During the 1991–92 season, Geneva Concerts began an educational outreach program which continues to grow. In recent seasons we have reached more than 1,000 school children annually. This program helps to build our future audience base by exposing our children to a wide variety of concert and dance performances and it assists the Arts-in-Education programs for Geneva and the surrounding school districts by providing high-quality performers for school programs.
On Friday, September 13, 2019, the Jon Lehrer Dance Company from New York City performed three lecture demonstrations in the Geneva High School gym, one for all Geneva High School students, another for eighth graders, and a third for sixth and seventh grade students.
For each assembly, the company performed four pieces, each choreographed by Jon Lehrer, set to special music that had either inspired it or complemented it. Mr. Lehrer began by introducing himself, and explaining how he got started as a dancer at age 19, much later than most dancers, and that he was much more interested in sports than dance until he took his first dance class in college. His involvement in sports resulted in his choreography uniquely combining artistry with athleticism. With many Geneva students perhaps more interested in sports than the arts, making this point helped them to relate to the program.
A cool jazz recording was used for the first piece, and the impressive movements and interactions of the dancers kept the attention of the students. A second piece titled "Bridge and Tunnel," (a term used for living in New York City) was set to music by Paul Simon, and was inspired by Mr. Lehrer's remembrance of attending high school in Queens, New York. This piece, inspired by Mr. Lehrer's experience in high school, was another that the students could especially relate to. In the afternoon, Jon Lehrer taught a master class in dance composition and technique at Hobart and William Smith Colleges from 3:30 to 5:30 pm in Deming Dance Theater. Eight company dancers joined the class. There were 19 students in all, 15 William Smith students in Donna Davenport's composition course, three William Smith visitors to the class, and one high school student from Canandaigua.
The session was organized as a two-part workshop. The first part focused on choreography and Jon Lehrer’s own approach to choreographing a piece, with movements derived from a conversation between dancers and then performed independently of music, with music added and integrated subsequently, studying its effect on the presentation. The second part was a class focused on the athletic movements used by the company in the performance of Jon Lehrer’s choreography.
Participation Summary: Geneva High School: 545 students and 65 staff and adults; Geneva Middle School eighth grade: 145 students and 25 staff and adults; Geneva Middle School sixth and seventh grades: 305 students and 51 staff and adults. Hobart and William Smith workshop: 28 participants and 5 observers.
On Friday, October 4, 2019 the Angelicus String Quartet from Rochester presented two spirited assembly concerts for more than 500 elementary school students. The morning program for all St. Francis-St. Stephen School students and staff took place at St. Stephen's Church. The afternoon program for all West Street School students and staff took place in the school's "gymatorium." Both concerts followed the same format.
The program began with the quartet playing an excerpt from one of Bach's Brandenburg Concertos. This was followed by the players introducing themselves and their instruments one at a time (emphasizing how young they were when they started playing) and then subsequently joining in playing an excerpt from Pachelbel's Canon in D Major. This provided a brief introduction to the different ranges of the cello, viola, and violin. The first part ended with an excerpt from Mozart's Eine Kleine Nachtmusik and how the musicians communicate in the midst of the music by looking and listening to each other.
Next, the first violinist played three solo pieces, each with a recorded accompaniment. The first illustrated how the melody Chaconne by Tomaso Vitali, composed hundreds of years ago, played with a modern percussion beat might sound like music ``you can hear on iTunes or Spotify." Next she played Morrison's Jig, an Irish piece, and Bluegrass fiddle tunes showing how the violin is used in styles other than classical music and illustrated how much these two styles had in common.
Pieces by two contemporary ensembles, A Flat by Black Violin and Seven Nation Army by the White Stripes, showed how stringed instruments can effectively play modern music styles and appeal to young people. Following this, one of the musicians asked, "Who liked the older music better, and who liked the modern style better?" She pointed out that either choice was correct, her point being that enjoying music, no matter which style, enriches their lives. The performers emphasized the fact that music occurs not just in concert halls, but also at hockey games, movies, and other events.
