In the following entry of our Teaching Boys Initiative blog series, Saint David's Director of Music and Master Teacher Jeffrey Moore explores how participating in performances and productions build transformative competencies, transmit values, and inspire boys to excel.
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Jose Antonio Abreu, one of the leading educators in classical music and the founder of El Sistema said this: “Music has to be recognized as an agent of social development in the highest sense, because it transmits the highest values — solidarity, harmony, mutual compassion. And it can unite an entire community and express sublime feelings.”¹
At Saint David’s School, performance begins in the very first years. Each class, from Pre-K through Eighth Grade, presents their work to an audience of peers and parents, whether it is a story, a skit, a play, a lecture, or a musical presentation. But the increasing complexity and demands on our boys to push themselves to another level is the key to their development and success. Imagine a four-year-old in Pre-K learning to speak slowly and clearly into a microphone. Imagine a Kindergartner memorizing facts about Central Park and reciting them in the Neighborhood Show. Or, a first grader mastering lines and several songs for the Christmas Pageant.
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How about second graders who are learning about the beginnings of our country and life in New York City in the 1700s, singing songs that were popular three hundred years ago and trading quips about that “dreadful King George”. In the Third Grade, boys use their rapidly developing physical skills to create unique dances as they collaborate with our team of professionals from the National Dance Institute. Later in the year, they act out stories we all remember, with a twist – the Fractured Fairy Tales. In Fourth and Fifth Grades, instrumental music takes the forefront, and boys learn the importance of listening to each other, of working as an ensemble to play string instruments, the handbells, tuned percussion, and the theatre arts. In Fifth Grade, it is time for the big time. Costumes, sets, props, sound and lights, group choreography, and starring roles. The Fifth Grade Musical has been a tradition at the school for many years, and it keeps getting bigger and bigger. By Sixth Grade, boys present a musical written just for Saint David's that dovetails with their history studies and includes some of the most important and wonderful songs from the Great American Songbook.
Our boys have begun to master the art of performance and to harness the superpower that goes with it.
“Performances of understanding must take students beyond what they already know… students use what they know in new ways.”²
How does one hold solo auditions for first-grade boys who are six or seven years old? Here is a glimpse into my secret method, but you can’t tell anyone! First, we all learn a beautiful song from The Sound of Music, “Edelweiss.” After a few weeks, I announce that we will now have an opportunity to sing it as a solo! Almost all of the boys are excited and nervous, but thrilled to give it a try. Of course, there are one or two who shake their heads and say they would rather not, but after hearing boy after boy giving it his best, almost always there is one hundred percent participation. That’s where I come in – who will be chosen to sing those solos in the Pageant? I always tell the boys that everyone will have a solo, some singing, and some speaking. Funny thing, often the boy who sings “Silent Night” is also the boy who sings one of the solos in Lessons and Carols. And that very same boy often ends up joining his college or university a cappella group and returns to Saint David’s to perform for our Chamber Singers. It begins early.
We all know how to get to Carnegie Hall - but in First Grade, it isn’t practice. It is a game, a story, and a little competition - those transitive factors that research shows engage boys and extend learning. We divide into teams and sing, we earn points for our best singing, and we finally get to that place where the words to the songs are so much a part of ourselves that we can sing with confidence and pleasure. When we finally begin rehearsals in the Otto-Bernstein Theatre, all of the first-grade classes together, the sound of those voices, and the excitement in seeing it all come together makes all of that work a thrilling experience for the boys.
The most important thing is this: when we perform, we have a live audience watching and listening to us. And we are reacting to that audience’s smiles and laughter and applause. That communication is the key to developing the Superpower of Performance. The give and take, the excitement of live performance, and the feeling of accomplishment is transformative.
But what does all this mean to our first grader? This journey he is on, this path to learning brings together all of the important superpowers that we, as teachers, wish to impart to our students. Listen! Think! Push yourself! Be confident, and be the best you can be! Work with your classmates, your friends, your teachers, and your parents to find the hidden strengths inside of you that will bring you happiness and ultimately, a confidence in your abilities that you can take with you on your journey. Because our abilities to connect, to understand, to communicate, to empathize, and most importantly, to be a leader in our community, are the most important aspects of being a good man.
Notes:
José Antonio Abreu, quoted in “Music for Every Child,” San Francisco Conservatory of Music, 2020.
Tina Blythe, Teaching for Understanding.