Montgomery Township School District
Visual and Performing Arts Newsletter, December 2020
Changing the "How" but Not the "What"
We hope this newsletter finds you healthy and safe during this holiday season. The Visual and Performing Arts have been and continue to be a highlight and focus in our students’ education. As the supervisor of our program, I have the pleasure of visiting many of the classes, PreK-12, and witnessing the amazing creativity of our students and teachers.
I am so impressed with how our teachers and students have adapted their teaching and learning to the virtual environment of education. Our teachers have certainly had to change the “how” of delivering instruction, but have done an incredible job of maintaining the rich artistic and musical content of the “what” they are teaching, and in many cases, have even expanded upon it! Our teachers have spent countless hours learning new technology platforms that allow them to keep our students engaged in their artistic and musical growth. Visiting classes, I have seen incredible moments taking place across the district that include activities such as:
Small group sectionals in music classes with students playing/singing for each other
Researching different cultures to find inspiration for student art work
Live theatrical performances taking place over Zoom
Virtual art galleries of student work with peer assessment taking place
Chamber music ensembles working together online to perform incredible music
Students incorporating personal interests and passions into their art projects
Guest composers visiting with students to talk about the music they have written
Exploring professional artists’ lives and work
Musicianship development through ear training and composing activities
Collaborative artworks being created digitally between small groups of students
Large musical ensembles working together to learn a piece of music
Our students and teachers are certainly hard at work being creative and artistic! Thank you for your continued support of the arts! My warmest wishes for a wonderful holiday season and Happy New Year!
Happy Holidays,
Adam Warshafsky
Supervisor, Visual and Performing Arts
New Virtual Platform Increases Musical Collaboration in UMS Orchestra!
Please click below to enjoy some holiday duets by members of our UMS orchestra! They show off how easily this platform allows for student collaboration and making music together. And of course, we are so proud of our students for their wonderful talents. These are beautiful videos. Happy Holidays!
Happy Holidays from the MHS choirs!
VES Orchestra Small Ensemble
Guest Composer Visits UMS 7th Grade Band
Our Upper Middle school band program is taking the Winter by “Storm!”
One of the musical selections that the bands are working on is Byzantine Dances by Carol Chambers. This is a recent composition utilizing the byzantine scale (a major scale with a flare 2nd scale degree for us music nerds) and provides historical suggestions to incorporate authentic choreography when performed. (Yes, I believe we will perform someday soon). With the support of the administration, Ms. Chambers came to visit our classes over two days and worked with the students individually on musical interpretations and musical pedagogical technique to bring her art to life. Ms. Chambers also took time to speak to the students about her process of starting with a “Greek” tune and how her artistic journey took her to a different region of the globe all together. She also spoke to students interested in composition and some of the skills they can start to gather now that will serve them well as they hone their craft. She is a true inspiration not only to our burgeoning composers, but to women in the Arts as their options and horizons expand.
Happy Holidays,
Dr. Hackel
VES Upcoming Choral Concert!
Each individual performance is joined together to make one song. We are proud of their hard work and dedication! Many voices together are greater than the sum of their parts.
VES 4th Grade Choral Concert - Mark Your Calendar!
February 2nd, 2021
Virtual Performance!
Time: TBD
Links will be shared in late January
"The only thing better than singing is more singing." Ella Fitzgerald.
OHES Music Updates!
Monty Visual Arts!
MHS Ceramics
Drop-off Time!
Montgomery Photography Students In the News
MHS National Art Honor Society - Engaging with the Community
Thank you to Ms. McGrail and to NAHS for using the arts to help us come together as a community!
NAHS Visits
Congrats to OHES Artists!!
Monty History Made by the Cast and Crew of "She Kills Monsters."
Thank you to our MHS Fall Play Director, Mr. Gordon, for his vision and direction to make sure the theater lives on through these challenging times. Also, a huge thanks for Mr. Kauzmann and Mr. Orbe for all of their work with the crew to make sure costumes, props, backdrops, and the technology all came together to help tell the story. Click below to see the playbill from the show.
Bravo!