Three pieces were especially entertaining: Leroy Anderson's Plink, Plank, Plunk, using the pizzicato technique (or "pizza-taco" as one of the quartet members's said): the theme from the Disney movie Moana, and an arrangement of The Chicken Dance with one of the players leading the motions in this well-known party tune. The "audience participation" for these tunes, clapping along with the beat and a variety of hand and arm movements sustained the students' interest.
The program was geared very well for the young students and held their attention, even the youngest students at West Street. It introduced the stringed instruments and showed the wide range of musical styles from Bach to modern music, as well as just ``fun music."
Participation Summary: At St. Francis-St. Stephen School: 120 students and 15 adults. At West Street School: 413 students and 65 adults.
On Monday, November 18, 2019 the Rodney Marsalis Philadelphia Brass Quintet presented three exciting and entertaining assembly concerts for more than 700 elementary school students in Geneva. The two morning programs for all North Street School students (grades 2–3 and grades 4–5) and staff took place in the school's auditorium. The afternoon program for all St. Francis-St. Stephen School students and 20 students from Children's Hours School and staff took place at St. Stephen's Church. Both concerts followed the same format.
Since Rodney Marsalis was born and raised in New Orleans, each program started with the classic Dixieland treatment of the New Orleans funeral march entitled Just a Closer Walk with Thee. As Mr. Marsalis explained at the conclusion of the piece, it starts off slow and in a melancholy mood as one is thinking about the one who has been lost, but ends with a celebration of the happy events that are also remembered about the individual. The piece served to illustrate how music conveys different moods and emotions, sometimes within a single piece.
The next segment consisted of three excerpts from West Side Story. In introducing the pieces, the students were reminded that West Side Story is based on Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet. The excerpts that followed were beautiful arrangements from "Tonight," "Maria," and "America."
Next, Mr. Marsalis needed some audience "help" (shouts of "Olé!") during La Virgin de la Macerena (The Bullfighter's Song). The children participated enthusiastically!
The program ended with the quintet playing New Orleans Traditional Second Line while marching through the audience. At St. Stephen's Church there was some extra time for a few questions. The students asked, "How do you clean the instruments?" (with a snake!), "How old were you when you started playing music?" (most were 5 or 6), "Where have you played?" (In almost all 50 states, South America, China, and throughout Europe)
The program was pitched at just the right level for these young students with a mixture of humor, education, participation, and superb musicianship. Great performances require great musicians and great audiences. This event had both. The Rodney Marsalis Quintet held the students' attention throughout, even that of the youngest students from Children's Hours. The program introduced the entire range of brass instruments and demonstrated a wide variety of musical styles with the students having lots of fun.
Participation Summary: At North Street School: 603 students and 39 adults. From St. Francis-St. Stephen School: 110 students and 18 adults. From Children's Hours School: 20 students and 4 adults.
This engagement of The Rodney Marsalis Philadelphia Big Brass is made possible through the ArtsCONNECT program of Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation with support from the National Endowment for the Arts.
Outreach activities during the 2019–2020 concert season were underwritten by grants from the Wyckoff Family Foundation, the Williams Family Foundation, the Rotary Club of Geneva, NY, Wegmans, and by additional support from the members of Geneva Concerts. Thanks!
On Thursday morning, October 25, 2018, all students and staff at Geneva's St. Francis—St. Stephen's Elementary School were treated to a performance of the Ladies First Jazz Combo at St. Stephen's Church. The quintet's members are Jennie Jones (saxes and vocals), Carol Jean Swist (keyboards), Julie Winde (trumpet and flugelhorn), Jennifer May (bass), and Peggy Scalzo (drums).
The quintet performed jazz tunes in a variety of styles. The program featured improvisation and techniques such "scat singing" in the "call and response" style where the performer sang a short vocal phrase, followed by the students repeating it.
To demonstrate the creation of a blues song, the group asked the students how they felt at three different times that day: when they got up in the morning, when they got to school, and when they arrived at the concert. They took these feelings and then integrated those into a blues style song.
