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St. James First Graders Celebrate Mozart's Birthday

St. James First Graders Celebrate Mozart's Birthday!

Arlington Heights, IL. February 12, 2013---The first grade classes at St. James School have been studying the prolific and influential composer of the Classical era, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Students learned that Mozart was a versatile composer, and wrote in every major genre, including symphony, opera, the solo concerto, chamber music including string quartet and string quintet, and the piano sonata. “The students were interested in learning about Mozart's life, inspecting at pictures of him and his family, and listening to many of his compositional works,” said General Music teacher, Karen Luehr. “There were more than 600 in total! We selected several compositions in particular to investigate: Eine Kleine Nachtmusik (A Little Night Music), Variations on Twinkle Twinkle, Rondo Alla Turca and the "Clarinet Concerto".” Students compared all the music, listened for specific instruments, and gave their best efforts to try to play and conduct as Mozart did. The first graders also completed a banner explaining their favorite things about Mozart.

As a culmination of the unit, students will celebrate Mozart's birthday --his 257th!! A special part of this celebration will be the guest performances by first grade parents who also happen to be professional musicians! On Wednesday, February 6, 2013, Elif Allenfort and Darleen Carl-Beck are appearing at SJS's Music classroom. Mrs. Allenfort is the piano division head at the Metropolis School of the Performing Arts in Arlington Heights and on the faculty of Sherwood Community Music School at Columbia College Chicago. Mrs. Carl-Beck is a clarinetist with the Rockford Symphony Orchestra. She has participated in the Symphony Goes Schools program as well as the RSO Woodwind Quintet. They will perform two of Mozart's most famous pieces: The Mozart Clarinet Concerto, and Rondo Alla Turca.

Saint James Catholic School, a National Blue Ribbon School of Excellence, is dedicated to

partnering with parents in modeling Christ. Our mission is to provide a foundation from which

students recognize and develop their personal relationship with God, an academic culture of

meaningful and continuous learning, sensitive to the gifts of each child, and tools to shape beliefs, attitudes, values, and practices in accord with the Gospel message of social justice. We are called to walk in faith, live in hope, and act in love.

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