August 20, 2004
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Portland , Ore. … Volunteers from around the community with a love for music and children will be trained by the Oregon Symphony Education and Community Engagement staff on Saturday, Oct. 2, to assist in preparing third through fifth graders for upcoming Symphony Youth Concert experiences. The free docent training session will take place from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. at the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall.
The Symphony’s Education and Community Engagement department offers several trainings per symphony season, as part of continuing efforts to increase the number of school visits by enlisting volunteers from outside the Symphony organization.
This year Education and Community Engagement continues to expand its recruitment to include volunteers from the Salem/Keizer area. The volunteers, called “docents,” will visit area elementary school classrooms to prepare students for Youth Concerts held in both Portland and Salem, scheduled for late October. They will talk about the instruments of the orchestra and the music that students will hear during the concert. Using a variety of visual and aural teaching aids, docents lead students through a listening lesson of musical excerpts that will be performed on the upcoming concert. CD’s with musical excerpts and materials are provided for use in the classroom free of charge.
“Oregon Symphony docents prepare our youngest audience members for their concert experience by inspiring a love and understanding of music,” said Vice President of Education and Community Engagement Michael Kosmala.
Oregon Symphony Education and Community Engagement will hold at which docents will learn about “Storm Chasers,” the first Youth Concert of the season. During the training session, Symphony staff will walk volunteers through an overview of the concert program and help prepare classroom presentations. “Storm Chasers” focuses on weather and the natural world and demonstrates how composers have used music to portray various weather phenomena, including storms, seasons and geographical landmarks. Children will experience the sounds of weather in music with works by Vivaldi, Debussy, Beethoven and Grofe, among others.
Mei-Ann Chen, Assistant Conductor of the Symphony and Music Director of the Portland Youth Philharmonic, takes the podium for these concerts, scheduled for Oct. 25 and 26 at 9:30 a.m. and 11 a.m. at the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall and Oct. 28 at 9:30 a.m. and 11 a.m. in Salem’s Smith Auditorium at Willamette University.
People interested in becoming an Oregon Symphony docent should contact the Oregon Symphony Education and Community Engagement at 503-228-4294 or via e-mail at educate@orsymphony.org for more information.