[eMINTS] Videoconferences: Behind the scenes of the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra

[Martha Bogart]

Contact Rebecca Polityka if you'd like to participate over videoconferencing
at rpolityka at csd.org
 
Inside the Artist's Studio 2007 Music Series
 
Ever wanted to know what it's like to be part of a professional orchestra?
To go inside the rehearsal space and ask musicians, conductors and
technicians questions while they work?  To find out about their creative
process?  To see how a piece of music comes to life?  You can find the
answers to these questions and more when Inside the Artist's Studio takes
you behind the scenes of the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra.   Via interactive
videoconferences, web streamed programs, and broadcast television, Inside
the Artist's Studio will link student and adult audiences to professional
musicians and technicians of the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra as well as
members of the symphony's Youth Orchestra.  Go behind the scenes to see how
an ensemble comes to life; meet the people involved in telling the
orchestra's story to the world; increase your understanding of the role of
the conductor and the impact music has on your life.
 
Inside the Artist's Studio is a free, standards-based, distance-learning
education project designed to connect artists from Missouri to students
across Missouri.  Funded through support provide by Missouri Arts Council
and the School District of Clayton, Missouri, the project is structured to
provide student learning across the artistic disciplines of dance, music,
theatre and visual arts.  Each program will be offered live during the
school day via videoconferences, Internet web streaming and broadcast
programming.  To view as a videoconference school, contact Rebecca Polityka
of Cooperating School Districts of St. Louis at rpolityka at csd.org.   To
watch the program live via the web or to watch archived programs via the
web, surf your computer to http://commonsvcg.oar.net/RoundTrips.  Please
note the web address is case sensitive.  To view via broadcast television on
Charter Cable in St. Louis County or St. Louis City, tune in to CSD-TV,
channel 22 at the program time.  Those joining via web stream and broadcast
TV can e-mail their questions during the programs to
roundtrips at clayton.k12.mo.us.  After its live presentation, each program is
archived on the project's website for on-demand viewing available at any
time.  You can also obtain a DVD or VHS copy of the program by contacting
the project directors at roundtrips at clayton.k12.mo.us.
 
Below please find short descriptions for each program.  Additional
preparatory materials, including a detailed agenda, are available for each
program.  Please e-mail us at roundtrips at clayton.k12.mo.us to request the
materials or view them at the project website.  More details about Inside
the Artist's Studio can be found at our RoundTrips website,
http://www.roundtrips.org.  For more details about the St. Louis Symphony
Orchestra, go to http://www.slso.org.

Program 1:  Being An Ensemble
Date:  Monday, February 26, 2007
Time:  10:00 a.m. CST
Grade Level:  Middle School and High School
What does it mean to be part of an "ensemble?"  What does it take in terms
of cooperation, teamwork and musical talent?  Why is being part of an
ensemble "an act of doing?"  Get your answers to these questions and more as
you interact with strings musicians of the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra and
Youth Orchestra.  Join us live on the Symphony's home stage at Powell Hall
as musicians speak about what it's like to play in the strings section, to
work both separately and as an ensemble, and to have a career as a musician.
Hear the music.  Ask your questions.  Be part of the ensemble.
 
Program 2:  Role of the Conductor
Date:  Monday, March 19, 2007
Time:  10:00 a.m. CST
Grade Level:  Middle School and High School
You're at the Symphony.  The orchestra is in place, and tune up is completed
when the conductor enters the stage.  The audience applauds.  The
conductor's baton is raised.  The concert begins.  What does it mean to be a
"conductor?"  What do all those arm motions signify?  How does the conductor
work with musicians in rehearsals and direct them in performances?  How do
orchestra members respond to the role of the conductor?  Join David
Robertson, Conductor of the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra to ask him these
questions and more.  See video from rehearsals and performances as we
explore the role of the conductor.  If you'd like your student orchestra to
be featured in a performance during the program for David Robertson, please
contact us as soon as possible.
 
Program 3:  Backstage at the Symphony
Date:  Monday, April 23, 2007
Time:  10:00 a.m. CST
Grade Level:  Middle School and High School
What happens backstage to prepare for a professional orchestra concert?
What are the roles of stagehands, lighting technicians, audio technicians
and others who create the environment needed for musicians and audience
members to have the best musical experience possible?  Go backstage at
Powell Hall with the professionals of the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra.
Learn about their careers and the essential part they play in the success of
the Symphony.
 
Show-Me Standards include Communication Arts: 5. comprehending and
evaluating the content and artistic aspects of oral and visual presentations
(such as story-telling, debates, lectures, multi-media productions); 6.
participating in formal and informal presentations and discussions of issues
and ideas

Martha Bogart
Coordinator, Distance Learning
Cooperating School Districts
1460 Craig Rd.
St. Louis, MO  63146
314-692-1258 (direct)
314-872-8282 (switchboard)
1-800-835-8282 (toll free)
314-872-9128 (fax)
mbogart at csd.org 
It is not the strongest of the species that survive, nor the most
intelligent, rather, it is those most responsive to change. - Charles Darwin

Remember the METC 2007 - Midwest Education Technology Conference to be held
February 26-28, 2007 at the Sheraton West Port Hotel, St. Louis, MO. For
more information or to register online, visit http://csd.org/metc2007.htm.