As Fall River third-graders waited for the New Bedford Symphony Orchestra to take the stage at the Zeiterion Performing Arts Center on Thursday, their enthusiasm was evident as giggles turned to cheers.
At this concert, the elementary students had a stake in the musical program.
Third-graders in four of Fall River’s elementary schools learned about the concept of balance in music and balance in ecology this year through the NBSO’s Learning in Concert program, “The Orchestra as Ecosystem: Symphony Symbiosis.”
Every year, the Learning in Concert program focuses on an aspect of music to explore with students in 55 schools across Southeastern Massachusetts and Rhode Island. “I look for subject areas across the curriculum that authentically share the concept,” said Terry Wolkowicz, education director for the NBSO.
The program started earlier this year with Wolkowicz visiting the schools with two other musicians from the NBSO. The musicians performed for the students and demonstrated how a musical composition is altered when it’s out of balance by manipulating musical elements such as texture, form, melody, harmony and rhythm.
Using a New England salt marsh model Wolkowicz constructed for this year’s program, the students crossed disciplines to learn about balance in an ecosystem. In the model salt marshes, Wolkowicz introduced different types of disruption to the marshes to demonstrate an imbalance. In one, a road being built through the marsh cut off a tidal area. In another, the disruption occurred through the use of chemicals on a lawn that entered the marsh through runoff.
“Children will analyze balance cross-disciplines by determining niche (the musical part’s role in creating balance within a piece of music and the organism’s role in creating balance within an ecosystem), population (number of the same species within an ecosystem or number of same instruments playing within a piece of music), and biodiversity (how many different musical parts transpire and interact throughout a piece of music or how many different species exist within an ecosystem),” said Wolkowicz in a prepared description of the program.
As Wolkowicz talked to the students gathered at the Zeiterion on Thursday, she reminded them of the work they accomplished over the year, culminating in each classroom composing a piece of music based on Pachabel’s Canon to represent all the living parts of their salt marsh ecosystem. Some of the schools’ compositions were performed at the concert, as well.
As they waited for the concert to begin, James Tansey Elementary School students Sean Landry and Amarii enthusiastically said “Yes!” in unison when asked if they liked the Learning in Concert program.
Third-grade students at the Henry Lord Community School and the Spencer Borden, Mary L. Fonseca and Tansey elementary schools took part in the program this year.
“The balance in these two fields of study has so many parallels, and our kids were able to experience that through exploring ecosystems, analyzing elements of stability,” said Jacqueline Francisco, Fall River schools director of Fine and Performing Arts. “As they did this, they also witnessed firsthand how musicians balance their sound with different instruments and instrument families. Our kids have enjoyed this program so much, and they especially love Terry, and her partner in crime, Travis, as he always makes them laugh with his musical antics and playful ways.”
The Learning in Concert program in the Fall River schools was made possible in part through a generous contribution from Concerts at The Point, said Wolkowicz.
Email Linda Murphy at lmurphy@heraldnews.com.