Met HD Live in Schools!

The Metropolitan Opera has just released the schedule for their MET HD Live in Schools series These operas a screened LIVE from the Met for free at a number of NYC public schools across all five boroughs! For information regarding locations and free ticket reservations, click here.

Don Pasquale - Donizetti

Saturday, November 13, 2010 @ 1pm

Don Carlo - Verdi

Saturday, December 11, 2010 @ 1pm

La Fanciulla - Puccini

Saturday, January 8, 2011 @ 1pm

Lucia di Lammermoor - Donizetti

Saturday, March 19, 2011 @ 1pm

Le Comte Ory - Rossini

Saturday, April 9, 2011 @ 1pm

Il Trovatore - Verdi

Saturday, April 30, 2011 @ 1pm

"Speed of Sound" by Coldplay

Students in Second Grade are learning "Speed of Sound" by Coldplay. Such an amazing song. To see the original music video (which I was not able to embed due to copyright restrictions, click here

"Circle Game" by Joni Mitchell

First and second grade students have been learning "Circle Game" by Canadian folk singer Joni Mitchell. To learn more about Joni Mitchell, click here. We used this song as an opportunity to discuss the "refrain" (or chorus) in a piece of music, and learned how to identify it. Take a listen to the YouTube video below, and see if you can sing along!

-Mr. C


Circle Game by Joni Mitchell

Yesterday a child came out to wonder
Caught a dragonfly inside a jar
Fearful when the sky was full of thunder
And tearful at the falling of a star

And the seasons they go round and round
And the painted ponies go up and down
We're captive on the carousel of time
We can't return we can only look
Behind from where we came
And go round and round and round
In the circle game

Then the child moved ten times round the seasons
Skated over ten clear frozen streams
Words like when you're older must appease him
And promises of someday make his dreams

And the seasons they go round and round
And the painted ponies go up and down
We're captive on the carousel of time
We can't return we can only look
Behind from where we came
And go round and round and round
In the circle game *

Sixteen springs and sixteen summers gone now
Cartwheels turn to car wheels thru the town
And they tell him take your time it won't be long now
Till you drag your feet to slow the circles down

And the seasons they go round and round
And the painted ponies go up and down
We're captive on the carousel of time
We can't return we can only look
Behind from where we came
And go round and round and round
In the circle game

So the years spin by and now the boy is twenty
Though his dreams have lost some grandeur coming true
There'll be new dreams maybe better dreams and plenty
Before the last revolving year is through

And the seasons they go round and round
And the painted ponies go up and down
We're captive on the carousel of time
We can't return we can only look
Behind from where we came
And go round and round and round
In the circle game

Welcome Back!

Lower Grade Music - September Newsletter

Dear 58 Families,

Welcome back! I hope you had a fantastic summer and are as excited about the new school year as I am! For those of you new to P.S. 58, my name is Stephen Cedermark, the lower grade music teacher here at P.S. 58. This year, I’m so excited to be working with Pre-K students (in monthly cycles) for the first time, in addition to Kindergarten, First, and Second graders. During the month of September, we’ll be getting to know each other through song and dance and begin to build musical communities within our classrooms while focusing on learning the following musical concepts:

Pre-K
• Identifying individual tones and dynamics
• Identifying dynamic and pitch contrasts
• Understanding improvisation through movement

Kindergarten:
• Identifying individual tones and dynamics
• Identifying dynamic and pitch contrast
• Understanding improvisation through movement
• Understanding call and response through song and movement

First Grade:
• Understanding pitch matching and tuning
• Understanding the relationship between music and visual art
• Beginning to understand the different parts of a song

Second Grade:
• Listening to and identifying multiple instruments in songs
• Identifying musical timbres and the instruments that create them
• Tuning individually and with an ensemble

Throughout the year and within each unit, students will begin to make connections between what music sounds like and what music looks like. An emphasis on developing a foundation in musical literacy will prepare students for our 3-5 strings program, with upper grade music teacher Sarah James. To facilitate this, students in Pre-K through 2 will use the Kodaly syllabic system to identify different musical patterns that will differ in complexity based on their level and prior knowledge. In addition, students will learn the appropriate vocabulary terms associated with note-value and dynamic symbols.

Please visit my blog at www.ps58makesmusic.blogspot.com for regular updates on what is happening in your child’s music class, and feel free to contact me at ps58makesmusic@gmail.com. I’m looking forward to an amazing year with your kids!

Mr. C