Sousa, Ragtime, and the Blues
Return to PS 8!
Photography by Nathalie Schueller
This spring, the strains of blues and rags have echoed on the 3rd floor as PS 8 father and professional musician Jeff Newell once again presents his "Sousa, Music of All Americans" residency to the fifth graders. Over six weeks, the residency focuses on the lives of several notable American musicians and their influence on the music of John Philip Sousa. During the residency, Newell first visits the fifth grade classes in full period dress to talk about ragtime music and the life of Scott Joplin, guiding the students to see how the history of our nation is tied to its music, geography, and culture. Subsequent classes explore the blues traditions that grew out of life in the American South, focusing on Robert Johnson and W.C. Handy, and the brass band tradition that was once an integral part of the American social fabric.
One important aspect of the program helps the students see how the music of black Americans influenced America's first real musical pop star, John Philip Sousa, and how Sousa carried this influence into the upper classes both in the United States and Europe. Jeff has really enjoyed the enthusiastic response from this year's fifth grade students. Leo Catapano from class 5-302 says: "Jeff Newell has changed the way I look at the Blues, Ragtime and Marching Music. I love to listen to it now!"
The residency will conclude on Friday, May 8 with a performance by Jeff Newell's New-Trad Octet for the entire PS 8 student body, during which the fifth grade classes will also share some of what they have learned about the roots of American music. Fifth grade parent Nathan Ward described his son's experience by saying: "My son Nick was so inspired by what he learned about Scott Joplin that he made his own banjo out of a plank of wood from the backyard fence, a plastic container, and some rubber bands." Ms. Shultz, Nick's teacher, adds: "Scores and data are important to any child's success, but they do not tell what makes students laugh or of other creative interests. Mr. Newell's residency makes learning the joy it ought to be."
As when Newell first presented this program in 2008, "Sousa, Music of All Americans" is made possible with funds from the Local Capacity Building Initiative, a regrant program of the Arts in Education Program of the New York State Council on the Arts, administered by the BRIC Arts/Media/Bklyn and the Brooklyn Arts Council (BAC). This being a matching grant, funds are also provided by the PS 8 PTA Enrichment Fund.
Posted on: May 6, 2009
