Culver's Symphonic Conducts Third Grade Workshops

Culver’s Symphonic Conducts Third Grade Workshops

The 67-member Symphonic Jazz Orchestra (SJO), led by Music Directors George Duke and Mitch Glickman, is the only organization of its kind in the country, uniquely dedicated to a musical genre that blends the language of jazz with orchestral traditions. In its 10-year history, the SJO has served over 27,500 young people and their families through its education and community outreach programs.

The SJO’s Third Grade Instrumental Workshop brings members of the SJO to elementary schools for an introduction to the instruments of the orchestra with 60-minute workshops allowing students the opportunity to learn about, as well as play various woodwinds, strings, brass and percussion instruments over the course of four workshops.

The program combines a half-hour concert by a string quartet, brass and woodwind quintets, and a percussion group followed by rotations where the students get to try the instruments they just heard including violin, cello, trumpet, trombone, flute, clarinet, saxophone and percussion. This launches the students into the school’s band and orchestra program. Thanks to the generous donation of Reeds for each student by D’Addario & Co., the students are able to see how it feels to play a saxophone and clarinet during the workshop.

As part of the California Arts Council’s “Artists-in-School” program, over 1,300 elementary school students are receiving sequential, comprehensive music education taught by members of the SJO. The program, funded by grants from the California Arts Council, Feinshreiber Foundation, and the Culver City Education Foundation, provides music education classes for five public schools in the Culver City Unified School District.

The SJO(based in Culver City)is able tooffer music programs for second grade students, a weekly residency program for first grade students and an Instrumental Workshop program for 3rd Grade students that has been active at CCUSD elementary schools for the last six years.

The SJO has performed across Southern California at such venues as Royce Hall and the Ford Amphitheatre. Through its Community Outreach Program, the orchestra has served over 27,000 young people and their families with special family and educational concerts, master classes, workshops and assemblies.

Photo Captions:

001 - Ben Cole, Southwestern US Regional Sales Manager, D’Addario & Co., who donated Rico Reeds for the Symphonic Jazz Orchestra’s Third Grade Woodwinds Instrumental Workshops, hands out reeds to Culver City’s Farragut Elementary School’s third graders right before they get the opportunity to play saxophones and clarinets. This was the first time for the majority of the students to actually have an opportunity to play and become familiar with instruments that, may one day, become their instrument of choice.

017 - A Symphonic Jazz Orchestra Woodwind Musician assists a Farragut Elementary School student master the clarinet during the Symphonic Jazz Orchestra's Third Grade Instrumental Workshop as part of the California Arts Council's "Artists-in-Schools" program offering sequential, comprehensive music education taught by members of the SJO.