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.

Starting out with Suzuki

We asked some of our faculty members to offer some insights into the methods and motivations behind Settlement's offerings in music, dance and ensemble instruction. Today, in honor of the birthday of Shinichi Suzuki, developer of the Suzuki method, we turn the blog over to Daniel Elyar, faculty member since 2003 and instructor at the Camden and Mary Louise Curtis branches, to learn more about Suzuki and working with the very youngest musicians.

The Suzuki method is a set of instructional techniques for young children, including daily listening, constant repetition, parent responsibility, and loving encouragement, among other elements. Shinichi Suzuki’s basis for developing this method stemmed from post-WWII Japan; he desired to create a generation of “noble souls” and help communities build from the ground up, starting with the youngest. He felt violin was one of the best tools to do this, though not to the exclusion of other disciplines like piano, flute or even mathematics!  He felt that as a child desires to learn their native language well and does, this “mother-tongue” instinct can be tapped to create groups of young children who learn many difficult -- but also creative, enlightening, and fun -- skills together.  The idea that violin had to be learned by children in middle school was dismissed; if the children can talk and listen, they can play and make music.  
 

Elyar (on left in background) and his students in a showcase at Settlement's annual Open House

This is how I was trained as a young violinist: I recall playing countless rounds of “Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star” and “Lightly Row” with groups in venues ranging from concert halls to shopping malls, and each time I played, the community came together to celebrate the talents of the youngest and showing the community that playing together makes them patient, productive, kind to others and creative. After these experiences, it came naturally for me to study the Suzuki method when I went to Conservatory.  As enjoyable as it was as a small child, I learned to appreciate its value as a method of learning by teaching it.  Knowing the method from the child’s perspective and the trained teacher’s has given me a wealth of ideas on how to help the youngest in these communities thrive and blossom.

The ideal of a “three legged stool” is emphasized from the beginning. The legs which support the learning are the pupil, the teacher, and the pupil’s involved parents -- a new concept at the time. Also, the ideal of children thriving when learning together comes through from the very beginning: no young child would excel at a difficult skill if sat in a room with an adult only once a week with no other stimulus. 

The child must be immersed in the sounds of music daily and guided through play and lessons in groups with his or her peers together.  Not only do the children learn from the teacher and the encouragement of the parents but also by witnessing their peers play on a weekly basis in group classes. Then Suzuki created a graded curriculum of music that progresses step by step with pieces that enliven the developing musical mind as well as the fingers -- possibly his most enduring achievement. 

Preparing to face a number of challenges

The prospective Suzuki student faces a number of challenges: the violin is a tricky instrument to start on, and the sounds are possibly the least pleasant of all instruments at the very beginning. The ear, mind and fingers all need to be developed well with each other for students to excel. Fortunately, the Method gives the pupils a set of tools with which to face these challenges: a musical curriculum that is appealing from the very beginning, a structure that encourages participation and development through weekly lessons and group classes, a way for parents to be involved and better understand the skills their children are working on, and, most importantly, especially to Dr. Suzuki himself, gentle encouragement and love. The discipline of violin technique is too tricky to face without it. 

With this method, my young students love what they do and develop a fun working relationship with a group of their peers, and I also have parents who are fully engaged and involved in a music making process. I teach the Suzuki method to help a community grow and commit itself in the best way possible to its future. 

Settlement and PIFA Enter the Time Machine

The Philadelphia International Festival of the Arts showcases the diversity of the arts throughout the Philadelphia region, and after a remarkable debut in 2011, this year's festival takes the form of a month-long journey through time from March 28 to April 27, 2013. With the mysterious prompt "If you had a time machine..." Settlement Music School joins dozens of local arts organizations in collectively revisiting the past and imagining the future.

Settlement's KyoDaiko ensemble

Settlement's contribution to this wide-reaching festival takes just a short trip back in time -- to 2011 -- but with music that reaches back to much more ancient traditions. We're honored to partner with Shofuso Japanese House and Garden in West Fairmount Park in presenting "Hiraki," a newly written piece that commemorates the earthquake and tsunami that struck Japan in March 2011.

Composer and soloist Kaoru Watanabe

The performance, which will take place April 13 at PNC Bank Presser Recital Hall at Settlement's Mary Louise Curtis branch and April 18 at Shofuso Japanese House, features Settlement's KyoDaiko Taiko drummers along with composer and performer Kaoru Watanabe, a New York-based practitioner of various Japanese transverse bamboo fue or flutes, the taiko drum as well as the Western flute. 