To show just how tempo affects the feel and mood of a song, the group had the drummer set different tempos for Herbie Hancock's "Watermelon Man." First they played it as a swing tune, as a Bosa Nova (Latin) tune, and finally as a waltz. The group followed up by playing it as Hancock had intended as a funk-fusion tune.
On Thursday afternoon, the quintet performed for the Geneva Middle School Band students, as well as select Geneva High School band members. The program introduced students to a wide variety of jazz genres. It began with Billy Strayhorn's jazz standard written Duke Ellington Band who adopted it as there signature tune. "Take the A Train." The title refers to the then-new subway service that runs through New York City, going at that time from eastern Brooklyn up into Harlem.
The next piece was Horace Silver's catchy bop tune "Song for my Father." This was followed by the Miles Davis' blues piece "All Blues" which appeared on his "Kind of Blue" album. The combo again used "Watermelon Man" to show the effect of tempo on mood, as they had done in the morning session. The group followed up by playing it as Hancock had intended as a funk-fusion tune. The band students were very familiar with the tune and the final version got the students tapping their feet.
Changing the mood radically, they next played Ben Howard's "Fly me to the Moon." The Frank Sinatra version of this tune was played on the Apollo 10 mission which orbited the Moon. It became the first music heard on the Moon when played on a portable cassette player by Apollo 11 astronaut Buzz Aldrin after he stepped onto the Moon. This piece led to demonstration of scat singing by Ms. Jones. She would sing a scat phrase and then all of the students sang it back to her. This was a big success and introduced the students to a musical genre with which most were not familiar.
Participation Summary: St. Francis—St Stephen's school: 112 students in grades K—8 and 18 adults; Geneva Middle School: 103 students and 8 adults.
The champion Irish step dancers of Darrah Carr Dance presented a whirlwind introduction to Irish dance to all Geneva Public High school students at the high school's renovated gymnasium on Friday morning, March 1, 2019. Authentic Irish music was provided by their instrumental quartet of Irish flute, fiddle, banjo, and guitar.
The company's founder, Darrah Carr, described two types of dance music, jigs and reels, that are used in Irish dance, and the history, costumes, and traditions related to this dance art form. Next, solo dancers and the ensemble of four female and two male dancers demonstrated the intricate foot work and body movements of Irish dance for the students.
Ms. Carr then invited a large number of students for a quick lesson on the gym floor. She taught them a classic example of a foot and leg movement that is a basic part of Irish dance. The students followed her instructions closely and enjoyed the experience.
The attention and discipline of this large student body was impressive. They listened respectfully, applauded enthusiastically.
Participation Summary: 626 students and 70 teachers and staff.
The Darrah Carr Dance Company provided Hobart and William Smith students and other participants from the Geneva community with the opportunity to explore Irish dance in this personalized class. The masterclass offered a spirited introduction to Irish dance featuring live accompaniment on the fiddle, flute, guitar, and banjo.
The members of the dance company taught the basic principles of Irish dance, including the importance of posture, straight arms, fists, and turn-out of the feet. Basic locomotive steps, as well as a traditional Irish group dance called the "four-hand reel" were also incorporated into this class.
Those individuals who participated not only learned these principles and steps, but gained a broader understanding of Irish dance that they can carry with them for the rest of their lives.
Participation Summary: 12 Hobart and William Smith students, 5 students from the community, and 5 adults.
Outreach activities during the 2018–2019 concert season were underwritten by grants from the Wyckoff Family Foundation, the Williams Family Foundation, the Rotary Club of Geneva, NY, Wegmans, and by additional support from the members of Geneva Concerts. Thanks!
On Friday, September 22, 2017, all students and staff from Geneva's West Street and North Street Elementary Schools, St. Francis—St. Stephen's Elementary School, and Children's Hours school were treated to a beautiful, enchanting production of "The Velveteen Rabbit" by Canada's Ballet Jörgen at the Smith Opera House. The perfect combination of choreography by Kathleen Rea and original music by Ivan Barbotin depicted Margery Williams' popular story of a young boy and his love for a stuffed rabbit that magically comes to life. The dancers spoke prior to the start of the show, giving a brief synopsis of the story and asking students to watch for certain details.
