RPO String Quartet Primary Ensemble Preparatory Materials

Sponsored by the City of Rochester and Citibank

Dear Teachers: This packet contains information and class activities that are designed to help you prepare your students for the RPO ensemble that visits your school. We hope that they will be useful to both music teachers and classroom teachers. Feel free to adapt or change the activities to suit the needs and abilities of your students. Please review the concert man-ners on page 9. This will help your students enjoy the ensemble performance more on their special day.

Table of Contents Meet your Musicians 1 English Language Arts: Standard 1 Listening and Reading What is your Musical History? 2 Social Studies: Standard 2 World History Instrument Information 3 English Language Arts: Standard 1 Listening and Reading Where in the world does music come from? 4 Social Studies: Standard 3 Geography Music in your Community 4 English Language Arts: Standard 1 Speaking and Writing World Map 5 Mathematics, Science, and Technology: Scientific Inquiry Standard 1 Vocabulary and Word Search 5 English Language Arts: Standard 1 Listening and Reading Tell a Story without Words! 6 English Language Arts: Standard 2 Listening and Reading, Speaking and Writing What would you like to know about your visiting musicians? 7 English Language Arts: Standard 4 Listening and Speaking Write a thank you letter 8 English Language Arts: Standard 3 Reading and Writing Concert Manners 9 English Language Arts: Standard 4 Listening and Speaking

The Primary Ensembles are funded by the City of Rochester, William A. Johnson, Jr., Mayor; CitiBank; the Glover/Crask Charitable Remainder Trust, Fred & Floy Willmott Foundation, and Ames-Amzalak Memorial Trust in memory of Henry Ames, Semon Amzalak and Dan Amzalak. The RPO’s Education and Outreach programs are made possible, in part, by NYS Senator Jim Alesi; the City of Rochester; the NYS Assembly, secured by Assembly-man Joseph D. Morelle; the NYS Council on the Arts, a State agency; NYS Senator Michael F. Nozzolio; CitiBank; the Josephine Bay Paul and C. Michael Paul Foundation; Frontier, a Citizens Communication company; Gannett Foundation/Democrat and Chronicle; Thomson West; and Xerox.

An-Chi (Angel) OuYang was born and grew up in Taiwan. She began playing the piano at age 5, then the violin at age 6. She came to the States for further study after she gradu-ated from Shoochow University in Taipei. She teaches pri-vately at home and at Hochstein Music School. She has been a member of the RPO for 5 years.

Learn the anatomy of a violin!

Karine Stone has played the violin since the age of two. She has a Bachelor’s and a Master’s degree in violin performance from the Eastman School of Music. In the summer of 1996 she played in the Schlossfestspiel Orchestra in Heidelberg, Germany. From 1998-2001 she was a member of the Syracuse Symphony Orchestra. She has also performed as Acting Concertmaster of the Erie Philharmonic. She now performs frequently with the RPO and is an active freelance musician. Karine has also worked extensively as a teacher and an administrator. In 1997 she was on the violin faculty of the Idaho State Civic Symphony String Festival and in 1998 she was the Dean of The Quartet Program at Bucknell. Karine is currently the Conductor of the Cobble-

stone Chamber Orchestra, Director of the Hastings Chamber Players, and is the violinist of the Ethos Duo. Karine is committed to teaching music to children of all ages and has twenty-four violin students. She loves to create beautiful sounds on the violin most of all.

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Kathy Kemp has been a cellist in the RPO for 25 years!! She grew up in Auburn, New York. Her parents were both musicians and her mom was a school music teacher. Mrs. Kemp began the piano in kindergarten, the cello in 4th grade and the trombone in 5th grade. She decided to concentrate on the cello by the time she was in middle school. She went to college at the East-man School of Music. Her mom and sister also went to this col-lege! In addition to playing with the RPO, Mrs. Kemp teaches at Hochstein Music School and the Eastman. Her husband works for Kodak and she has two children. Her daughter Megan is in college studying music education and son Michael is in the 12th grade and loves music and ice hockey. When Mrs. Kemp isn't playing her cello or teaching, she loves to read, take walks, and watch her son play hockey. Her favorite food is chocolate!

Although you will hear Perrin Yang play the viola in the RPO String Quartet, he plays violin in the RPO. Perrin enjoys a wide spectrum of performing and teaching activities. Since joining the Rochester Philharmonic violin section in 1991, he has served as acting Principal Second violin and currently sits third chair in the first violin section. He is a member of the Rochester Chamber Orchestra, where he has appeared as soloist and concertmaster on several occasions. Perrin performs regularly as a chamber musician and has appeared as guest artist at the Fortissimo!, Aspen, Peter Britt, Skaneateles and Boulder Bach festivals. A high honors graduate of Oberlin College and the University of Michigan, he is on the faculty of Hochstein School of Music where he teaches chamber music.

