Celebrate Saskatchewan!
Celebrate Saskatchewan with an all-Saskatchewan recital featuring music from the recently published From Prairie to Pine: Piano Solos by Saskatchewan Composers.
Here are just a few ideas:
- Combine a recital with a backyard barbecue and invite one or more composers as honoured guests. If you are nervous about inviting a composer, you may be surprised to learn that the composers include well-established figures like Elizabeth Raum as well as student composers like 11-year old Tanner Greenwald.
A Regina teacher held such an event in the Spring and asked the composers to speak after their piece was played. Her students were inspired to discover that composers are real people, young and old, who live in their very own province.
- Complement the music with a simultaneous slide show of Saskatchewan scenes. Ask your students to bring in a favourite Saskatchewan photo, or a picture that they think suits their piece. The combination of music and images creates a powerful evening for students and guests. Plus, your students will be glad to share the stage!
- Create a story out of the pieces and have a student or guest narrate the evening. Evocative titles like Old Trucks and Dust Devils are a great starting point for a good homegrown story. If making your own story doesn't appeal, then why not intersperse readings from classic Saskatchewan literature like Who has Seen the Wind by W.O. Mitchell or Wolf Willow by Wallace Stegner. Your local librarian will be able to help.
Let us introduce you to a few of the pieces:
Elementary
- Lazy Sunday by Janet Gieck. This dreamy piece uses pedal throughout to draw out the laidback jazz harmonies.
- Shark by Tanner Greenwald. A dramatic piece full of tension-building chromaticism, from one of the book's youngest composers.
- Shadow Dance by David Kaplan. A repeated left-hand pattern of broken 5ths gives strong rhythmic pulse to this "Klezmer-style" piece.
Intermediate
- The Mysterious Chase by Michelle Meszaros. A sure hit for boys and girls alike! An active left-hand accompanies the wide-ranging melody in its chase across the keyboard.
- The Last Lullaby by Michael Lett. A soothing melody over a rocking left-hand figure makes for a captivating piece that stays with you long after you hear it.
- Face Off by Thomas Schudel. The perfect piece for your hockey-loving students. Open 5ths and 4ths set the scene. A poco accelerando builds to the final "goal."
Advanced
- Better days by David McIntyre. Jazz harmonies with constantly changing colours and chords evoke the wandering thoughts of a Sunday afternoon daydream.
- "Buenos Dias! Welcome to Spain!" by Sarah Konescni. Lilting accompaniment and bold right-hand chords give a vibrant Spanish flair to this passionate piece.
- Wascana Park by Eliabeth Raum. Listen for the water and lovely moments of stillness in this challenging piece with extensive 16th note scale patterns and wide left-hand leaps.
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