The quiet attention of over a thousand elementary students was kept perfectly throughout the performance as the story unfolded in the beautiful choreography and music. The combination of engaging music and impressive dancing held the students' attention. There were no lulls nor delays in the either the music or action on stage, and students reacted many times with laughter.
Time for questions and answers followed the performance. Then two small groups of students were invited on stage, and after some brief coaching, performed movements that depicted certain emotions.
The production was a wonderful experience for these young students and should give them a sense of the inspiration that artistic music and dance can provide.
Participation Summary: West Street School (K—2): 491 students and 70 staff; North Street School (3—5): 467 children and 45 staff; St. Francis—St. Stephen's School (1—4): 49 children and 9 staff; Children's Hours School: 12 children and 3 staff.
Also on Friday, September 22, 2017, Ballet Jörgen led two master classes at Hobart and William Smith Colleges for student, faculty, and community dancers. The first was a 90-minute classical ballet technique class and the second was 30-minute repertory class, using repertory from the Workers Section in Anastasia.
Participation Summary of Masterclasses at Hobart and William Smith: 50 students, faculty, and community members.
The Wassa Pan Afrika Dance Ensemble led by Nana Kwasi Anim, performed assemblies in two Geneva schools on Thursday, September 28, 2017. The first took place in the De Sales gymnasium in the morning for St. Francis—St. Stephen's Elementary School (shown below) followed by an afternoon session for the Geneva Middle School.
Both performances began with the ensemble entering the performance spaces playing traditional African rhythms using Djembe and other African drums and percussion instruments. This was followed by demonstrations of African poly-rhythms using three sizes of African drums.
Mr. Anim and a female dancer demonstrated the energetic, exuberant style of dancing that is part of African culture. During the assembly at the Geneva Middle School, students were invited on stage and, after some brief tutoring, performed a traditional African dance step.
The various sizes of drums in use were explained, including the well-known Djembe, popular in America, and the “Talking Drum” that changes pitch as the player presses and releases tension strings that are wound around the sides of the drum.
The African tradition of call and response was demonstrated effectively with Mr. Anim singing a set of simple phrases which were echoed by the students. The entire student body seemed to enjoy and participate in this.
Mr. Anim is a citizen of Ghana, West Africa. For six months each year he is in residence in Ithaca, NY from where he and his company travel to perform at colleges, public schools, and special events, as well as doing workshops in Ithaca.
Participation Summary: St. Francis—St Stephen's school: 117 students in grades K—8 and 15 adults; Geneva Middle School: 475 students and 60 adults.
On Saturday afternoon, March 10, 2018, Cantus rehearsed with the Hobart and William Smith Colleges Chorale. The Chorale, directed by Professor Robert Cowles, had been rehearsing Moses Hogan's arrangement of Good News, the Chariot's Comin' in preparation for the evening's Cantus Concert.
Later that evening, the Chorale joined Cantus on stage at the Smith at the beginning of the second half of the concert to sing a spirited rendition of Good News, the Chariot's Comin' to the great delight of the audience.
Professor Cowles commented: "This was a great experience for my students. Not only did they enjoy working with Cantus on the one piece, they also uniformly thoroughly enjoyed the concert as a whole."
Integral to the Cantus mission is its commitment to preserve and deepen music education in schools. Cantus works with more than 5,000 students each year in master class and workshop settings across the country.
Participation Summary: The Hobart and William Smith Colleges Chorale: 37 members.
The first part of Ken Meyer's outreach activities took place on Friday, April 27 in Froelich Hall on the Hobart and William Smith campus. Meyer performed a selection of pieces starting with a prelude by J.S. Bach originally written for the lute and then ranging through tango, flamenco and so on up to the present day. He discussed his upcoming performance with Symphoria, as well as the history and practice of the guitar in general.