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What is your Musical History? After reading the biographies of the RPO String Quartet, it is easy to see that they all have participated in many musical activities. Now write your own musical history! Dis-cuss any musical activities you have participated in, such as a attending a concert, sing-ing at home, with family, by yourself, or in school, or playing an instrument. • What have you found interesting about music? • What types of musical activities would you like to do in the future? • How might these activities be similar or different to the activities done by people

who lived in cultures hundreds of years ago?

The Instruments of the String Family Classification: Chordophone

Compare and contrast the instruments of the string family. In what ways are they alike? In what ways are they different?

All sound is made by vibrating air. A string instrument is really just an empty box with wire strings tightly strung across it. They make sound when the strings are either plucked, strummed or bowed so that they shake and vibrate the air. Some popular string instru-ments are the guitar, violin, cello and harp. A Chordophone is a musical instrument which produces sound by means of strings stretched from one point to another. Technically it refers to an instrument that is sounded by bowing, plucking, or striking a string that is stretched between two fixed points.

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Possible answers include: Alike: all have four strings, are made of wood, are played with a bow, and have a similar shape and parts. Different: they are different sizes and so have different ranges of notes that they can play. The Violin and viola are held under the chin while being played and the cello and bass stand on the floor.

Violin Viola Cello Bass

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Where in the world does music come from? Music comes from all over the world! There are strong musical traditions in every culture and community that have served many purposes over time. Music can be used to celebrate happy occasions (like a wedding or birthday), sad occa-sions (like a funeral), patriotic occasions (like the Fourth of July) and religious occasions (like Christmas or Hanukkah). You will hear music from the United States, France, Spain, Sweden, Russia, Austria, China, Latin America and Ireland when the RPO String Quartet performs for you.

Pin point the country! See if you can find the following countries on the map on page 5. United States, France, Spain, Sweden, Russia, Austria, China, and Ireland. Locate their capitals and name the continent where they can be found.

Music in your Community: Activities for thinking and writing about music in our lives. 1. Brainstorming:

• Make a list of all the places you might hear music (shopping mall, in a car, on television, concerts, etc.)

• Do you hear the same music at all of these places? Discuss the different types of music you might hear at each location.

2. Critical Listening: • Play excerpts of a wide range of musical styles • Where could you hear this music in your life? • What could it be used for? (for dancing, relaxing, singing along, etc.)

3. Creative Writing: Using the previous exercises as a class warm-up, have students write a few paragraphs on their own.

• Describe a place or an event where you don’t usually hear music: • Have students write a few paragraphs of their own that explain why they think it

would be a good idea to have music played there, and what type of music they would like to hear.

4. Follow-up: • Students may read papers to the rest of the class • Students may write a story that includes the ideas from their papers

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Vocabulary: Learn new words!

Audience: A group of people that listen to a performance. Communication: An exchange of information between two or more individuals. Composer: A person who writes music. Continent: A large division of land on earth. Country: The territory of a nation or state. Culture: The sum total of ways of living built up by a group of people and transmitted from one generation to another. Drone: One continuous tone that is played to accompany a melody Emotion: A strong feeling (such as happy, sad, angry, etc.). Folk Music: Music developed from the common people of a nation. Listening: To pay attention in order to hear something. Pentatonic: a group of five notes (penta=five, tonic=tones or notes). String Quartet: A musical ensemble consisting of four stringed instruments.

Find the words listed below in this puzzle. Words can be found horizontally, vertically, and diagonally, both forward and backward. AUDIENCE COUNTRY LISTENING CELLO CULTURE PENTATONIC COMMUNICATION DRONE STRING QUARTET COMPOSER EMOTION VIOLA CONTINENT FOLK MUSIC VIOLIN

Word Search N W C Z X X D P C Z B B E P G O I N B O C A Y O R Y Z S T N C I L W T L I E M B Z T R M I U O H O O N M S M P R O X A N L N M I I O V F U I C L W T E T T V P T V N P N M O Q N M T U B U I O B Y G I S K E X Y S R C O L Q S Q H C U N L G N I E N S L Z U E S A I E A O H L U I Y Y A Z Y R T N U O C F P Q H D R O N E N I S F L U E E S R T T L J O N O V N L Q M V Y E G R A C G B N K T E O P U T D D C U A U D I E N C E W Z C I N O T A T N E P S V F Q S

Tell a Story Without Words! When musicians play their instruments, they communicate many thoughts and emotions to each other and the audience without using words! When a small ensemble of musicians plays together, it is just like a normal conversation between two people. Activity 1: Silent Communication Preparatory Question: What are other communication devices which don’t involve spoken words? (answer: facial expressions, hand gestures, body language, etc.) Procedure: 1. Divide class into groups of three or four students each. 2. Give each group an emotion (possibilities include: happy, sad, angry, tired, excited,

scared, victorious, in love) and have them decide how to silently express it with facial expressions, etc.

