Flutes and Drums around the World:
A New Approach to Classroom Recorder

July 15-22, 2007

Download the Brochure! (PDF)

“Flutes and Drums Around the World” is a new approach to classroom recorder teaching that energizes elementary school children of diverse backgrounds and makes instrumental music appealing and accessible to them. Developed by recorder virtuoso Nina Stern together with percussionist Mauricio Molina, the method uses music from all over the world and from different eras to engage children’s interest. Classroom recorder teachers are invited to come to the Amherst Early Music Festival to learn about this award-winning teaching method which has had proven results in the New York schools. The course will consist of 6 days of instruction, concerts, and special events designed to help teachers to enhance their teaching and playing skills.

The course by Nina Stern and Mauricio Molina will:

Provide a foundation in recorder technique and hand drumming.

Introduce repertoire from around the world, from medieval to contemporary.

Focus on how to teach improvisation.

Demonstrate the power of percussion accompaniment.

Teach how to teach non-verbally through conducting gestures.

Help teachers to work with large classes and with different levels simultaneously.

Show how to arrange and harmonize tunes for groups of children with varying skill levels

Energize teachers to make playing an instrument accessible and meaningful to all children.

Show how students can personalize their music by incorporating their own poetry and dance.

Supply information on finding instruments and music.

Introduce classroom teachers to a high level of recorder playing.

All children can be reached effectively through music. Recorders and drums are among the oldest instruments and are used in almost every musical tradition around the world. Traditional music has a melodic beauty and rhythmic vitality that speak directly to children. While learning this music students are introduced to other lands and cultures. Children of diverse backgrounds can enjoy learning their own music, and can be encouraged to learn about other people and their musical traditions.

Children learn to improvise and compose music, which can also be combined with poetry and movement. Involving children in a variety of ways helps them to truly express themselves, and become musicians, actually making music and not just hearing it.

“This music helps me express my feelings,” said 9-year-old Nyja Poe, a fourth-grader whose tastes now include opera. “I thought I couldn’t play the recorder. Now I know I can, and if I can play the recorder, I can play almost any instrument. And I can learn other new things, too.” (Washington Post, November 18, 2003).

Nina Stern is one of North America’s leading performers on the recorder and classical clarinet. She performs regularly as soloist or principal player with ensembles such as The New York City Opera, the New York Philharmonic, The New York Collegium, and American Classical Orchestra. She is on the faculty of the Mannes College of Music.

An articulate teacher, Ms. Stern serves as Director of Education for the New York Collegium, where she developed this hands-on music teaching project. With the support of their classroom teachers, over 250 New York City public school students now participate in weekly or twice weekly instruction. The Washington Post applauded this program as a model in its “innovation in the classroom” series. For this important work Ms. Stern was awarded an Endicott Fellowship in 2003, and was honored in 2005 with the “Early Music Brings History Alive Award” by Early Music America.

The historical musicologist and percussionist Mauricio Molina is dedicated to the reconstruction of medieval Mediterranean music. As part of his research he studies literary and iconographical sources of the period, analyzes instruments from museum collections, and conducts fieldwork in Europe, North Africa, and Latin America. Mauricio is the director of the medieval music ensemble Sendebar and collaborates with different early and traditional music ensembles in Europe and the United States. He has been invited to give lectures, publish articles, and conduct workshops about medieval music and historical and traditional frame drums at universities, music festivals, and museums. His dissertation, “Frame Drums in the Medieval Iberian Peninsula,” received the Higini Angles prize in 2006.

Mr. Molina has taught recorder and percussion in New York public schools for the Boys Choir of Harlem, the Carnegie Hall Education Outreach Program, and the New York Collegium. He has taught recorder and percussion for teachers at the University of Bridgeport.

Continuing Education Units will be provided. Please inquire.

The Amherst Early Music Festival is the largest early music teaching festival in North America. Participants in the “Flutes and Drums Around the World” program will have the opportunity to register for other classes in the Festival. Free admission to all concerts and events is included in the tuition. For more information go to www.amherstearlymusic.org.

Connecticut College is set on a hill overlooking Long Island Sound. The lovely green campus is managed as an arboretum. Classroom buildings are modern and air-conditioned. Getting there is easy. New London is on Amtrak’s northeast corridor. The campus is located on Route 32, one mile north of I-95. The closest major airports are Providence and Hartford.

Accommodations
The college has modern air-conditioned dorms and charming older non-air-conditioned dorms. A variety of room and board packages is available; room-only rates start at $150 for the week (no a/c, no linens). Commuters pay a $60 commuter fee for the week. The college center has a convenience store, snack bar, and pub.

How to apply
For tuition rates and registration materials, please go to our Fees and Registration page.