Archive for January, 2014

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School of Performing Arts

January 11, 2014

UMaine Orono

Nearly 90 musicians and vocalists will take the stage Friday, Jan. 17 when the University of Maine School of Performing Arts presents the student-directed production, “An Evening of Rodgers and Hammerstein Classics.”

The 7:30 p.m. event in Hauck Auditorium, directed by UMaine music education senior Ben McNaboe of Yarmouth, will showcase a full symphony orchestra of nearly 50 musicians and 40 vocalists, all of whom are UMaine students, faculty and alumni.

“The program is made up of music from all of Rodgers and Hammerstein’s biggest shows,” says McNaboe. “I think a lot of people have this initial reaction of it being old or out-of-date music, but to me, and I think to a lot of people in the musical theater community, it’s timeless.”

The program will feature 22 selections from such award-winning American musicals as “The Sound of Music,” “The King and I,” “South Pacific,” “Oklahoma!,” “State Fair” and “Carousel.” The event will also feature vocal performances by the university’s premier a cappella ensembles — Maine Steiners and Renaissance. The groups will perform “There is Nothing Like a Dame” and “Do-Re-Mi,” respectively.

UMaine music faculty members flutist Liz Downing and pianist Laura Artesani will perform in the symphony orchestra. The experienced orchestra had its first rehearsal Dec. 8, while the vocalists began rehearsing in November.

UMaine business management junior Morgan Cates of Camden, Maine, will host the event.

Tickets are $22 and available from the Collins Center box office. Ticket information is available at 207.581.1755 or tickets.collinscenterforthearts.org. For more information about the performance or to request a disability accommodation, call 207.581.1781. The event’s snow date is Sunday, Jan. 19 at 2 p.m.

All proceeds will benefit the UMaine’s School of Performing Arts (SPA) to enhance funding for musical and theater tours, instrument repairs and equipment purchases.

“The initial idea to do the project wasn’t as much about raising money,” says McNaboe, who began planning the event a year ago. “It came from this place of identifying that we really don’t collaborate across mediums as much as we should. This is a chance to get a large number of SPA students together in a situation where all of us are working together, between the orchestra and the vocalists on stage, to make this project happen.”

To view the event on Facebook, visit facebook.com/events/1401074010132734.

Contact: Maria NeCastro, 207.581.3743 or Monique Hashey, 207.581.4721

 

Posted in Music, Opportunity | Tagged , , , , | Leave a Comment »

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Meet Liza!

January 10, 2014

What a sweet treat of a blog post!

This week at the Maine Arts Commission we have had the privilege of meeting Liza. I was thrilled when she agreed to write a blog post so you could meet her as well. Not only do you get to meet her but also to view her absolutely wonderful artwork! Thanks Liza for sharing your story!

Screen shot 2014-01-09 at 7.39.48 PMHi everyone! My name is Liza, and I am doing my internship at the Maine Arts Commission this week. I am a sophomore at the Maine School of Science and Mathematics (MSSM). In the beginning of January, we have J-term, a period during which the students are required to take classes at school or do an internship. I have decided to do the latter since I love art and would like to find out as much as I can about the work that the staff does. Four days may seem like a short amount of time, but I have already learned a lot about this organization and did some interesting projects. For example, just yesterday I worked on the 2014-2015 MLTI Screen Saver opportunity and saw some amazing paintings and photos!

Originally, I am from Kursk, Russia, which lies 280 miles south of Moscow. I have been studying in the musical school for 5 years and took a lot of classes: piano, chorus, musical literature, art history, theatre, and art. One of my biggest passions is visual art. I have been drawing and painting since I was 4. At the age of 10 I was accepted into the art school, and I have successfully completed three years of studying. I enjoyed working with different materials like, acrylics, oil paints, and watercolors. Making clothes is something that I became interested several years ago. I have participated in the National Festival of Russian fashion designers and received a certificate for preserving and developing the national traditions in modeling of modern costumes.

