education
Educational Presentations
One of the goals of the USA International Harp Competition is to promote the harp and its repertoire to a wider audience. Continuing its tradition of educational outreach activities, the USA IHC gave presentations in five area schools this spring.
Elżbieta Szmyt, Assistant Professor of Harp and Director of the Pre-College Harp Program at the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music played for first and third graders at Grandview Elementary School in Bloomington. She was joined by seven-year-old Kailah Young, one of her students in the Pre-College Program. Between selections Ms. Szmyt demonstrated the various sounds a harp can produce and explained how the instrument functions. Harpist Kristie Withers gave a similar presentation to students at Spencer Elementary School in Spencer, Indiana, where music teacher Mary Hamlin has started a program to offer harp lessons to students after school.
Marina Roznitovsky presented at St. Charles School in Bloomington and at Lakeview Elementary School in Bloomington where she was joined again by Kailah Young who performed for her peers. The schoolchildren were extremely attentive and asked excellent questions such as “why are the strings different colors?” and “how long does it take to learn to play the harp?” When a young girl asked “how does it feel to play the harp?” it provided the perfect opportunity for Ms. Rosnitovsky to invite her to come up on stage and find out for herself. 2007 Harp Competition entrants Kristie Withers and Sara Shute made a surprise appearance at the end of the presentation, answering students’ questions about what it was like to perform in an international music competition.
A final presentation was given at Marlin Elementary School in Bloomington by harpist Adriana Horne. As with all presentations, a poster with photos of all the 2007 USA International Harp Competition contestants was left with music teachers to put up in their classrooms. Children were encouraged to pick a favorite contestant and follow their progress on line at the USA IHC website – www.indiana.edu/~harpcomp
PHOTO: Monty Howell
Reprinting Courtesy of the Herald-Times
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