Learning About Nature Through
Music and the Arts
Be Curious Be Inspired Create and Share Through Music |
Be Curious Be Inspired Create and Share Through Music |
Last year was such a transformational year for our music classes, one my students and I will never forget! I hope when they look back, they remember what I do: dancing in the sunrise, playing with our shadows, using our footprints in the snow to respond to Debussy's "Des pas sur la neige", "playing" the school yard and learning the whole outdoor space is a multitude of sounds that can make music... that music is everywhere.
When composers create music, it is always because something inspired them to create it. Feelings, celebrations, poetry, art, nature... Generally, the world around them inspires them to respond to it through this art form. In the past, students at ESG have created music using fractions, gravity, the movements of animals, examples of water in our province, and so many more. Here are some great examples of being inspired to create music. Here, students created music as a response to an art work of Thor, God of Thunder. Click on the image to read about this process:
Here, students created music as part of a project with the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra, which was inspired by poetry. However, if you click on the picture to see the project, you can see that this was definitely connected to being inspired by nature, too, as the poet clearly was inspired by this stream in the poem:
So!
This year, I am beyond excited to start the process of thinking about what was inspiring to us all during our year of music outside, and how we can translate that into an artistic response with either musical composition, dance, etc, or maybe a combination of these! This Thursday, September 9th, I will be attending an outdoor concert of cellist Rob Knaggs, "whose work is inspired by his time in Churchill, Manitoba."
As well, I have loved sharing excerpts of The Arctic Symphony by composer Vincent Ho:
"In the summer of 2008, I was offered the opportunity to visit the Arctic region as part of an “Artist on Board” program through the Circumpolar Flaw Lead Systems Study organization (CFL). I was taken on board a state-of-the-art research vessel, The CCGS Amundsen, where I was introduced to the studies conducted by many of the world’s leading climate change scientists. I was also taken to many Indigenous communities to learn about their culture and how the current state of the environment has impacted their way of life. The goal was to provide me with first-hand experience of the Northern region while gaining a better understanding of climate change (from both the scientific and the cultural perspective) so it may inspire the composing of a large-scale symphonic work...." Please click on the image below to learn more about his symphony, and the connection he developed with the land and how it inspired him to write this beautiful work:
I have been so honoured to communicate with him a few times about his symphony, and was so pleased that he said he would love to answer students' questions about it, during our process of creating our responses to our time outside.
I have also been communicating with composer Andrew Balfour, who has created works inspired by the sky, such asKiwetin Acahkos (north star) - Fanfare for the Peoples of the North. Would be amazing to learn from him as well! Of course there will be new classes that were not outside last year as well as new students, and they will also be able to connect with learning outside and sharing their responses, because we will continue to learn outside this year too!
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Click HERE to go back to the first postBio - Jennifer EngbrechtI am a music specialist in the Louis Riel School Division in Manitoba, Canada. I have a strong interest in the interrelationship of all subject areas, especially infusing the arts into all learning, and as their own stand-alone subjects. NEW:
So excited to be interviewed for Green Teacher Magazine's "Talking With Green Teachers" Podcast My article in the MSSTA Journal for Fall 2021... Click on the image below:
My article in the Summer 2021 Green Teacher Magazine. Click on the image below:
Disconnect: The Outdoor Education Podcast - listen to this episode about Teaching Music Outside by clicking on the picture below:
Looking for the WSO Manitoba Mosaic lesson for Hey Terre by Kelly Bado?
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