Composition to Composer to Concert!

School:: Pine Ridge Middle
Subject:: Music
Teacher:: Nanette Grant
Students Impacted:: 150
Grade:: 6-8
Date:: July 27, 2016

Investor

Thank you to the following investor for funding this grant.

Lucie Jenny MacCarthy Music Fund - The Community Foundation of Collier County - $1,795.80

Impact to My Classroom

# of Students Impacted: 139

What and exciting project this was! Each student from the Pine Ridge Middle School Beginning/Intermediate/Concert Orchestra composed a short piece for their own instrument and performed it for their class. They learned correct ways to notate their composition. During class discussion, students shared their variety of approaches to creating a new piece. Several students wanted to continue to compose!

As we began rehearsing the pieces composed by Lorie Gruneisen specifically for our Orchestras, I collaborated with her over the phone to gain a clearer understanding of her ideas and intent. When Lorie Gruneisen arrived in class on April 28, you could feel the excitement and anticipation. She immediately gained their trust and affection, some of them even hugging her at the end of the first rehearsal! You could easily tell that they were very engaged in the project, with all eyes and ears riveted on everything she had to recommend.

An additional excitement was Lorie's generous offer to orchestrate a few of the best student compositions, which she then worked on with the classes as an expanded piece for the whole orchestra. This was beyond the original scope of the project! We now have seven mini-compositions taken from the student's melodies. What a thrill this was for the student's work to be recognized in this way!

The Spring Concerts on May 1 and 3 featured her World Premieres: Mrs. G's R & B, for the Beginning Orchestra, The Spanish Guitar for the Intermediate Orchestra and Escapade for the Concert Orchestra. Each of these pieces bears a dedication to Nanette Grant and the 2016-17 Pine Ridge Middle School Orchestra, Naples, FL. If she is successful in getting any of these pieces published, it will bear that recognition...expanding the influence of this project to an even wider audience! Each of these pieces were tremendously well-received by our students and the audiences!

Having the Naples Daily News cover this event gave it even more magnitude. Students were interviewed, photos were taken and even a short video was posted online at naplesnews.com. Subsequently, we have had the article professionally framed on a very beautiful plaque which will hang on the wall just outside the orchestra room.

As students reflected on the event, it was evident that they felt very special and important. They knew that having a composition written for them was extraordinary. They responded exceptionally well to Lorie Gruneisen who was genuine, warm and very exuberant! The culmination of the project resulted in a far-reaching level of inspiration for me, the composer and the orchestra students!

Thank you very sincerely and heartily for helping us make this happen! This will have a long-lasting impact.

We have a video of their concerts which the students will be viewing in the coming days!

Naples Daily News Links

http://nplsne.ws/2psXia8 http://nplsne.ws/2qvMc2I

grant photo

Original Grant Overview

Goal

For many years, I have yearned to engage a composer to write music specifically for my orchestra. This "dream come true" would also enable students to engage WITH the composer. National music standards and CCPS orchestra curriculum will be supported through this creative activity. All of my Beginning, Intermediate and Concert Orchestra classes will work personally with Lorie Gruneisen, a living composer. This will provide the opportunity and impetus to more deeply explore the mechanics of musical composition. It will inspire an increased understanding of composing. The interaction with a living composer who has written a piece of music specifically for them is a unique inspiration and catalyst for deeper exploration of this area of the curriculum which barely gets attention, given the performance demands of band, orchestra and chorus classes. This project will integrate the two areas of composition and performance.

What will be done with my students

Orchestra students (all of the Beginning, Intermediate and Concert Orchestra classes) will explore the mechanics and art of composition by composing and performing their own compositions for their class. Then we will study and prepare a piece of music composed by Lorie Gruneisen which has been specifically written for each of the three different levels of orchestra students. Lorie will then travel to Naples (late April to early May) to clinic and rehearse the students on her compositions, culminating in her guest conducting these pieces on their Spring Concert.

Benefits to my students

What an amazing opportunity for students to meet and have a living composer work directly with them! Additionally, this hands-on experience will provide insights into the world of composing through personally writing a composition. Performing a piece of music under the direction of someone with whom the students have had personal contact is expected to provide inspiration for further exploration of musical composition and the inner workings of how a piece of music is put together. This unit expands student participation far beyond the initial phases of learning how to read music and play the notes on the page as they explore the process of creating music.

Budget Narrative

Lorie Gruneisen will provide her own lodging and approximately half of the meals. She will be flying in from NY and spend several full days working with all of the orchestra classes. This is a very low Commission and Workshop fee for someone with her expertise. She is a published composer and an experienced string teacher who works very well with students.

Items

#	Item	Cost
1	Commission Fee (3 compositions)	$450.00
2	Workshop Fee ($150/day incl. concerts)	$450.00
3	Flight - RT Potsdam, NY to Ft. Myers, FL	$450.00
4	Car Rental	$300.00
5	Gas - 43 mi x 6 x 2.20/gal (~$.10/mi)	$25.80
6	Meals - $40/day x 3 days	$120.00
	Total:	$1,795.80

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