Performing Arts in NYC

The many performing arts organizations in New York City can be a great resource for teachers and students. Some of the links listed here also appear on the Professional Development page. Most of these organizations offer extensive outreach (visiting artist) programs for NYC schools, or offer print and audio curriculum materials for teachers. Some even host websites where children can explore music on their own.

• Carnegie Hall has a program for 4th through 6th graders called LinkUp! and one called Music Explorers program for 2nd and 3rd graders. Each program combines learning soprano recorder and trips to attend (or even participate in!) concerts at Carnegie Hall.

• Metropolitan Opera offers a variety of opera programs for schools, as well as partnerships and professional development through the Metropolitan Opera Guild.

• American Ballet Theatre is listed here because the music is such an integral part of the experience, and they offer free schooltime concerts, as well as free tickets for students to attend regular performances in the Spring.

• New York Philharmonic has a variety of programs listed. Their School Day Concerts get booked very quickly each year.

• Jazz at Lincoln Center has programs for schools and teachers, as well as a jazz curriculum website for children to explore on their own.

• Brooklyn Academy of Music offers excellent school time concerts in the BAM Opera House.

• JazzReach usually schedules a few of its outstanding multimedia performances with the Metta Quintet in June at Manhattan’s John Jay College.

• Young People’s Chorus of New York City, the resident chorus of the 92nd Street Y and WNYC, successfully emphasizes choral work from multicultural sources. Every spring, YPC hosts a big choral directors workshop.

• Juilliard School of Music has several programs to support music learning in public schools. See their Morse Fellowship.

• Brooklyn Conservatory of Music has a Music Partners program which takes the place of a full-time music teacher in some public schools (P.S. 29 in District 15 is one). In some cases the partnership can be arranged to work along-side of a regular DOE music teacher. The BCM’s Music Partners director is Dorothy Savitch.

The NYCDOE’s Office of Pupil Transportation enables schools to reserve buses on-line. Each school is assigned a UserID and Password, for access.

Student Performances

The TimeOut/MakeMusicNY festival of public music performances is held each year throughout the city, and offers an opportunity for young performers to appear before an real audience. A participating school could arrange to have a stage set-up outdoors near the school where a chorus or music ensemble could perform in a regular program. Obviously, it takes a great deal of planning to bring your students and their families together at a particular hour on a praticular day, but the pay-off in terms of real-world experience is huge. To register or inquire about the Sunday June 21, 2009  Festival visit the MakeMusicNY site:

JazzReach performances in May 2008

JazzReach stages multimedia jazz presentations that feature a live quintet and a series of animated figures of famous jazz musicians who “speak” and interact with the audience and with real people on the stage. It’s effective and worth bringing your 3rd through 5th graders to see and hear. This year JazzReach has performances in downtown Brooklyn on May 21, 22, and 23 at 10:00 AM and 12:00 PM this year. You can download a JazzReach flyer with information and a faxable reservation form from the links on this page.

Carnegie Hall and Juilliard’s program for music in city public schools

Just recently, the New York Times reported on an ambitious new collaboration by Carnegie Hall and the Juilliard School of Music intended to cultivate musicians with a wider view of the world, who will populate professional orchestras and help turn them into cultural forces in their cities.

At the same time, it’s meant to support music education at public schools throughout New York City. According the Times, young musicians will be selected to receive high-level musical training, performance opportunities at Carnegie Hall and guidance from city school teachers in how to teach music. The “fellows” will each be assigned to a different school and work there one and a half days a week, where they’ll teach their instruments, or music in general, and give their own pointers to school music teachers.

In the article, Clive Gillinson, executive and artistic director at Carnegie Hall, and Joseph W. Polisi, Juilliard’s president, describe the program largely in terms of its impact on the classically-trained musicians that will participate. The Department of Education is contributing almost $200,000 to the first phase of the operation, which lasts from January through June. “The Department of Education is effectively buying services,” Mr. Polisi said. The total yearly budget is expected to reach $5 million.

Click here Juilliard Carnegie Hall Program to download a copy of the whole article.