Educational Outreach Programs
About
Vox Musica’s Educational Outreach Program serves as a means of discovery for students new to music (or to formal music instruction in general) and as a valuable source of expert training, historical education, and inspiration for young students, singers and or musicians. It integrates Vox Musica community arts resources—professional artists (musicians, composers, conductors, and educators)—into a comprehensive, needs-based program that underscores the critical role that the arts play in shaping a student’s overall well-being and academic achievement. Vox Musica ensemble members and/or special guest artists/composers will work with participating schools to provide students with a variety of educational activities (e.g. coaching, mentoring, master classes, workshops, and compositional competitions, lecture-concerts, choral festivals, and skills-targeted lessons). Topics may include but will not be limited to, vocal technique, music theory, sight singing, solfege, music terminology, music history and ensemble-building exercises. Vox Musica program staff will conduct evaluations of all completed activities including and assessment of the student learning outcomes.
Participating Institutions
St. Patricks Academy
Earl LeGette Elementary School
St. Francis High School
Elk Grove High School
Christian Brothers High School
Oak Ridge High School
Antelope High School
Mondovi Center
Esparto Middle School
Workshops
Participating institutions will be enriched with Vox Musica’s arts resources, hands on demonstrations, engaging activities, group singing, and professional musical performances for interested students. Students will learn about choral and vocal singing and brief historical description of vocal styles and history as the voices of Vox Musica offer their musical presentations that bring music history to life through song, instruments, demonstrations, and participatory activities. Our workshops can be presented in both a general assembly settings and in a one-to-one choral ensemble classroom.
Topics
Vocal Techniques: Warm-ups, Tone, Pitch, Dynamics, Blend, Languages, Diction, Scales, Vowel Matching, Tuning, Tone Color.
Musical Concepts: Pitch, Duration, Melody, Modes, Phrases, Harmony, Consonance/Dissonance, Texture, Form, Rhythm, Beat, Groove, Meter, Accentuation, Syncopation.
Introduction to Styles, Periods & Genres: Chant, Renaissance, Contemporary, Classical, Bluegrass, and Folk.
Language Skills: Exposure to multiple different languages both romantic and exotic.
Educational Goals: Overview of Elements of Music, Properties of Musical Sound, Vocal Styles and Genres, Vocal Techniques, Historical connections, and Musical Terminology.
Typical General Assembly Structure Includes:
Interactive activities using body percussion and Kinesthetic movement for all those in the room.
Introduction of Ensemble Members and demonstration of types of voices and ranges.
Presentation of a piece from our current repertoire.
Interactive group singing activity experiencing different musical genres & periods.
Presentation of several different pieces from different cultures and countries.
Interactive singing activities that brings musical concepts to life.
Q/A session for participating singers and teachers.
Typical Choral Classroom Structure Includes:
A performance by Vox Music of a piece from our current repertoire, followed by singer introductions.
The participating choir’s performance of selected piece.
Real-time feedback from members on vocal technique, intonation, diction, interpretation, presentation, etc.
Q/A session for participating singers and teachers.