student projects
Students studied the connection between their environment, safety, and health, creating original music with trash they collected from the neighborhood, sports equipment and even fruits and vegetables that were hooked up to sensors allowing them to play original melodies.
Winner of the Rob Maitra CREATE award for senior capstone projects. Students raised money to offer healthcare for immigrants who need assistance, writing and recording an original song promoting universal healthcare.
Students studied the history of "Carol of the Bells" and found it was originally a Ukrainian folk song used for cultural diplomacy. Parallels were drawn between the current Russo-Ukrainian war, prompting a multi-grade instrumental arrangement, encouraging society to "make art not war".
Students chose songs that promoted social justice after studying how music has historically contributed to major protest movements concerning racial equality, gender equality, LGBTQ+ rights, and other civic concerns. These songs were studied on their respective instruments and used to make original remixes through digital music production techniques.
Except from a “found sound” audio/video lesson for Carnegie Hall’s Weill Music Institute - used for asynchronous video instruction during the Covid lockdown.
Short except from an ensemble rehearsal. Students wrote and performed and original piece as part of their authentic assessment, “Collective Composition and the Art of Performance”.