His music blends the folk and classical traditions of Japan with contemporary improvisational and experimental music. Kaoru has performed with such artists as jazz pianist Jason Moran and Kabuki actor Bando Tamasaburo, and was a member and artistic director of Japanese taiko ensemble Kodo. As an educator, Kaoru teaches workshops and masterclasses internationally, courses at Princeton and Wesleyan University, and regular classes at his own studio, the Kaoru Watanabe Taiko Center in Brooklyn.

Join us on April 13 and 18 for Settlement's PIFA performances, which connect modern music and history with centuries-old tradition, and check out PIFA.org for announcements by the other participating arts and cultural organizations.  

Interview with Settlement alum and Pulitzer winner Quiara Hudes

Our Fall newsletter is in homes and at all the branches (and on our website, too) with stories of how our students, faculty, staff and donors are making an impact in the practice rooms, classrooms and the outside world. We included an item on a major accomplishment by a Settlement alum: Quiara Alegria Hudes winning the Pulitzer Prize for Drama for her play "Water by the Spoonful." 

Quiara Alegria Hudes, Settlement alum and winner of the 2012 Pulitzer Prize for Drama

We were very excited to hear of another Settlement alum going on to great things in life, not just in music. We caught another interview, by 215 magazine, that reveals more of her life as a playwright, but we wanted to know more about her time studying here and on the role music plays in her life. She filled us in on that and much more.
Q: When did you first begin studying music? What led you to start in the first place, and what led you study at Settlement?

QH: I was family-trained and self-trained. My aunt and uncle were musicians and exposed me to the widest range of excellent music imaginable: the Dirty Dozen Brass Band, Etta James, Steel Pulse, Bach solo cello... I had absorbed all that by the time I reached ten years old. To me, music was an endless world of sound and possibility. There were no boundaries. I took my first formal piano lesson in the eighth grade and found my way to Settlement by the ninth grade.

Q: When did you first move from writing music to writing plays? How are the two related?

QH: Music and literacy go hand in hand. My musical studies taught me concentration, listening, and the practice of silence. Those skills are important as a writer as well.

Q: What impact do you feel music and music education have in other areas of the arts? What about in areas outside of the arts?

QH: Since I didn't begin my formal music education until eighth grade, I was always behind the curve in terms of classical chops. I was never going to be a world-class concert pianist. That being said, every moment of my music education made me a better student, independent thinker, and citizen. Practicing rigorously every day taught me to motivate myself and structure my time. Getting better day by day, scale by scale, gave me a great deal of confidence, and also made me realize the connection between hard work and improvement. 

I have never had the illusion that talent or dreaming would earn me much. I knew those were starting lines for a life spent working hard and accomplishing goals. I savor the work ethic that music lessons instilled in me, in part because I learned how incredibly fun it can be to get better at something, step by step, and to use my creativity rigorously.

Q: What role does music play in your life and work now? Do you still write music or practice piano?

QH: I am not a musician now. I am a music lover, though. It's important for parents to believe in the value of musical training as a stepping stone to any kind of life. Don't send your kid to violin lessons just so they can play in the Philharmonic when they grow up; send them to violin lessons for all the pathways it may open them to.

Q: What impact has the Pulitzer had on your writing and your career?

QH: We are yet to see. Today I spent the day writing. I made my current project a little better. I had a few new ideas. That's what I'll do tomorrow as well.

Q: Any other thoughts or memories of your time at Settlement?

QH: I took piano with [Ann Stookey and Joseph W. Waz, Jr. Distinguished Faculty Chair] Dolly Krasnopolsky. She had nothing but the highest standards for me and would not accept if I had not worked up to my potential. It was tough love. She always challenged me. She banged my fingers into those keys, and told me to imagine every finger was a different member of the orchestra. She changed my life.

Looking back on summer at Settlement

After a summer spent interning in the Communications department, Brad Davis reflected upon his experiences working at Settlement and penned this before returning for his final semester at the University of Delaware. We wish him all the best and anticipate hearing stories of post-graduate success.

A reflective moment outside Settlement's
Mary Louise Curtis Branch

In many cases, an intern will go to work, be seen and not heard, perform countless chores, and establish zero meaningful relationships along the way. I’m happy to say, as an intern at Settlement, the opposite was true for me. I know I’ll look back and value my summer internship experience and appreciate the people with whom I’ve worked.

