music Academy to attend a violin class, guitar class, and learn about our Recording Studio.

If you don't know about the camps, check them out here.

Twelve Benefits of Music Education (in a Nutshell):
summarized from Children's Music Workshop.com

1. Brain development, specifically in the areas involved with language and reasoning.

2. Spatial intelligence (the ability to perceive the world accurately and to form mental pictures of things).

3. Creative thinking and problem solving.

4. Success in school, and a tendency towards higher grades.

5. Cultural awareness, tolerance, and compassion.

6. High standards, excellence, and reaching goals.

7. Understanding the concrete results of hard work and sustained effort.

8. Teamwork and discipline through rehearsals, ensembles, practicing, and performing.

9. Self-expression, meaningfulness, and self-esteem.

10. The creation of multi-dimensional workers, and good communicators.

11. Taking chances, conquering fear, and working through anxiety.

12. An arts education exposes children to the incomparable.

and.....IT'S FUN!