I moved to Georgia, USA 2.5 years ago. It was then when I started to do acrylics and fell in love with this medium! I did some works for the State Botanical Garden of Georgia, and completed interesting projects at school. One year ago, I moved to Waterville, Maine and went to Waterville Senior High School. I met a great art teacher, Suzanne Goulet, who found some art contests and encouraged me to participate. Some of my favorites are the Doodle 4 Google Contest and the Federal Junior Duck Stamp Program.

For my sophomore year, I was happy to be accepted to MSSM because I heard a lot of good things about this school, and I love math and science. Although I don’t do as much art as I used to do because of the lack of time, I take some great math and chemistry classes. During the second semester, I really hope to do some artwork and play tennis, as those are some of my favorite hobbies. Overall, I love the school and the great people that I met here. I encourage everyone to attend our next open house on January 19 & 20!

Subscribe to Argy’s blog because it is amazing! There is so much information about arts in Maine!

Thank you for reading!:)

Liza

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The Mississippi Blues

January 9, 2014

Cross-curricular lessons

The blues are the topic for 18 cross-curricular lessons created by Scott Barretta, a blues historian at the University of Mississippi. The curriculum including audio and videos are available online at no cost. An interview in Ed Week provides details and an interview with Scott that is an overview of the curriculum which includes music, visual arts, theater arts, social studies, geography, and history. LLlana Heltin wrote the article that was posted on January 3, 2014.

Posted in Curriculum and Instruction, Integration, Music, Theater, Visual Arts | Tagged , , | Leave a Comment »

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In Today’s News

January 8, 2014

Bangor High School

A Fine Arts Academy is being designed as an option for students at Bangor High School. The proposal will be presented to the Bangor School Board of Education at their Wednesday night meeting. During the past year and a half the high school has had a STEM Academy as an option for students. They will build on the success of that program to create a second academy. You can read about the details in the Bangor Daily News article written by Nick McCrea by clicking here.

Posted in Curriculum and Instruction, Visual Arts | Tagged , | Leave a Comment »

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What’s Your Resolution?

January 7, 2014

January 6

I heard last night on the news that January 6 is the most depressing day of the year. I don’t believe everything I hear so what do you think I did?! Of course, I “Googled it” and there it was in print: Why Jan. 6 is the year’s most depressing day. It was determined that it is because it is the day that most people around the world are returning to work for the first Monday of the year. Listening to the school cancellations for January 6 I would say that was probably not the case for MOST teachers since there were many Maine schools closed because of the weather.

As I officially returned to my work yesterday morning I had to drive slower than usual due to the weather. The temperature warmed up but fluctuated about 8 degrees during the 40 minute drive. And because of the driving rain I had to go slower than usual. That was fine because it gave me a chance to reflect on my new year resolutions.

  • Go a little slower – I don’t want to miss the good stuff this year!
  • Listen more, talk less
  • Make more art and attend more performances
  • Take longer walks and more of them, and balance that with eating less
  • Laugh whenever possible
  • Visit more schools and see kids in action

I did a little more googling on these topics:

  • Why do some people’s resolutions work and why do some not work?
  • The 10 most common resolutions
  • What is the day that most give up on them? (January 10)

There are many people that simply don’t make resolutions for a variety of reasons. It’s a fascinating topic with no shortage of online information.

So, what are your resolutions? Did you make any? I find that I confuse resolutions with wishes. Isn’t making a resolution the same as making a birthday wish? I think so, and I am going to keep on making resolutions! It works for me, just fine! How about you?

Posted in Food for thought | Leave a Comment »

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Using Social Media

January 6, 2014

To teach and to brand your education program

In the last month I have seen a handful of articles about branding. Not in reference to products or business but how to brand what you do as a teacher and/or a school. The most recent caught my attention for several reasons.

As we know students and parents are using social media on a more regular basis and many of you do as well in your personal lives. But, are you using social media in your teaching or as a way to promote what you do? Specifically, do you use social media to advocate for arts education?