Of course, like any internship experience, mine was not without moments of adjustment.  My first week at Settlement came during a minor transition period, which saw Kirsten, former Executive Assistant, take her talents to the Chester Children’s Choir.  In the weeks following, prospective candidates would wait outside of Executive Director Helen Eaton’s office, which happened to be directly behind my cubicle, until their names were called.  It was only a minor distraction, kind of like listening to music while studying. (“Yellow Submarine” by the Beatles has always been my go-to study song.) So when the interview process was underway, I began to loosen up and became even more efficient with the work I’d been given.

The “knowledge is power” metaphor is sometimes overused by people involved in the business of education.  However, after editing numerous video clips from the Kaleidoscope Pre-K, which featured lively classroom interactions and fun, yet challenging musical instruction and dance exercises, it was the only metaphor that did justice to the experiences these kids must have had.  While watching those videos, it occurred to me the teachers in the Kaleidoscope program accomplished something extremely difficult and made it look easy.  They’d made learning seem cool.   Education is always useful, but the Kaleidoscope program makes it hip and exciting, which is no small feat considering the lightning-quick attention spans of young children.

Publications manager Dave Allen
(left) and Brad Davis

What I most enjoyed during my time at Settlement were the people I’d worked with.  They understood my position as an intern, but treated me with the respect of a full-time employee.  As Ron Burgundy would say, “We weren’t just coworkers, we were co-people.”  Dave Allen, my supervisor, was especially welcoming, and would check in with me periodically to make sure I was adjusting alright.  One of the great things about Settlement is that everyone enjoys their work.  Left to themselves, they work passionately and diligently to meet deadlines, organize fantastic events like Summer Jam and coffeehouses, while maintaining a somewhat relaxed business atmosphere.  Isn’t that the ideal working environment for any individual? 

Of course, the terrible thing about internships is they have to end.  Ultimately, I think what’s clued me in to Settlement’s sustained success is that people have and always will love music.  The teaching aspect only furthers this love, because people can maximize its outreach by instilling in others a better appreciation of what music is and how it can impact their lives.  It’s certainly impacted mine.  I’d like to thank Settlement Music School for giving me the opportunity to intern at in the Communications department, and, more specifically, Communications Director Kris Parsons for initially considering me for the position. 

An afternoon of jazz with the West Philadelphia Branch

For a recap of one of Settlement's recent summer camps, we turn the blog over to Brad Davis, Communications department summer intern.

On August 3, I attended the West Philadelphia Branch’s summer jazz camp performance at the Green Line Café.  My first experience watching and, better yet, filming a jazz ensemble performance was truly awesome.  The environment was relaxed, with well-dressed, talkative parents chatting.  The ensemble, which was divided into two smaller groups, each played three or four tunes. The two faculty members in charge of the camp, Mark Forchic and Dan Peterson, employed several interesting techniques within each standard, including many memorable solos and trade-offs between instruments.  Each soloist’s playing was focused and rhythmically clean. During solos, my eyes searched the audience until I came across one parent’s face, which beamed with pride and excitement as she watched her child let loose on stage. 

In “Song for My Father”, one musician introduced the song in uniquely humorous fashion: “We’d like to dedicate this piece to all fathers; you people are wonderful human beings.” Echoes of laughter filled the room, but soon after, the kids immediately focused on the charts in front of them and began to play a smooth, relaxing Horace Silver piece. Later, in “Beginning to See the Light,” the soothing melody of the saxophone was played in parallel by the trombones and bass, characteristic of the 1920’s Jazz style. 

I was amazed at each ensemble’s balance and consistency. There were times when I expected the saxophone to overpower the guitar or xylophone, but each person played to their strengths and those of others. When you consider the ensemble had only a week to prepare, you can’t help but be impressed.

After the final full group set, I had been eagerly awaiting to speak with Dave Allen, Publications and Social Media Manager, who was there with me taking pictures of the young musicians in action.  From the look on his face, I knew he’d been thrilled with the performance. I congratulated several of the players and asked them how they’d enjoyed the cam and performance.  Each kid sported an energetic smile and gushed about his or her positive summer experience at Settlement.  If I had taken part in such a performance, I think I’d be gushing too.

Behind the scenes at Summer Jam, sponsored by PECO

For a recap of one of Settlement's recent summer camps, we turn the blog over to Mark Forchic, guitarist and Settlement faculty member.

