Announcing New Afterschool Program and New Classes for Infants and Toddlers

14-month old Elijah grabbed the egg shaker from the basket and started to march around the room, even before Ms. Martha started the hopping game. It was a cool day in early summer, when a small group of parents and toddlers gathered for a sneak peek at one of Settlement’s newest class offerings, Children's Music Playshop.

Early Childhood faculty member Martha Glaze Zook
leading a song during Children's Music Playshop

Ms. Martha, also known as Arthur Judson Distinguished Faculty Chair and Early Childhood faculty member Martha Glaze Zook, played along, declaring Elijah the “leader” of the hopping game, before passing the responsibility to the next child. Activities like this, which encourage both cooperation and creativity in a musical setting, are highly beneficial for very young children. Moving, interacting and exploring rhythm through simple games and instruments encourage mental and physical development before the preschool years. Children become oriented toward music, and often remain interested for life.

Children’s Music Playshop, an introduction to music for infants and toddlers, builds upon the curriculum of Children’s Music Workshop, which has been part of Settlement’s core program for more than 20 years. The new course will be structured as a music class for very young children, along with their parents or caregivers. The class is geared toward developing locomotor skills, word recognition and vocal expression through songs, movement games, and rhythmic and speech exercises.

Music Playshop will be offered weekly, with classes split between 6- to 18-month-olds and 19-month-olds to 3-year-olds, at the Mary Louise Curtis, Germantown, Kardon-Northeast, Willow Grove and Wynnefield Branches. Contact the branch nearest you for more information.

Families seeking quality arts-based aftercare in Queen Village and Germantown have a new option: This fall, Settlement will launch Kaleidoscope Plus, an extension of its award-winning preschool program that will serve students from preschool through third grade and their families.

In Kaleidoscope Plus, children will participate in age-appropriate arts activities, including music, theatre, movement and visual arts, and receive snacks and homework assistance. As an added plus, parents may be able to schedule group or individual instrument lessons or dance classes during the aftercare program, saving valuable time. Settlement faculty may also be able to escort children from nearby schools to Settlement as a convenience to parents. The program will run daily from 2:45 to 5:45 PM at the Mary Louise Curtis and Germantown Branches; other scheduling options are available, including four-, three-day and two-day options.

Call 215.320.2672 to sign up for the program at either branch, or click here to submit an online request for program and enrollment details. For families qualifying for CCIS, contact Tarrell Davis at 215.320.2670 or by email.

Adapted and expanded from Settlement's Fall 2013 newsletter. Read more here.

Settlement's Open House, Saturday June 8, 10 AM to 1 PM

Settlement's 2012-13 school year comes to an end next week. After the Annual Concert on Sunday, there's one last week of lessons and classes before students and teachers alike head off for summer camps, festivals and well-earned vacations. Before we send everyone off for the summer, we hope to get to know some new people first at the annual Open House, held tomorrow, from 10 AM to 1 PM, at all of Settlement's branches.

Students and faculty will be performing and leading demonstrations, and staff and volunteers will be on hand to answer questions about all of the lessons, classes and ensembles offered both this summer and year-round.

A full schedule of events at each branch is available here, but from all of the events packed into just three hours at each branch, here are a few selected highlights:

-Suzuki play-in at the Mary Louise Curtis Branch. We've talked about the Suzuki teaching method here before, now come see what has made the Suzuki program at Settlement such a popular choice for very young musicians and their parents.

-Cello-bration at the Willow Grove Branch, including a performance by a cello ensemble, coached by Christine Danoff, of Villa-Lobos' Bachianas Brasileiras. It's a sneak preview of Sunday's Annual Concert, too.

-Performances by student jazz and rock bands, coached by Mark Forchic, at the Germantown Branch. It's been a year of tremendous growth for jazz ensembles at Settlement, and Mark's ensembles have been performing far and wide.


-Voice recital featuring students of Susan Rheingans at the Kardon-Northeast Branch

-A demonstration of Percussion Construction, a percussion class where children ages 5-7 play alongside their parents, at the Wynnefield Branch.

-Demonstrations and performances by Children's Music Workshop students at the Camden School of Musical Arts. CMW provides an introduction to music theory, notation and musical development -- a great way for young musicians to learn music fundamentals before starting on an instrument.

Rites of swing: Jazz performances abound this spring

It's been a big year for jazz at Settlement, with jazz ensemble programs thriving at the Wynnefield, Kardon-Northeast and Germantown branches. Plus, the Advanced Study jazz ensemble at the Mary Louise Curtis Branch recently won a Student Music Award from DownBeat magazine; read more about that here!

Guitar faculty Mark Forchic coaching several saxophone students

Spring brought a staggering number of performances throughout the community by ensembles from all of these branches. The list includes:

• regular performances at the City Line Landmark Americana
   
• a Jazz Festival on April 7 at the Mary Louise Curtis Band, in collaboration with professor Chris Farr from the University of the Arts and members of the UArts Jazz Band and with ensembles from all branches taking part

• a jazz-centered performance hour at the Wynnefield Branch

• a patio performance at the Free Library of Philadelphia's Wynnefield Branch, with piano faculty Scott Coulter joining several members of the Wynnefield Jazz Ensemble

• the South Street Spring Festival, sponsored by the South Street Headhouse District, with a crowd of thousands passing by

• the City Avenue Spring Fling. Saxophonist Jack Savone, a member of the Kardon-Northeast Jazz Ensemble, was even asked to sit in with Chico's Vibe, a professional group that performs widely throughout the Philadelphia area

 

Outdoor performance at the Free Library of Philadelphia's Wynnefield Branch

These numerous performances are partly a reflection of the dedication of guitar faculty Mark Forchic, who coaches the ensembles at Wynnefield, Kardon-Northeast and Germantown. Along with the directors at those branches, he sought out new students at many local schools, and he's instilled a serious, performance-oriented mindset in all of his groups this year. "I treat it like we're a working, performing jazz group." Weekly practice sessions are "not like in school; we play like we are going out to play a gig -- which we do."

