Erie Chamber Orchestra

As I think back over the 2013-14 school year it has been a year of “music.” Monthly visits with Steve Weiser and the Erie Chamber Orchestra featured 11 hands-on events, concerts and activities. The children enjoyed the brass quintet and percussion concerts, an instrumental petting zoo and were introduced to the violin, cello, bass and oboe to name only a few. Weekly visits by Young People’s Chorus of Erie with Dr. Gabrielle Dietrich, Alyson Amendola, Jeremy Flock, Alaina Manchester directed our high school students as a satellite chorus.  In addition, our students participated in a Musical Revue through the Erie Playhouse in April and today we are performing “Here Comes The Sun” at the annual Garden Party (video & photo).

Young People’s Chorus of Erie

We have seen numerous benefits to the infusion of music in our curriculum.

• The multisensory quality of music allowed students to hear music, be visually stimulated by the movement, imitate the beats and play some instruments
• Music promoted communication among our students, their peers and instructors
• Music was an effective way to stimulate and maintain focus and attention
• Music had a calming effect with many of our children with anxiety disorders
• Students who had difficulty in some academic areas were successful in music
• Rhythm helped students slow down their rate of speech and became more intelligible
  

  Musical Revue with Erie Playhouse

The positive changes we have seen in the students’ behavior, communication and emotional well-being are remarkable. Just view this video of “Here Comes The Sun” and you’ll see firsthand the excitement and happiness on their faces.