Claire Glover rehearses with students of El Sistema Colorado for her junior recital with Cameron Coday on April 18.
In the spring, most students on campus have their eyes on summer. Jobs and internships, camping trips and family vacations. A break from school.
But music education students Claire Glover and Cameron Coday have their eyes on lesson plans, staff-lined chalkboards and the fresh faces of the young music students they鈥檒l one day get to lead as music educators.
That鈥檚 because they鈥檝e spent this semester preparing for a recital with the children of El Sistema Colorado.
鈥淲e can鈥檛 wait to start our careers,鈥� says Glover, a horn player. 鈥淲orking with the students has shown us what we can expect when we become music teachers.鈥�
Glover and clarinetist Coday invited El Sistema to send children from its after-school music program to Boulder to perform in their junior recital on April 18.
鈥淲e didn鈥檛 want to just do a performance recital,鈥� says Coday. 鈥淲e wanted to somehow incorporate music education into it.鈥�
That meant several weeks of Friday evening rehearsals with the group, ranging from kindergarten to eighth grade, and a crash course in the planning, organization and leadership skills the two will need to teach music.
鈥淭he logistics have been the hardest part,鈥� says Glover. 鈥淒riving 45 minutes to Garden Place Elementary in Denver for rehearsal, figuring out how to bus the students here for the recital. It was a good experience to understand how all that works.鈥�
And logistics have gotten more challenging along the way. Glover says while the group of students involved started small, it began to grow as more learned about the opportunity. 鈥淣o one鈥檚 forcing them to do it, and that鈥檚 what鈥檚 made them excited.鈥�
For El Sistema鈥檚 portion of the program, Coday and Glover wanted just the right piece to fit the group and feature themselves as clarinet and horn soloists. They decided to commission a new piece from a College of Music composer.
鈥淲e wanted to find a piece that would capture the spirit of El Sistema and be appropriate for their ability level,鈥� Glover explains. 鈥淲e went to the composition seminar and asked if anyone wanted to create the piece.鈥�
Elena Specht, a master鈥檚 student in composition who specializes in pieces for young players, volunteered.
鈥淲e went down in November and talked to the students about what they loved about music,鈥� Glover explains. 鈥淭hey said it makes you feel happy, even when you鈥檙e sad. They said they liked slow rhythms and fast rhythms鈥攁nd playing loud and playing soft.
鈥淓lena took that feedback when she wrote 鈥楳idnight Sun,鈥� and it perfectly captures that feeling of finding brightness in a dark time.鈥�
鈥淓lena composed this amazing piece for horn and clarinet duet, with brass, woodwinds and strings as well. It鈥檚 a mixed ensemble and hard to write for, so Elena deserves all the credit in the world for creating such a beautiful piece,鈥� Coday says.
鈥淢idnight Sun鈥� will be conducted by Associate Director of Bands Matthew Roeder.
The children have enjoyed learning the piece, too.
鈥淭hey鈥檝e really taken ownership over the project, and they鈥檝e contributed to it,鈥� Glover says.
鈥淚t鈥檚 their piece, and they want the audience to be inspired when they hear it.鈥�
Giving the El Sistema students the chance to see a composition through from start to finish has been most rewarding for the future music teachers. 鈥淲e want to give them a good performance experience and an opportunity to see what music can really do,鈥� says Coday.
In an effort to capture the project start to finish, Coday and Glover are working with CU-Boulder student filmmaker Julia Ferguson on a documentary video.
鈥淛ulia is so excited to have the opportunity to work on this incredible story about these amazing children,鈥� says Coday.