After the performance, also at HWS in the guitar studio of Ben Ellis, Meyer critiqued Hobart and William Smith guitar students in preparation for their final performance exams.
Lecture/demonstrations on classical guitar by Kenneth Meyer were given for first and second grade students and staff at West Street school on Thursday, May 3, and for third through fifth grade students and staff at North Street School on May 4, 2018. Also, on May 4, a performance was given in the St. Stephen's Church for students and staff of St. Francis- Stephen's Elementary School.
At each outreach event Ken Meyer performed a series of classical compositions on guitar. The beauty of the music and the subtle sound of the classical guitar held the attention of the young students. He explained how his interest in rock 'n' roll music initially attracted him to play guitar in the fourth grade and how the rich sound of classical music transformed his focus to work towards mastering the music he was performing for them.
Meyer introduced each piece, explaining whether a piece would be short or long, fast or slow, and indicated the changes in tempo and style during the piece. To motivate them to wait patiently until the end of a piece to applaud, he told them he was going to "trick them" into clapping too early during these pauses and changes of style. This idea worked beautifully as the students listened attentively and waited until the end each time. Dr. Meyer also explained how unique sounds were achieved on the instrument and answered many questions by students.
This experience was very rewarding for the students giving them an idea of how beautiful classical music is and helping them learn how to be attentive listeners.
Participation Summary: 745 students and 70 adults across the three schools.
Two lecture-demonstration sessions by classical guitarist Ken Meyer took place in the Geneva High School band room the morning of Friday, May 25, 2018. During first period, Meyer performed several guitar selections ranging from classical pieces from the south of Spain and South America to a modern piece by Andrew York entitled "Emergence." Between songs he explained details about the upcoming piece, the guitar techniques involved, and answered questions from several students.
One of the most effective points he made was that it was "rock 'n' roll" guitar, not classical music, that first attracted him to the instrument. Then, as he progressed in his development, the beauty and sensitivity of classical guitar music motivated him to pursue that.
Some of the students at the lec/dem participate in a "rock band" class at Geneva High. Ken joined them in a rock 'n' roll jam session during second period, with guitar, bass, sax, and drums. Having witnessed the beauty of the classical guitar pieces, followed by Ken's joining in with them on the music they know, the students received great musical inspiration and positive feedback.
Participation Summary: 26 students and 6 adults.
Outreach activities during the 2017–2018 concert season were underwritten by grants from the Wyckoff Family Foundation, the Williams Family Foundation, the Rotary Club of Geneva, NY, Wegmans, and by additional support from the members of Geneva Concerts. Thanks!
Garth Fagan Dance performed lecture demonstration assemblies for Geneva High School and Geneva Middle School students on Friday, September 23, 2016 in the school's auditorium. Three segments from the company's evening performance were featured in each assembly: "Prelude," "No Evidence Of Failure," and "Touring Jubilee 1924." A member of the company introduced each and gave details about the music and the choreography.
Garth Fagan's choice of music captured and held the students attention. The recordings included a solo jazz piano piece by Abdullah Ibrahim, a percussion composition by renowned jazz drummer Max Roach, a piece in the Calypso style by Jamaican pianist Monty Alexander, a piano/violin duet by Brahms, and an early jazz piece featuring the Preservation Hall Jazz Band.
The combination of the unique engaging music and the artistically impressive dancing held the students' attention. Besides the obvious inspiration of the art of dance, a great benefit of these assemblies was that the students were exposed to interesting music that they otherwise would not hear.
In between the two school lecture demonstrations, the company performed a master class for Hobart and William Smith dance students in the Gearan Center. The master class was taught just as all Fagan classes are with a ritualistic warm-up, one that has been done in the same way for decades. Sade Bully lead the class and gave insights into the company's class, rehearsal, and audition processes, as well as the value of learning the technique in this way.
Students were deeply invested and intuitive and patient with themselves as they experienced this codified warm-up. This continued as the students moved through the space, making split-second decisions while following along rather than being given explicit instructions. The students' ability to listen, follow, adapt, make mistakes, and reroute themselves impressed everyone.