If we want to meet students and parents where they are, it is necessary that the same tools are used in communicating about the importance of arts education. This is a great leadership opportunity for you. What would happen if you brought arts educators together and created a plan to utilize social media in your school, district, and/or region of the state? At the very least think about your school website or blog and what you can do to create a presence for visual and performing arts education. Be sure and take into consideration what decisions need to be made and what information is essential to communicate.

Read the article called Social Media: An Asset for Teachers and Leaders, written by Jill Berkowicz and Ann Myers, published on December 15, 2013 for Education Week and found at http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/leadership_360/2013/12/social_media_an_asset_for_teachers_and_leaders.html?cmp=ENL-EU-NEWS3 to learn several ideas on how to proceed in branding your arts education program.

Posted in Communication, Community, Food for thought, Leadership, VPA | Tagged | Leave a Comment »

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Georgian National Ballet

January 5, 2014

Pretty amazing!

Thank you to Karen Montanaro for sending me this link.

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Better Thinkers and Nicer People

January 4, 2014

Research

Researchers are finding that not only should arts education be included in elementary education but that is that students who are exposed to cultural institutions, like museums and performing arts centers, not only have higher levels of engagement with the arts but display greater tolerance, historical empathy, as well as better educational memory and critical thinking skills. You can read the entire article at http://www.fastcocreate.com/3023094/science-says-art-will-make-your-kids-better-thinkers-and-nicer-people

Posted in Communication, Curriculum and Instruction, Research | Leave a Comment »

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Final Public Review for NCAS

January 3, 2014

Launching in February – Arts Standards review

Screen shot 2013-12-20 at 1.43.54 PMThe National Coalition for Core Arts Standards (NCCAS) has scheduled a final public review of the draft PreK-12 arts standards in dance, media arts, music, theatre, and visual arts.

The review will open February 14, 2014, and close February 28. A draft reading copy of the revised standards will be available at http://nccas.wikispaces.com on January 30.

This third and concluding review reflects NCCAS’s ongoing commitment to a responsive and transparent strategy that allows adequate time for each arts discipline’s standards writing team to incorporate changes to the drafts suggested by reviewers. To fully address the standards content and structural changes, the coalition has revised the project’s timeline. The February review is the first in a series of new and significant benchmarks for NCCAS, leading to the web-based release of the standards in June, 2014.

Currently, the writing teams are creating a set of overarching anchor standards that articulate an alignment of artistic practice among the five art forms. Upon completion of that process, the teams will review their individual discipline standards to ensure that they are appropriately parallel with the anchor standards. The teams are also finalizing examples of model cornerstone assessments to include in the February draft review.

There will be a rolling “first-glance” version of the final standards available beginning in March. This document will showcase the fundamental structure and content of the arts standards in order to give teachers, decision makers, and the public a better understanding of what will be included and how they will inform teaching and learning.

NCCAS is the coalition of national arts and education organizations and media arts representatives that are developing the 2014 National Core Arts Standards. The new, voluntary grade-by-grade web-based standards are intended to affirm the place of arts education in a balanced core curriculum, support the 21st-century needs of students and teachers, and help ensure that all students are college and career ready. The arts standards emphasize “big ideas,” philosophical foundations, enduring understandings/essential questions, and anchor/performance standards, all of which are intended to guide the curriculum development and instructional practices that leads to arts literacy for all students.

To find out how to participate in the February review process and to view all public documents related to the arts standards, visit http://nccas.wikispaces.com/.

Posted in Communication, Curriculum and Instruction, Dance, Leadership, Media Arts, Music, Standards, Visual Arts | Tagged , | Leave a Comment »

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Arts Integration Prezi

January 2, 2014

Integrating the Arts

If you are unfamiliar with Prezi it is a presentation software that is free and located at http://prezi.com/. It allows you to create presentations that appear 3-dimensional. This Prezi does a great job at explaining arts integration and why it makes sense as an approach to teaching. It is located at http://prezi.com/pnu1ann_mv0n/what-is-arts-integration/.

Posted in Community, Curriculum and Instruction, Integration | Tagged , | Leave a Comment »

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