By Rachel MacNeill
Ottawa’s elementary school children will soon be learning that there’s more to the Internet than downloading music from their favourite band.
A new program is using the growing influence of the web as a tool to teach kids music.
The Ottawa Youth Orchestra Academy, with the Ottawa-Carleton District School Board, officially launched TeleMusic, their new multimedia distance music program, earlier this month.
Four local elementary schools connected with each other over a broadband network to hear and see an orchestral ensemble from the academy.
The program, sponsored by Telus, is a live, interactive video conference, where several classes learn and play together over the network.
If the next few sessions are successful, organizers say they will seek more permanent funding.
Greg MacIntosh, also known as Goyo, is a well-known children’s music educator who teaches at nine Ottawa schools.
He will be leading classes from kindergarten to Grade 6 in their lessons, accompanied by different groups from the academy, such as a woodwind or string section.
The sessions will combine music theory, instrument instruction, singing and performances – perhaps even a polka..
“Greg is really fabulous with kids,” says Barry de Young, president of the academy and organizer of TeleMusic.
“The idea was to blend Greg’s ability to involve kids in a music lesson with musicians from our ensembles.”
Says MacIntosh: “There’s a big thirst for this kind of thing.”
Music has taken a backseat to other subjects in school and many elementary teachers who teach music do not know enough about it, he says.
Music has been a casualty of school budget cuts.
The school board is anticipating a $28- to $30-million budget shortfall for next school year. This will likely have an impact on specialist staff, including arts and music teachers.
Since music programs are scarce in elementary school curriculum, students are losing interest in it, MacIntosh says.
“The arts have become a little watered down, in my opinion,” he says. “Which is too bad.”
MacIntosh says elementary school is the best time to open kids’ hearts and minds to music.
“They’re not afraid of anything when they’re younger,” he says.
There is a growing need in schools for a music program, de Young says, and the new program could help to fill it.
It will also benefit the academy’s musicians by giving them a chance to play in front of an audience.
Lara Deutsh, 15, plays the flute with the academy and performed at the launch.
“It’s a pretty cool experience because you get to see the kids’ reactions as you play,” she says. “This is what I love doing, and if I can get a chance to expose kids to that, then it is worth it.”
Deutsch says it is important for youngsters to learn about music because it can have a huge impact on other aspects of their lives.
It gave her a sense of discipline, she says, and helped her make friends.
There are many links between music and success in the classroom, says MacIntosh.
Along with exposing kids to languages, vocabulary and math, he says, it encourages kids to try new things.
The program will continue during Education Week in early May.
In each of four sessions, a different academy ensemble will play at a different school and broadcast itself over the broadband network.
The students will participate in a live lesson with MacIntosh and the academy.
If the participating schools find the program worthwhile, organizers will look for funding for next year and thereafter.
The best thing about TeleMusic is expanding the audience, says MacIntosh.
With 2,400 students of his own, he says he cannot take any more on in a traditional classroom, he says.
The TeleMusic program will allow him to reach more students than ever, MacIntosh says. “My mind is just exploding with the possibilities.”