3. Have groups present their emotion to the rest of the class. Ask the class to guess their emotion based on the nonverbal communication.

Activity 2: Communication through Sound When musicians perform, they communicate by using both their bodies and their instru-ments. They can use facial expressions or hand gestures to communicate with one an-other while performing a piece of music. They also use different sounds on their instru-ments to communicate the musical emotions and ideas with the audience. Preparatory Questions: • Name three ways you can make sound with your voices, bodies, or other materials in

the classroom (possible answers: humming, clapping, stomping, snapping fingers, pen-cils tapped, papers rustled, etc.)

• What ways could you use these sounds to communicate a thought or emotion more effectively? (refer to Activity 1)

Procedures: 1. In the same groups from Activity 1, pass out a photograph or magazine picture that

displays strong emotions. 2. Have each group determine the emotions that are expressed in their picture. 3. Decide how those emotions can be expressed using appropriate sounds. 4. Organize these sounds into a musical piece to perform for the rest of the class. 5. Lead class in a discussion of each group’s presentation.

• What was this group was trying to communicate? (then show picture) • What different sounds did they use, and how were they successful in communicat-

ing their picture? • What was your favorite part of their musical piece?

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What would you like to know about your visiting musicians?

When the RPO musicians come to your school you will have a chance to ask them questions about what they do and why they became musicians. Remember that a question begins with one of the following words:

WHO WHAT WHY WHEN WHERE HOW Here are some sample questions to get you thinking about what to ask the musicians. Who was your first music teacher? Who encouraged you to keep playing? What did you first like about your instrument? What was difficult about learning your instrument? Why do you enjoy playing in an orchestra? Why did you choose to become a professional musician? When did you start music lessons? When did you know that you would make music your career? Where were you born? Where did you go to college? How long did it take for you to become a good musician? How much do you practice each week?

Some questions also begin with the words “Do” and “Have.” You may want to ask one of these question pairs.

Do you ever get nervous before you perform? How do you handle it? Have you ever made a mistake during a performance? What happened?

Ask one of these questions, or think of a different question on your own.

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Write a letter to thank our sponsors!

There are a number of people who make these ensemble performances possible to the students in the Rochester City School District. We ask that your students take a little time to express their gratitude to one of them in a letter. They can follow this format or come up with something on their own. The letters can be addressed to one of the following: 1. City of Rochester, The Honorable William A. Johnson, Jr. 30 Church Street

Rochester, NY 14614

2. CitiBank John H. Dansler, Jr., VP Community Relations 3300 Monroe Avenue Rochester, NY 14618

3. Glover/Crask Charitable Trust The Harris Law Firm George F. Harris John T. Harris 13 N. Main Street Honeoye Falls, NY 14472 Dear (insert sponsor’s name here), On (date) I saw the RPO (name of ensemble) perform at my school. They were (insert adjective). I learned . My favorite part was when the musicians . Thank you very much for making these visits possible. Sincerely, (name) Please send all letters through RCSD interoffice mail to:

Paulette Davis Artist-in-Residence Program

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Ms. Davis will give them to RPO staff who will then make sure that the proper recipients get them. Thank you!

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Concert Manners When the RPO musicians come to your school this is a special opportunity to learn about the instruments and musicians of the orchestra. We hope you will enjoy meeting the musicians and listening to their music. The following concert manners will help everyone listen and enjoy the per-formance more. • Concert manners begin the moment you walk into the performance

room. Take your seats quietly and keep your hands to yourself. • At this time, the musicians may be warming up their instruments. Watch

and listen carefully to see if they do something you don’t expect. • Talk only when you are asked to respond to a question. If someone is

talking and distracting your class, try to ignore them or quietly get the at-tention of your teacher.

• Clap enthusiastically after each piece. This shows the musicians that you

enjoyed their music. • Save questions and comments for when the musicians visit your class-

rooms individually.

What did you learn? Have a class discussion about what your students learned in the ensemble perform-ance. What did you like about the performance and workshop? Was there any-thing that you didn’t like? Was there anything that surprised you about the instru-ments or music that you heard?

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