PHOENIX – The week of April 3 to April 6 is a huge education week for The Phoenix Symphony as musicians will tour elementary and middle schools in the morning and college campuses in the afternoon. The college concerts are part of the Symphony Connections program, a unique partnership with Maricopa County Community Colleges that provides honors music students with free tickets to the Symphony’s Classics Concerts series throughout the year. The Symphony’s Chamber ensemble performs concerts in college campuses for music students, faculty and the surrounding community. Concerts are free and open to the public. Reservations are not required. The Symphony Connections concerts will take place on:
• Tuesday, April 3, 2012 at 2 p.m.: Mesa Community College Student Union’s Navajo Room.
• Wednesday, April 4, 2012 at 2 p.m.: Phoenix College Bulpitt Auditorium (tentative).
• Thursday, April 5, 2012 at 2 p.m.: Glendale Community College Student Union.
• Friday, April 6, 2012 at 2 p.m.: Estrella Mountain Community College Estrella Hall.
The elementary and middle school morning concerts will take place at four Valley schools as part of the Symphony’s wildly popular Classroom Concerts series. Classroom Concerts are often performed in school cafeterias and gymnasiums. The program utilizes core concepts found in the Arizona State Arts and Learning Standards. The Science of Sound program helps students understand how science concepts such as vibration, frequency, resonance and amplification are relevant when playing classical orchestral instruments. Science principles, such as how to change frequency, how sound is amplified and what causes sound to vibrate, are emphasized through the tonality, timbre and resonance of each instrument. The Classroom Concert series will take place in the following elementary and middle schools:
• Tuesday, April 3, 2012 at 1:50 p.m.: Western Valley Middle School (Phoenix)
• Wednesday, April 4, 2012 at 9:30 a.m.: Franklin Northeast Elementary (Mesa)
• Thursday, April 5, 2012 at 9:30 a.m.: Freedom Academy North (Scottsdale)
• Friday, April 6, 2012 at 9:30 a.m.: Gompers Habilitation Center (Phoenix)