Summer Jam 2012 rocked! I figured that should be the appropriate opening statement for my first SMS blog, since no other words can describe what an amazing job the students of SJ12 did. Summer Jam 2012 marked the sixth year of Summer Jam’s existence and proved it to be a very successful and gratifying experience for all involved.

Members of Mr. Moustachio and faculty member Mark Forchic listen to the playback

A little background: for those who don’t know what Summer Jam is, SJ is the “band experience” for students. It’s an opportunity for students, ages 12-18, to form a band, write, learn, and record their music, then put on a gig at a legitimate venue in the Philly area.

This year’s bands included The Pepper Trees, the Pastafarians, and Mr. Mustachio. For 2 weeks, these three bands hunkered down in the studios in MLC and began the process of becoming true rockers. Through individual lessons on their appropriate instruments and songwriting classes, they put their newly acquired information to use through plenty of rehearsal time throughout each day.

The Pepper Trees (four out of six of them, anyway) recording at Sine Studios

After about a week and a half, the bands approach their first major step to fulfilling their goal: recording their newly conceived original song at a professional recording studio. For the past few years at Summer Jam, Sine Studios has generously lent their facilities to the Summer Jammers, and allowed the students to experience what it is to record their art in a professional studio. And I have to say, the bands rocked it! All three bands stepped up to pressures of a recording experience and did a super job, all on the eve of the camp final experience: the gig.

The Pastafarians on stage at Silk City, cranking out a Led Zeppelin cover

 On the last day of the camp, Silk City Diner & Lounge (thanks, Joe B.!) was the venue of choice to showcase the talents of 3 hard-working bands, and all three took their talents to a higher level. The bands did such a great job, from performing their original songs, to entertaining the crowd with familiar versions of songs from Queen to Led Zeppelin. It left the SJ faculty - Luke Honer, Toshio Mana and me - very proud and happy to be a part of it. At the end of the performance, there were a lot of smiles and even more talk about next year’s Summer Jam!

Get to know Settlement at Open House, This Saturday from 10 AM to 1 PM

The 2011-12 school year is nearly at an end: all the major performances have taken place, high school seniors are preparing to graduate, and students and teachers alike are headed for summer camps, festivals and well-earned vacations. There's just one final milestone left: the annual Open House, held this Saturday, 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:

-A 10 AM performance by ballet students of Kaye Fernandez, recent winner of the Sol Schoenbach Award for outstanding service to the school, kicks off the day at the Mary Louise Curtis branch.

Kaveh Saidi leads the Germantown branch Junior Orchestra, a newly-established ensemble

- the Germantown Branch Junior Orchestra, started last fall and led by Kaveh Saidi, caps its successful first year with a 12 PM performance at the Germantown branch.


-An instrument repair workshop hosted by experienced technician Larry Frank at the Kardon-Northeast branch will be held from 10 AM to noon. Bring your instruments that are in need of fixing up!

Faculty member Dan Peterson instructs the West Philadelphia saxophone section to shout it out

-Follow the West Philadelphia Branch Jazz Ensemble all afternoon! They perform at 1 PM at the West Philadelphia branch, then move off-site to the West Park Arts Festival, held at the High School of the Future (40th and Parkside), at 3 PM.

-Beyond Ballet: Workshops for jazz and hip-hop dance will be held at the Camden School of Musical Arts branch from 10 to 11:30 AM.

What is this guy doing? Conducting?

- Some non-standard instruments and ensembles will be featured in Willow Grove: an all-cello ensemble, with students and teachers playing cellos of all different sizes, and a demonstration of a theremin (seen above), an early electronic instrument.

World premieres by Settlement's young composers

Performers of all kinds often serve as opening acts for bigger, better-known names as they make their way to the top. At 6:30 pm on Saturday, works by student composers at Settlement will be featured as the opening act for a concert of contemporary music by the award-winning Philadelphia ensembles The Crossing and Network for New Music.

The students' pieces will be presented alongside a new work by their teacher, Roberto Pace, the Robert Capanna Fundamentals of Music Distinguished Faculty Chair. All are world premieres being performed for the very first time, and the project is funded by the American Composers Forum.

These new pieces are the product of a year-long concentration on the intersection of words and music, plus a collaboration with Philadelphia-based poet Lamont Steptoe, a writer, in Pace's words, "in the tradition of Whitman and Ginsberg." For students in Pace's Advanced Music Theory and Composition classes, it was the first time they had set poetry to music or worked with professional musicians.

