Trains K-12 Teachers How to Integrate Music Education Into Core Subjects
John Goldman, president of the San Francisco Symphony (SFS), today announced
the launch of the education component of Keeping Score: MTT on Music, a program
to further education through the arts in K-12 classrooms. Part of the SFS's
groundbreaking $23 million multimedia effort aimed at providing a connection
to classical music and the powerful emotions it conveys, the Keeping Score education
program trains teachers to integrate music effectively into their teaching and
into core subjects such as science, math, English, history and social studies.
Fresno, California has been selected as the pilot program site, and 20 Fresno
area teachers begin training this summer in San Francisco's Davies Symphony
Hall to incorporate music education into their classroom curriculum throughout
the 2005-06 school year.
"The San Francisco Symphony is dedicated to the history, tradition and
emotional human connection of classical music," said Goldman. "Keeping
Score will help enrich the lives of young people by infusing their core studies
with classical music. Exposing students to the power and passion of this type
of music will plant the seed of appreciation for the arts for the rest of their
lives."
The SFS introduced Keeping Score on national television in June 2004 as part
of a nationwide initiative aimed at providing audiences with a connection to
classical music. The Keeping Score education component is the next step in the
program designed to provide students in California and across the country with
a broader understanding of and access to classical music.
"We are delighted to partner with the San Francisco Symphony on Keeping
Score," said Dr. Peter G. Mehas, Fresno County Superintendent of Schools.
"The Fresno community has a strong commitment to the arts and Keeping Score
provides us with valuable resources to bring additional arts education into
our classrooms. It is an honor to be selected as the pilot site for Keeping
Score."
Participating teachers will be trained by San Francisco Symphony educational
staff, SFS musicians, and a variety of arts educators, and will receive professional
development training and assistance throughout the school year. Twenty teachers
from Fresno gather at Davies Symphony Hall during the week of June 27, 2005,
to begin Keeping Score training. During this week, they will learn how to integrate
music and musical concepts into their everyday lesson plans, through workshops
on music history, American folk and cowboy roots of classical music, score reading,
musical presentations, lesson plan development and ideas for integration with
current standards. With funding for the arts at an all-time low, the San Francisco
Symphony through Keeping Score, provides a much-needed service to students,
schools and communities.
The San Francisco Symphony has selected Fresno as the site for the Keeping
Score pilot education program because of its uniquely diverse community eager
for music education. The Keeping Score education program will also engage the
greater Fresno community through its relationships with schools, arts organizations
and community leaders to form partnerships and bring populations together around
arts experiences.
Keeping Score education program to expand regionally and nationally
In the second year of the program, the San Francisco Symphony plans to expand
Keeping Score to include 25 additional teachers in Fresno, launch a second program
site in California and add a national location to be determined. The pilot program
is the first year of a five-year initiative. By the end of the five-year period,
the San Francisco Symphony plans to have four sites operating in California
and three nationally. In five years, the Keeping Score education program will
reach as many as 500 teachers and more than 75,000 students who otherwise might
not be exposed to classical music and the arts as part of their daily learning.
Beyond the first five years, the San Francisco Symphony intends for Keeping
Score to have a sustained and continually-expanding reach to communities across
the country, particularly to economically and ethnically diverse populations.
Major funding for Keeping Score is provided by the Evelyn and Walter Haas,
Jr. Fund, with generous support from The James Irvine Foundation, Nan Tucker
McEvoy, William and Gretchen Kimball, the National Endowment for the Arts, and
others.
For further information about Keeping Score: MTT on Music, visit www.keepingscore.org.
ABOUT THE SAN FRANCISCO SYMPHONY
Founded in 1911, the San Francisco Symphony has a long and distinguished history
marked by artistic excellence, educational initiatives, international tours,
acclaimed recordings and innovative programming. Now in their tenth season together,
Music Director Michael Tilson Thomas and the SFS have formed a musical partnership
hailed for its revitalization of the classical music experience. The first orchestra
to feature national symphonic radio broadcasts in 1926, the SFS remains a leader
in the field of electronic media with endeavors such as the Grammy Award-winning
Mahler recording cycle for the Orchestra's own SFS Media label, Minnesota Public
Radio's Peabody Award-winning American Mavericks radio series and website, inspired
by and produced in association with MTT and the SFS, and the Emmy Award-winning
PBS/KQED Public Television production of the SFS's Sweeney Todd in Concert.
In 2004, the SFS launched Keeping Score: MTT on Music, a groundbreaking project
aimed at providing audiences of today with a connection to classical music and
the powerful emotions it conveys. The initiative launched with a PBS telecast
on June 16 and includes a website, educational outreach, a radio series and
a continuing television series. The Orchestra's commitment to education and
the community, begun in 1919 with the development of Concerts for Kids, is today
recognized nationally and internationally for programs including Adventures
in Music, the San Francisco Symphony Youth Orchestra, Music for Families, and
www.sfskids.com. For additional information, visit www.sfsymphony.org.