All these gigs wouldn't have come about with a talented bunch of students. One of Forchic's ensembles at Wynnefield started this year ahead of the rest -- the members are all students at Lower Merion High School and have been playing together for years -- and played the majority of the concerts. Forchic says those students -- Tom Hagen, Dean Hughart, Ellis Kelsey, Jeremy Katz, and John Della Franco -- are a special group. "It's unique from the other groups I have," he says. "I've had them for two or three years now, and they spend so much time playing and just hanging out together."

The ensembles at Kardon-Northeast and Germantown, plus the other two ensembles at Wynnefield, have all worked on catching up with the older, more experienced ensemble, and all have been featured during this busy season of shows. All of Forchic's groups dig deep into classic tunes, drawing from the professional jazz player's standby The Real Book, and work on making up arrangements on the spot -- no writing anything down.

The busy season is coming to a close with a performance at the Seger Park Playground Spring Festival on June 2 and numerous performances school-wide during the Open House on June 8. After a little downtime for students and faculty, jazz at Settlement will pick back up once again with the Summer Jazz Camp from July 29 to August 2. For more information on the jazz ensemble program at Settlement, contact the Branch nearest you or stop by the Open House at any of our branches on June 8 from 10 AM to 1 PM.

Collaborate and listen: Settlement partners with local arts organizations

The next month at Settlement Music School brings exciting partnerships with other arts and educational organizations: one a new venture, the other an annual tradition.

The performance hour and gallery opening at the Germantown Branch, featured on GoMtAiry.com

Student recitals are scattered throughout the year at all six Settlement branches, but the one held on Sunday, February 24 at the Germantown Branch will be more than a showcase of students' skills. Allens Lane Art Center, a fixture of the arts and culture in the Mt. Airy neighborhood of Northwest Philadelphia, is opening a satellite gallery in the Samuel and Elaine Lieberman Auditorium at the Germantown Branch. Following the recital on February 24, there will be a reception with local artist Vincent DeLeo, whose art will be on display in the auditorium through March 24.
 

Cuatro Celli, with cellist Timothy Eddy of the Orion Quartet (center) and cello faculty Christine Danoff (far right)

The end of that same week brings Settlement's annual collaboration with the Jenkintown-based Metropolitan Ballet Company. The program, "Variations/Collaborations," features Settlement students accompanying the 30-member classical dance company in performances of ballet and modern dance. Featured performers from Settlement include Cuatro Celli, a cello quartet coached by cello faculty Christine Danoff; a piano trio coached by piano faculty and Arthur Judson Distinguished Faculty Chair Sandra Carlock; and solo performers, including Kristal Daniels, voice student of Judith Turano, and faculty member and Mr. and Mrs. Donald Kardon Distinguished Faculty Chair Jean Louise Shook. The program, which was previewed on Philadelphiadance.org's danceJournal blog, will be held Saturday, March 2 at 7 p.m.; tickets are $15.00 and can be purchased online at www.metropolitanballetcompany.org

The creative energies from these artistic collaborations will continue throughout the year, including recitals and certification concerts throughout the spring and Settlement's contribution to the Philadelphia Festival of the Arts on April 13 and 18.

Learning and growing with Settlement

For a parent's insights into the Settlement community and the bonds between student and teacher, we turn the blog over to Andy Trackman, whose daughter studies with Kathleen Scheide at the Germantown branch.

Every Wednesday, I pick up my daughter from school at Germantown Friends School and drive the short trip to Settlement’s Germantown branch. We make our way up the second floor to the music studio. We’ve been doing this for about 6 years now. This is her first year at GFS; the past 5 years of lessons, we have come from Greene Street Friends, only a block shorter.

Between lessons here is a lot like between classes at a school, in terms of activity. You see a mix of students and parents coming in: reluctant toddlers being pushed along by their parents, teenagers arriving on their own with their instruments, excited youngsters hurrying, their parents close behind. Many join me in the hallway, with book or smartphone in hand, waiting for the lesson to finish, while others go into the lesson with their kids. What I like is seeing all these different people coming in and out, it’s more of a community than an individual lesson in your house. You feel like you’re part of something bigger and more interesting.

The view from the hall at the Germantown branch

 Many weeks, it’s just me and all the lessons going on – piano in one room, strings in another, drums down the hall. Just as I can hear lessons through the doors of the practice rooms, I can listen to the teachers play their own music in the gaps between their lessons or if their next student is running late. Just from these short practice sessions, I realize how accomplished they are, and how fortunate I am to have my daughter being taught by one of them.

Now that she’s 15, my daughter more actively appreciates the accomplishments of her teacher. This past summer, we attended a concert by in which her teacher performed. It featured Baroque music on period-accurate instruments. Her performance was wonderful, and afterwards my daughter and I talked about how good she was. Now, did this inspire her to practice more? Did she suddenly feel the need to learn harder pieces, become more focused?

Not exactly. But I do think she is more respectful of her lesson time, now that she knows the relationship with her teacher is more than just the thirty minutes she spends with her each week. She’s also starting to write her own songs and lyrics. She takes what she’s learning in her lessons and applies it to the music she likes to create. She wouldn’t have the vocabulary or the knowledge to do this otherwise. Her mother and I felt she needed music education in her life, not so she would become a concert pianist, but so she could get to know an instrument she could use and enjoy and benefit from for life.