Jam On DUMBO is working with York Street's P.S. 307, Daniel Hale Williams Elementary School, to put on a full week of music programming for the students. In May 2012, Jam On DUMBO will bring a mix of hands-on workshops and performances to the students of P.S. 307 as we celebrate the school's first-ever Music Week. If you'd like to participate in, help plan, or contribute money toward Music Week, please contact Alisha (alisha(at)jamondumbo.com) or Jaime (jlpessin(at)gmail.com).
Music Week 2012 Performers/Educators
Marc Bazerman, Baze and His Silly Friends
Baze, an award-winning children’s song writer, recording artist and performer, brings his Super Duper Solo Show to Music Week at PS 307. Featuring fun and interactive songs, The Super Duper Solo Show encourages children to use their imaginations and creativity to learn about the world in which they live. Baze will feature his global collection of instruments, giving the students a hands-on, experiential way to learn about music from around the world. Baze will be working with the kindergarten classes on Tuesday, at 11:40 a.m. and 12:35 p.m. www.mysillyfriends.com
Bija Kids
Bija Kids yoga introduces children to the practice and principles of yoga through movement, story and song. Nature, basic anatomy and imagination are key aspects of the program, which also incorporates chanting, breathing exercises and simple meditation practices which help to relax and calm the mind. Bija Kids’ philosophy is based on the idea that all seeds, or bija in Sanskrit, have the ability to flourish with proper care and nurturing. Yoga is a framework to teach valuable life tools that help kids be happy, deal with challenges and face life head on with open minds and hearts. Bija’s yoga instructors will be working with the first grade classes at 11:40 a.m. and 12:35 p.m. on Wednesday. www.bijakids.com
Flocabulary
Flocabulary is a DUMBO-based online learning program that features educational songs, videos and activities for grades K-12. The program is proven to raise scores on state tests and is currently being used in more than 15,000 schools across the country. For Music Week 2012, Flocabulary will be performing songs about vocabulary and math, and talking to students about how being creative can help them achieve in the classroom and beyond. Flocabulary will be working with the second grade classrooms on Tuesday, at 12:35 p.m. and 1:30 p.m. www.flocabulary.com
Billy Libby, Your Song, Your Story
Billy is a musician/singer/songwriter who recently moved to Brooklyn from Portland, Maine. In addition to writing and performing his own music, he also founded Your Song, Your Story to give children the opportunity to experience the therapeutic value of artistic expression through music. Billy currently teaches at an after-school program at the Ethical Culture Fieldston School in Manhattan. He will work with students as a class to create an original song. Billy will be working with the third grade classrooms on Wednesday at 11:40 a.m. and 12:35 p.m. www.billylibby.com
Daniel Maté
Daniel Maté is a Vancouver-born/raised, Brooklyn-based composer/lyricist working mainly in and around new musical theater, for which he has received a 2010 Jonathan Larson Foundation Grant and the ASCAP’s 2010 Cole Porter Award for Music and Lyrics. Daniel is also an experienced music and theater educator, having helped to pioneer NYU’s popular “Second Avenue Songmakers” program for elementary-aged children, which he has also led for the past four years. A highly effective teaching artist, he has created original musicals with students in middle school (Middle School Mysteries, Two River Theatre Company, Red Bank, NJ) and college (The Story of Jo-Beth, CAP 21 Conservatory, Manhattan). Daniel will be working with the fifth graders, time to be decided. www.danielmate.com
Jeff Newell, New-Trad
Mr. Newell, a jazz musician, band leader and music historian who has a studio in Vinegar Hill, will be giving the students a sense of the relevance of American history to their daily lives. By sharing stories and music from the ragtime and blues traditions, he hopes to expose young people to historic American music, showing them how its development was affected by political/social history, and how this historic music relates to the contemporary music they hear everyday. Students will see the process through which people from diverse backgrounds come together to form new and unique cultural entities. In addition to listening to historic recordings on an iPod dock, the students will experience a live solo musical performance on a variety of instruments, including the flute, saxophone, acoustic steel guitar and several folk instruments. Jeff will be working with the third graders at 9:50 a.m. and 11:40 a.m. on Tuesday, and with one fourth grade classroom at 12:35. On Thursday he will work with the other fourth grade class at 9:50 a.m., and the fifth grade classes at 11:40 a.m. and 12:35 p.m. http://www .new-trad.com/new-trad.com/Home.html
Project Rhythm
Project Rhythm is a nonprofit organization that responds to a demand for youth music programs and helps to fill a growing void in music education. Project Rhythm (Reaching Youth Through Music) is based on the premise that music is an effective instrument for youth education and empowerment. Its programs assist community-based organizations in the New York City area by implementing music education programs that can help young people in underserved communities improve their cognitive skills and build self-confidence. Project Rhythm will be working with small groups of PS 307’s fifth graders all week to write and record their own original songs. www.projectrhythm.org
Amelia Robinson, Mil’s Trills
Amelia Robinson is the founder of Mil's Trills Music & Stories, an interactive concert
series for babies, kids and families, where she writes and performs original tunes on her electric ukulele. Also a music educator at the Stephen Gaynor School’s Early Childhood Center, Amelia has developed a curriculum focused heavily on movement, songs and instruments, that she will present to the youngest students of PS 307. Amelia will be working with the pre-K classrooms at 8:55 and 9:50 on Tuesday. www.milstrills.com
Rolie Polie Guacamole
Rolie Polie Guacamole, a Brooklyn-based rock band for kids, formed in 2006. Since then, the band has performed their original music throughout the country and recorded two albums. They also have a series of songs based on children’s literature. They’ll be performing for the first graders on Monday at 11:40 a.m. and 12:35 p.m. www.roliepolieguacamole.com
Jon Samson, CoCreative Music
Jon is the founder of CoCreative Music, a music therapy and teaching practice in Brooklyn. At Music Week, he will perform some of his award-winning family music, teach a bit about music and even make up a song with the students. Music promotes skill, creativity, focus and fun. The dynamics of music, from high to low, fast to slow, loud to soft, and starting and stopping are all magical mirrors of human emotion. Jon will be working with one pre-K classroom at 11:40 a.m. Thursday, and one fourth grade classroom at 12:35 p.m. Thursday. www.cocreativemusic.com
Jessica Taylor, DAMAGE DANCE
DAMAGE DANCE, led by Artistic Director Jessica Taylor, is a New York City-based contemporary dance company that has a mission of embracing and accepting our flaws and in turn using them to better ourselves. The company has performed all over NYC and most recently had its international premiere at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in Scotland. At Music Week, Jessica and her dancers will perform solos in various classrooms, allowing time for the students to ask questions and learn a few dance steps themselves. Times and classrooms to be decided. www.jessicataylordance.com
Naomi Weinberger, Naomi’s Music
Naomi is thrilled to sing and dance with the kids of PS 307. Naomi’s program, Music Together, focuses on helping children with their basic tonality and rhythm. To that end, she will lead the children in chants, songs and dances that are fun and age-appropriate. Mostly the children will use their bodies and voices, but they will have a chance to play with some percussion instruments, as well. They will also play a musical game. Some of the music will be songs they know, but everything repeats, so they’ll pick up new songs quickly! Naomi will be working with the kindergarten classes at 9:50 a.m. and 11:40 a.m. on Monday. www.musictogetheratkiddiecorner.com