When Mr. Fagan entered the room near the end of class to observe the students were in full swing. Once class wrapped up, he took a moment to introduce himself and to remark on the abundant beauty in the room, both the dancers and the new dance space at the Colleges!
All in all it was a great day and the college students felt both challenged and simultaneously that they were able to speak the language of dance with degrees of familiarity.
Participation Summary: 660 students and 80 adults at Geneva High School, 448 students and 80 adults at Geneva Middle School, and 17 Hobart and William Smith students and one adult at the masterclass.
The River City Brass quintet (two cornets, French horn, trombone, and tuba) performed assembly concerts in three Geneva Schools on Monday, March 27, 2017. Those included North Street Elementary (grades 3–5) from 9:15 to 10:00 am followed by St. Francis-St. Stephen's (grades K–8) from 12:30 to 1:15, and West Street (K–2) from 1:45 to 2:25. Students at all three events were treated to age-appropriate, professional-level performances by this world-class brass ensemble.
All concerts followed the same general format. They began with a brief classical piece played without any introductory comment. Then Dr. James Gourlay, the quintet's leader and tuba player, explained how sound is produced on brass instruments by buzzing the lips. He then demonstrated how basic sounds can be produced by a brass mouthpiece plugged into a long plastic tube, with a funnel attached to the end to amplify the sound. He looked like a character out of a Dr. Seuss book during the demonstration. Other basic music concepts were covered such as shorter tubing producing higher pitches and longer tubing lower pitches. He demonstrated these concepts on an alpine horn as well (see below) that fascinated the students.
Next, each of the musicians gave a short explanation describing what made their particular instruments unique and how they worked. Each explanation was immediately followed by the ensemble performing a brief piece featuring that instrument.
These assemblies included inspiring classical compositions such as Die Bankelsangerlieder and Trumpet Voluntary (often heard at graduations). With young audience in mind the program also included tunes familiar to the students such as the theme from the children's cartoon, "Thomas the Train" and the movie "Ghostbusters." For variety, they also performed the jazz piece Sugar Blues that featured the use of a mute with the solo cornet, and a Spanish piece, El Gato Montes.
The grand finale of each concert was a very entertaining composition entitled Instant Concert. The piece lasted only three minutes, but included a series of excerpts from common tunes or famous classical themes, changing quickly from one to the next. The students enjoyed this and reacted to the tunes they recognized.
The students at all three events were attentive and well-behaved, even the youngest at West Street School. This is one of goals of these assemblies, to give young students the experience of sitting still and listening to beautiful music. The concerts were very effective, educational, and musically inspiring.
Participation Summary: 478 students and 62 adults at North Street School, 448 students; 117 students and 18 adults at St. Francis-St.Stephen's, 498 students and 66 adults at North Street School.
Outreach activities during the 2016–2017 concert season were underwritten by grants from the Wyckoff Family Foundation, the Williams Family Foundation, the Rotary Club of Geneva, NY, and by additional support from the members of Geneva Concerts. Thanks!
On Friday, September 18, 2015, Ensemble Español presented two lecture-demonstrations one for all Geneva Middle School students and staff and the second for all Geneva High School students and staff. They presented a great variety of music and dance of Spain. Dancers performed in singles, duets, and groups in pieces ranging from medieval times in Iberia to twenty-first century Spain. Dancers were authentically costumed with shawls, fans, and toreador capes, appropriate to the three styles of Spanish dance: clásico español, folkloric (regional), and Flamenco.
The dancers were accompanied in part by a Flamenco guitarist/vocalist and a percussionist. The musical instruments that accompany Flamenco were described and demonstrated, in particular the castanets. With one pair in each hand, the dancers click out patterns that support the movement of their dance. Flamenco castanets are pitched unevenly, with one pair lower in tonality than the other. The higher pair, held in the dominant hand, is called "hembra" (female), while the lower pair, held in the other hand, is called "macho" (male), and the clicking patterns vary to support the dance. Hand-clapping ("palmas") patterns were also demonstrated and discussed. The Spanish-speaking members of the audience seemed particularly engaged, but all the students were responsive and captivated by the performance.
