CHILDREN'S CONCERTS AT THE SHEPHERD SCHOOL

On September 30, 2004, a fanfare of seven trumpets will kick off the 2004-2005 season of JUMP! in the Duncan Recital Hall at the Shepherd School of Music on the campus of Rice University. JUMP! stands for the Just for U Music Program and is provided as an in-house education program for elementary and middle school students from Title I schools in the Houston area. JUMP! is designed to introduce classical music to the students and promote the joy of sharing music with one another.

The season will be comprised of six interactive and informative concerts during the schoolday throughout the school year with performances by student ensembles from the Shepherd School of Music. Concerts are offered free of charge, but by reservation only.

The first of these concerts, entitled Com-musi-cation! will showcase the various ways music can be used to communicate feelings and stories with each other. Children attending the concert will hear four chamber music groups perform portions of works that communicate a character or mood. Throughout the concert, the children will also be given demonstrations of the instruments, a chance to ask the musicians questions and even a couple of lucky volunteers will be chosen to experience part of the performance as Onstage Ambassadors. Other concerts this season include Visiting the Music Factory, Safari of Sound and Now You're Cooking!

Janet Rarick, an artist teacher in wind ensembles, is one of the Shepherd School faculty members who help oversee this outreach program. She explains that the program grew out of a discussion by the wind chamber ensemble in fall 1998. Several students suggested using outreach as a way to increase performance opportunities and potentially increase audience size at regularly scheduled wind chamber music concerts. Leone Buyse, professor of flute and chamber music, subsequently created an independent study program for students who wished to connect with the Houston community by coordinating outreach concerts. Sonja Thoms, this season's student coordinator, is currently pursuing her Master's of Music in oboe performance. Last year, Thoms was an assistant to student coordinator Meghan Walker. Walker has since graduated and joined Tales and Scales, a nationally acclaimed educational story-telling troupe based in Evansville, Indiana.

Rarick observes that a major benefit of the program is the great satisfaction that comes from reaching out to others. “We have found that our concerts are a great way to get children exposed to a college campus at an early age. Who knows what dreams may come from these experiences? If even one or two children can be inspired to go to college, it will be worth it.”

To make inquiries about JUMP! or to make a reservation to attend a concert, please contact student coordinator Sonja Thoms.