Pace and his students started out with a Bach chorale, then moved on to more advanced examples by Brahms, Debussy and other greats. "We would talk about the words: about how the composer dramatically draws out the words, when the words have to be allowed to bloom, and when do you push the text forward," Pace says.

Roberto Pace leads members of the ensemble during rehearsal

After months of closely studying poems and musical settings heavy with words, the students began their composition process in January and worked on their pieces throughout the spring. After evaluations by Pace and workshops with musicians, works by five students were selected for the concert-opening honor:

• "Chaos, spun gold of the wind" by Immanuel Mykyta-Chomsky 
• "Wails and woundings" by Jeremy Gonzalo 
• "Juju clowns and holy men" by Shuvanon Shaheed
• "Inside the noise" by Alison Hsieh
• "Straight up in the air" by Maurice Jackson

Pace says that when Steptoe heard the pieces in a workshop setting several months ago, he was blown away, saying, "I'm so humbled that you have thought about my words and made them your own." In turn, the students enjoyed the experience of working with Steptoe - "the person whose brain and body the poem came from," in Pace's words - and gaining his perspective on the words they chose to set.

Pianist and SMS faculty member Linda Reichert and baritone Jackson Williams

All of the student works, as well as Pace's own "Somewhere without a map," will be performed by an ensemble of piano, clarinet (played by SMS faculty members Linda Reichert and Arne Running, respectively) and double bass accompanying soprano and baritone soloists.

Come out to support these students and their first forays into composition! The recital is at 6:30 pm on Saturday, June 2, 2012 at the Presbyterian Church of Chestnut Hill. 8855 Germantown Avenue, Philadelphia. Tickets for the 8:00 pm concert to follow are $18/$27 in advance and $20/$30 at the door.

A Sunday of Strings

As the end of the school year draws near, performances are popping up all over: senior recitals for scholarship students soon to graduate, certification concerts for selected students taking the next step in Settlement's curriculum, and weekday performance hours for students of all ages to show off the product of their lessons and practice sessions.

A low-strings sectional rehearsal

Year-end ensemble performances demonstrate something extra: a year of building chemistry and working toward achieving unity. Those group achievements will be on display this Sunday at the Mary Louise Curtis Branch. At 3 pm, the Spring Orchestra Festival features the Junior Orchestras from the Germantown and Mary Louise Curtis Branches and the Intermediate Orchestra, and at 7 pm, the Trowbridge Chamber Orchestra performs.


Playing in a large group is a big step for young musicians, says Monique Johnson, director of the MLC Junior Orchestra. "It's the very first time they've heard other instruments," she says, and her goal is to get her players to work together, to listen to themselves and one another, to form an ensemble out of 19 individuals. That means no "one-bar solos," as Johnson calls them: moments where an incorrect rhythm causes a student to play during a rest.

There are true solos on the concert, too: one from each section featured during Rossini's Overture to William Tell, and two featured violinists during Handel's "Entrance of the Queen of Sheba" from the oratorio "Solomon." Everyone in the orchestra was able to attempt the solos and decide if they want to try out. "I've had everybody play, and I've had the whole section play it together," Johnson says. "I always let them know what I'm listening for."

Jeri Lynne Johnson leading the Trowbridge Chamber Orchestra during rehearsal

Later on Sunday, the Trowbridge Chamber Orchestra, the most advanced group in Settlement's orchestra program, performs. This group recently had the honor of performing at Settlement's 104th Anniversary Gala, and they'll revisit the piece they performed that night: Ernest Bloch's Concerto Grosso with Piano Obbligato.

It's a piece that sounds more difficult than it really is, according to Trowbridge conductor Jeri Lynne Johnson. In terms of rhythm, counterpoint, and balance between sections and between piano and ensemble, it's still an advanced piece of music, one originally written for a collegiate orchestra and one that helps reinforce good ensemble habits. "It has some very intricate ensemble playing," Johnson says. "It requires them to really listen to each other."


Come see how well these students work together and how they respond to the conductors and soloists; it's the kind of teamwork that will serve them well in the future, whether playing or working.

The Spring Orchestra Festival at 3 pm and the Trowbridge Chamber Orchestra at 7 pm.

Both at PNC Bank*Presser Recital Hall at the Mary Louise Curtis Branch,

416 Queen Street, Philadelphia. 

Receptions to follow both performances.