By Kaitlin Hines-Vargas | Associate Director of Development
Throughout the 2021-2022 school year, Education Through Music’s (ETM) teachers have brought tireless dedication, tenacity, and creativity to their students every day. One of our main goals for the school year has been to increase students’ engagement with non-Western music traditions. Thanks to collaborative efforts at several of our schools, students have been immersed in varying musical traditions – from Persian to Afro-Caribbean, and many others in between.
At PS 306 in the Bronx, students experienced Persian culture with visiting artist Daro Behroozi. Daro shared the cultural rituals around the Iranian New Year, Nowruz, and performed on several Persian instruments, including the sorna, ney, daf, and setar. Following the assemblies, ETM Teacher Ms. Khatami taught units on Iranian music, culminating in wonderful school-wide performances inspired by Daro’s visit.
Middle school students displayed their rhythm skills to a packed auditorium at PS / MS 20 in the Bronx. Facilitated by ETM Teacher Ms. Barton and Brooklyn-born percussionist and educator Olatunji Ojore, students took part in a three-day workshop series to explore percussion rhythms from Cuba, Haiti, and Puerto Rico. These lessons culminated in resounding concerts for the entire school.
ETM is proud to have brought musical traditions such as these to the music room through intensive activities like those described above, as well as by providing ongoing, customizable unit plans for our teachers. Popular unit plans have included “Song of the Week,” which sources folk and traditional songs from all worldwide and breaks down their meaning and structure. Cultures highlighted have included: Cherokee/Shawnee/Choctaw, Bengali, Arabic, Cambodian, and more. Multidisciplinary plans in “Book Themed Units,” have revolved around diverse books, using their topics as a jumping off points to teach everything from syllabic stresses to rhyme and rhythm. Books chosen have included: “Born on the Water,” “Drum Dream Girl,” “Say Zoop!” and more.
We thank our incredible donors and funders for enabling us to bring a variety of musical traditions and cultural perspectives to the music room this school year, and look forward to sharing more updates soon!
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