The entire Lower School is excited about our Lower School Musical The Wizard of Oz performances this coming week! Lower School students Pre-K to 5 will get a preview during the day Tuesday; the performances are Wednesday, April 20 and Thursday, April 21 7pm Panther Hall. Admission is free, doors will open for seating at 6:30. Students Beginner through Fifth Grade have also been preparing for Parents’ Day on Friday, May 6; see the flyer with a schedule of events in the right hand column. Also in the right hand column is the flyer for Spring Concerts in May featuring our Ranney Lower School, Middle School, and Upper School Bands, Orchestras, and Choruses. Our composer of the month for March was Robert Schumann, students especially enjoyed his Album for the Young. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart is our composer for April and we have explored the Variations on "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star”. Our World Music of the Month for March was Ireland and April featured music of South America. Beginner through First Grade students have explored jazz music through our story about the Flying Jazz Kittens using instruments such as egg shakers, xylophones, jingle bells, and triangles to represent actions. We experienced some “scat singing” with the Jazz Kitten song “Twinkle Baby”. Students Pre-K through First Grade read the book Tubby the Tuba further exploring instruments of the orchestra; they got a special introduction to my piccolo. Second Grade students read about and listened to “Carnival of the Animals” by Camille Saint-Saens featuring instruments of the orchestra. Third Grade students continue to review the songs “Hot Cross Buns,” “Mary Had a Little Lamb,” “Miasama”, and “Peace” on the recorders; they have learned two new notes (C & D) and are working on Beethoven’s “Chorale” melody from the 9th Symphony. Fourth and Fifth Grade students continue to explore mallet technique on the xylophones using chopsticks to practice with on the floor before moving to the instruments. We continue to practice the “Percussion Concussion” piece with body percussion adding drums and xylophones. Fourth Grade students began a composition project beginning with eight measures of rhythm; the next step will be adding pitches. Fifth Grade will begin a similar project soon. Fifth Grade students have been completing a General Music review; they will bring this home soon. In general music classes students K-5 have been learning the songs "All In" and "We're All Together Again" to sing as a Lower School at our gatherings. The Lower School gathering on March 4 was the first time we all sang together! On Monday, March 14 the Oxford University a cappella vocal group, Out of the Blue, visited Ranney School to work with our vocal students and to share some of their repertoire with the student body. Comprised of students from Oxford University and Oxford Brookes University, Out of the Blue has performed on the West End and on Broadway, reached the semi-finals of Britain's Got Talent, and toured around the world to places including Switzerland, France, India, Hong Kong, and Japan. Ranney vocal students enjoyed working with the group and getting some tips on a cappella singing. On April 6 Ranney School musicians celebrated Music in Our Schools Week by putting on The Biggest Concert Ever! Organized by the Junior and Senior Tri-M® Music Honor Society chapters and directed by All-Division Orchestra Director Dr. Dorothy Sobieski,
the event featured 54 choral students and 82 orchestra students from all three of Ranney School’s divisions. Students performed You Will Never Walk Alone from Carousel, the recently staged Upper School production. Happy Spring! Friday, April 15, 2016
March/April Music Notes
The entire Lower School is excited about our Lower School Musical The Wizard of Oz performances this coming week! Lower School students Pre-K to 5 will get a preview during the day Tuesday; the performances are Wednesday, April 20 and Thursday, April 21 7pm Panther Hall. Admission is free, doors will open for seating at 6:30. Students Beginner through Fifth Grade have also been preparing for Parents’ Day on Friday, May 6; see the flyer with a schedule of events in the right hand column. Also in the right hand column is the flyer for Spring Concerts in May featuring our Ranney Lower School, Middle School, and Upper School Bands, Orchestras, and Choruses. Our composer of the month for March was Robert Schumann, students especially enjoyed his Album for the Young. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart is our composer for April and we have explored the Variations on "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star”. Our World Music of the Month for March was Ireland and April featured music of South America. Beginner through First Grade students have explored jazz music through our story about the Flying Jazz Kittens using instruments such as egg shakers, xylophones, jingle bells, and triangles to represent actions. We experienced some “scat singing” with the Jazz Kitten song “Twinkle Baby”. Students Pre-K through First Grade read the book Tubby the Tuba further exploring instruments of the orchestra; they got a special introduction to my piccolo. Second Grade students read about and listened to “Carnival of the Animals” by Camille Saint-Saens featuring instruments of the orchestra. Third Grade students continue to review the songs “Hot Cross Buns,” “Mary Had a Little Lamb,” “Miasama”, and “Peace” on the recorders; they have learned two new notes (C & D) and are working on Beethoven’s “Chorale” melody from the 9th Symphony. Fourth and Fifth Grade students continue to explore mallet technique on the xylophones using chopsticks to practice with on the floor before moving to the instruments. We continue to practice the “Percussion Concussion” piece with body percussion adding drums and xylophones. Fourth Grade students began a composition project beginning with eight measures of rhythm; the next step will be adding pitches. Fifth Grade will begin a similar project soon. Fifth Grade students have been completing a General Music review; they will bring this home soon. In general music classes students K-5 have been learning the songs "All In" and "We're All Together Again" to sing as a Lower School at our gatherings. The Lower School gathering on March 4 was the first time we all sang together! On Monday, March 14 the Oxford University a cappella vocal group, Out of the Blue, visited Ranney School to work with our vocal students and to share some of their repertoire with the student body. Comprised of students from Oxford University and Oxford Brookes University, Out of the Blue has performed on the West End and on Broadway, reached the semi-finals of Britain's Got Talent, and toured around the world to places including Switzerland, France, India, Hong Kong, and Japan. Ranney vocal students enjoyed working with the group and getting some tips on a cappella singing. On April 6 Ranney School musicians celebrated Music in Our Schools Week by putting on The Biggest Concert Ever! Organized by the Junior and Senior Tri-M® Music Honor Society chapters and directed by All-Division Orchestra Director Dr. Dorothy Sobieski,
the event featured 54 choral students and 82 orchestra students from all three of Ranney School’s divisions. Students performed You Will Never Walk Alone from Carousel, the recently staged Upper School production. Happy Spring! 