“About 30 fifth graders at Crespo Elementary are sitting in rows on a rainbow-colored rug and calling out answers about a piece of classical music they’ve just heard,” writes Amy Bishop on Friday (10/23) at Houston Public Media’s website. “Anthony Parce, one of the Houston Symphony’s Community Embedded Musicians, is helping them make up a story to go along with the music. He and fellow musician David Connor just started a teaching residency at the school. ‘And we’re teaching a wide variety of skills, basically all the materials of music,’ Parce says. ‘With the end goal of having students able to make their own compositions and really think creatively, quantitatively, and qualitatively about music.’ The bigger picture … is to use classical music training to elevate overall academic achievement…. This is the first time a program like this has been tried in the Houston area. ‘This in-school residency program is proof that music—especially classical music—can speak to every child,’ ” says Houston Symphony Executive Director and CEO Mark Hanson. “Each year, the initiative will serve over 400 third, fourth, and fifth-graders who are economically disadvantaged.”
Posted October 26, 2015
Pictured: David Connor, one of the Houston Symphony’s Community Embedded Musicians, in class at Crespo Elementary School. Photo by Emily Nelson
