The contemporary classical group Musiqa will present its annual educational concerts for elementary school students, Around the World with Musiqa, in eight performances on October 23-26 at the Hobby Center for the Performing Arts.
The concerts are the capstone of Musiqa’s Around the World with Musiqa education program, now in its eighth year, which includes in-school learning as well as live concert experiences.
This year, 3,000 elementary school students from 31 schools in six area school districts including Houston, Aldine, Channelview, Galena Park, Pasadena and Spring Branch, will travel by bus to downtown Houston to attend the interactive concert with their teachers. A large percentage of the participating schools are designated as Title I schools that serve economically disadvantaged neighborhoods.
Around the World with Musiqa highlights how folk songs and ancient melodies can be transformed into new music that combines traditional with modern and personal elements. Illustrating the universality of music through history, the concert program is presented through musical theater, voice and instruments and performed by professional musicians. The program features songs by modern composers, including Bela Bartok, Luciano Berio, Shih-hui Chen, George Crumb, Frederic Rzewski and members of Musiqa’s Artistic Board.
All aspects of the program are free to schools, including an in-school workshop for students led by a Musiqa artist, CDs of the concert music for participating classes, lesson plans for teachers, an interactive study guide and transportation to and from the Hobby Center. Musiqa’s resident artist Karol Bennett visits each participating school before the concert to lead a workshop with the students.
Around the World with Musiqa is provided free of charge to schools thanks to the generous support of the Hobby Center’s Discovery Series, in addition to grants from Texas Commission on the Arts, the Simmons Foundation, the Albert and Ethel Herzstein Charitable Foundation and the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA). In spring 2012, Musiqa received its fifth consecutive NEA grant to support its education programs, including Around the World with Musiqa andReMix, the group’s music education program for middle-school students. ReMix concerts will be held Dec. 4 and 5 at the Hobby Center.
For more information about Around the World with Musiqa and ReMix, please contact the Hobby Center at 713-315-2428.
