Through the Winston-Salem Symphony’s P.L.A.Y. Music program, three kindergarten classes at Easton Elementary had violin class once a week for 50 minutes and one class had violin class twice a week for 50 minutes over the course of the school year. All classes started by teaching the children on paper violins. Later in the year, the students graduated to real violins, which is a momentous occasion for all. To demonstrate the progression from paper violin to real violins, during the Jamboree, one class will demonstrate a skill they learned on the paper violin and the other three classes will demonstrate on a real violin.
P.L.A.Y. Music is the Winston-Salem Symphony’s El Sistema-inspired program, which places an emphasis on the teaching of the whole child: head, heart, and hands. The central focus of the curriculum is instilling in each student a thankfulness for their background and place in the world, an appreciation for those different than themselves, a motivation to work with others in a team and to better themselves holistically through active contribution and participation in an ensemble. Additionally, the program strives to assist students to excel academically—particularly in the area of early childhood literacy—by creatively including academic activities in each music lesson.
Team Mozart is the primary level of string ensemble musicianship training and provides beginner K–2nd grade students the opportunity to develop basic musical skills including music notation, creative movement and dance, beginner violin techniques, and care, composition, improvisation, and solfège singing, which are all accomplished through participation in “paper orchestra” and beginner strings ensemble. Team Beethoven is the secondary level of string ensemble musicianship training and provides students upwards of 5th grade and graduates of Team Mozart the opportunity to further develop their musical skills. Team Beethoven students transition from the “general” music format of Team Mozart into a more formal “orchestral” setting through more consistent use of chairs, stands, music books, and an introduction to cello for select students in hopes of graduating into our newest, most advanced group—Team Brahms—or preparing them to successfully audition for the Winston-Salem Symphony Youth Orchestras Program.
About the Winston-Salem Symphony
The Winston-Salem Symphony, one of the Southeast’s most highly regarded regional orchestras, began its 72nd season in October 2018. The season will include performances featuring the five finalists for the Music Director position. Each candidate will conduct a pair of Classics Series concerts, and attendees will have a chance to play a role in the selection process. In addition, the 2018–2019 season will include a Plugged-In Pops series, Discovery Concerts for Kids series, an annual performance of Handel’s Messiah, the Concert for Community featuring Winston-Salem Symphony and Youth Symphony musicians, holiday concerts, three youth orchestra ensembles, and a multitude of educational and community engagement programs, including the newest offering, the P.L.A.Y. (Piedmont Learning Academy for Youth) Music program providing, primarily to under-served youth, instrumental music instruction and more. The Symphony is supported by Season Presenting Sponsors BB&T and Bell, Davis & Pitt, P.A., as well as generous funding from the Arts Council of Winston-Salem/Forsyth County, the North Carolina Arts Council, and other dedicated sponsors. For more information, visit WSsymphony.org.
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