Friday afternoon, Ensemble Español led a master class for dance students at Hobart and William Smith Colleges. During the class they taught both traditional Flamenco dance and Folklorico. It was a lot of fun and a beautiful blend of large/complex movement, cultural contexting, and musical information. The teachers were a wealth of information and were beautiful demonstrators of the technique and artistry of traditional Spanish dances.
Participation Summary: 1190 students and 171 faculty and staff at the school lec-dems; 15 students and 1 adult at the masterclass.
The Eclectet Woodwind Quintet performed assembly concerts on Tuesday, October 20, 2015, in three Geneva schools, North Street Elementary (grades 3, 4, and 5), St. Francis-St. Stephen's Elementary School (grades K through 8), and West Street Elementary (grades K, 1, 2, and Headstart). The Eclectet wind quintet was formed in Fall 2012 at the Eastman School of Music by students Sho Kato (flute), Jillian Honn (oboe), Sammy Lesnick (clarinet), Ivy Ringel (bassoon), and Thea Humphries (horn). All five musicians displayed impressive prowess on their instruments. The cohesiveness of the ensemble was superb, which made for an engaging and inspiring program.
The opening piece, "Umoja" by Valerie Coleman, served to get and keep the attention of the students. Each musician made a short demonstration of how his or her instrument is played, what makes it different from others, and then performed short examples of melodies from classical music written for that instrument.
Next, in Berio's "Opus Number Zoo," which included a narration of a story about a fox and a chicken, the musicians' explanation of the meaning of several short musical excerpts, helped the students to visualize the story being played out in the music.
With Theodor Blumer's "Quintet for Winds," asking the students to vote on two options for what a section of the composition depicted, was an effective way of keeping the young students engaged in the music.
Even the very modern composition, a movement from Gyorgy Ligeti's "Ten Pieces for Woodwind Quintet," was exciting and held the student's attention. Paquito D'Rivera's "Aires Tropicales" concluded each performance perfectly with a style that showed that woodwind quintets can sound "cool."
Participation Summary: 1180 students and 123 faculty and staff total at the three school school concerts.
On Thursday, April 7, 2016, the twelve members of the Grammy Award-winning a cappella choral ensemble Chanticleer held a master class with the Geneva High School Varsity Singers in the Geneva High School auditorium. The program began with Chanticleer performing one selection from the repertoire they were to sing that night in their concert at the Smith Opera House. This was a dynamic performance that impressed the high school singers with Chanticleer's world-class talent.
Next, the Varsity Singers, under the direction of Marni Kerr, sang two of the selections they had prepared to use in an upcoming choral festival in Boston. The Chanticleer singers, listening from the auditorium seats below, had copies of the music being sung. Many of them spoke afterwards, complimenting the high school singers over all, but also making very effective performance improving suggestions. These suggestions included concepts such as sectional dynamic balance, deep breathing to sustain phasing, understanding the meaning of the text and singing to project that meaning, more positive facial expressions, singing with confidence to entertain the audience, stressing important words, and holding the choral folders lower so as not to block the sound.
Participation Summary: 29 Varsity Singers. Also attending the event were 47 members of the Geneva High School Concert Chorus, and 50 members of the Geneva Middle School Chorus who observed and benefitted from the experience. Total: 126 students and 7 adults.
Outreach activities during the 2015–2016 concert season were underwritten by grants from the Wyckoff Family Foundation, the Williams Family Foundation, the Rotary Club of Geneva, NY, and by additional support from the members of Geneva Concerts. Thanks!
This series is made possible, in part, by a grant from the Williams Family Foundation, by a continuing subscription from Hobart and William Smith Colleges, by a grant from the Wyckoff Family Foundation, and by the friends of Geneva Concerts. For additional information contact info@genevaconcerts.org. 
