FINAL DAY

As I look at the moon tonight, I now know why I have not been able to sleep very well this week.   It is certainly a full moon, and a beautiful night, as well!

The last day proved to be reflective.  How fast this week went!  As instructors reviewed material covered throughout the week, I realized I have not taken as many notes as I thought I had.  I started to frantically recall all the wonderful ideas I said I want to do when I get back to my classroom.  Pictures were allowed today, at the conclusion of the class.  And one thing I was sure to do was get emails for my new friends.  I hope our paths will cross again some day!!

Martie and Andrea Ostertag

Andrea SanGiorgio

Last Class with Andrea SanGiorgio

Martie and Isabel Rosner

Christophe Maubach and Martie

Rear of the Orff Institut

Untersberg, almost out of the clouds (from the field behind the Orff Institut)

Almost All The Instructors at Closing Ceremony
(Missing:  Christophe Maubach)

It's Friday Already!!

DAY FIVE

Session One - Werner Beidinger "Ensemble & Klanggesten"

Today is our last session with Werner -- Ich bin traurig... (I am sad...)  He is such a wonderful teacher!  We started with a fun opener that I will DEFINITELY do with my students back home.  It was based on successive movements.  It starts like a "good game, good game" idea, except only one person leads and then when the person next to you moves, it's your turn to move next.  Extension was to go in back of the circle and do movements on people's back.  This could include back massage ideas ("chop-chop-chop-chop"), or could include rhythmic elements, as well as pitch, and don't forget tempo!  Fun, and does not put anyone on the spot because everyone has a turn.  Can't wait to try this!!

We next played portions of a piece, and my instrument was a set of congas.  There were eight congas, so I was in a group of four.  I LOVED PLAYING THE CONGAS!!!  Because I have had experience with Jeh Kulu Dance & Drum Theater back in Burlington, Vermont, I had an idea about how to approach the drums to make a good sound.  So I was able to help my group members.  What a thrill to be part of a challenging ensemble with all the other percussion parts!    

Session Two - James Harding "More Fun WIth Dots and Lines"

Again, last session with James...  I will consider retaking my Orff Levels classes and visiting James Harding in San Francisco!!  He is a fabulous (and FUN) teacher!!  Here is a picture of our class:

Countries represented in this class:  US, Turkey, Australia, Italy, Iran, Angola, Slavenia, Brussels, China, and Iceland...  I probably forgot a few or got a few wrong.  But WOW!!!!!  

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, CARL ORFF!!

DAY FOUR

Today, July 10th, is Carl Orff's birthday.  He was born July 10, 1895, so today would have been his 119th birthday! To begin sessions this morning, everyone congregated in the main entrance foyer and we all learned this canon:

Werner Beidinger led us in four parts, and the hallway was filled with resonant voices!  One comment is that we have not done enough singing this week, but I don't agree.  This has been a well-rounded experience, emphasizing speech/voice, body percussion, instrumentation, and movement.  Singing has also been part of everything.  But what really stands out to me is IMPROVISATION!!!

Session One -- Andrea Ostertag "Movement and Sounds"

We extended a game learned the other day "Ha Hey Ho" and added a devilish element.  This is an elimination game, but that is the point -- it's ok to be out.  In fact, eventually everyone will be out.  

We did a rhythm game, but if I include it here, you will think I am using fowl language!  Im Gegenteil!! (On the contrary...) We used consonant sounds to explore rhythm and movement.  We also added pitch (hi and low) to establish the sounds and movement.

One activity we did will work well as a precursor to "Incredibox".  Each person creates a sound and then one person conducts them from behind with a tap on the head.  Ostinatos can be established!

Session Two -- Andrea Sangiorgio "Voice as Rhythm: vocal percussion layered ostinato"

[He will provide his website and email address in the next class]  The structure here was to layer in, then add a middle part, back to layers, and then the middle part leads to an ending.  Group work.  Not only did we need to create layered parts, but we could also add movement, and even create a story.  It is always interesting to see what evolves within a group, and then to watch the other groups, too.

LUNCH BREAK!  It is really nice to have a two-hour lunch!  We should incorporate that into public schools, don't you agree?!!  Actually, not if it means I have to do lunch duty!!  

During lunch break, a new acquaintance, Heidi (from Auburn, Maine) accompanied me and we took the bus into town to obtain theater tickets for the Marionette Puppet Play of "The Sound Of Music." It will be on Friday evening. It's not that I'm a big fan of The Sound of Music, but I understand the puppets are amazing!  Now one last stop was to get a coffee for the bus ride back to the Institut, and wouldn't you know it -- we ended up getting back about 10 minutes late!  So I missed a little bit with Session Three -- Sorry, Isabel!! 

Session Three -- Isabel Rosner

I walked into small groups with rhythmic play, and since I missed the intro, I really had a hard time catching on.  After the session, my new Australian friend, Daniel, wanted to snoop a little and check out how the storage space was organized.  So I joined him in taking some pictures.  I already mentioned I have storage-lust, so here is a little peak:

 

Session Four -- Christoph Maubach "Vocal and Instrumental: Making and Creating Music"

Christoph really likes the outdoors.  He likes to find sounds from nature and create music based on these sounds. He first shared a piece of slate stone that he brought from New Zealand!  It really had a unique, actually two-toned sound.  Everyone got a chance to handle it and discover ways of playing it. At first I thought this was going to take a really long time, but people were very creative with how they produced sounds.  Then Christoph put out a bag of stones and we each needed to pick two.  We teased him, "Did you really carry all those stones in your luggage from New Zealand?"  "Ha!" he said.  No, he collected them near a river in Salzburg.

DAY THREE -- Half Day

Wednesday we only have a half day of sessions and then the afternoon and evening are free to do what we want!

Session One - Werner Beidinger 

We took "A Trip To The Moon"!  This piece was written by Werner.  It is actually a rondo, with lots of fun movement for each of the different parts.  An important take-away for me is that it helps to be specific with children what you expect of them when you ask them to move.  If I just play music and ask them to move, they may not know what they are to do!  Give them a situation, such as walking through pudding, or swinging, or weightlessness (on the moon).  There was lots of movement today, and then Werner modeled the process for transferring body percussion to the Orff instruments.  There are folks in these sessions who have never taken a music course!  So the idea of a moving bordun was very foreign. Many quick lessons occurred in about five minutes to bring these people up to speed!

Oh, what I would give to have this instrumentarium AND storage space!!

Session Two - "What's In The Box?" with James Harding

Now this session was intriguing from the moment I entered the room! Having enough manipulatives (square boxes about 18"x18") and instruments was essential for this lesson, but if we fell short, sharing was ok, just not as much fun. The boxes were marked on all six sides with either drawings of instruments or music notation. We built structures with the boxes, broke them down and started again and again -- just like children do when they play with blocks.  We did MANY activities with these boxes, including break into groups and create a scenario of what we "had" in our boxes! We eventually did countless rhythm reading exercises, but they didn't feel like exercises! There was so much flexibility. Remember, with this being an international course, everyone's language brings other considerations to the table -- reading backwards, up to down. That led to reading in many different directions, and we even had to guess the paths some people took!  I felt like the door was opened and we were "allowed" to go in any direction we wished -- just ENDLESS possibilities!!

Special Dinner Out

When I registered for the Institut, I received a personal email back from Sonja Czuk (Secretary at the Orff Institut).  Mrs. Czuk informed me that a former instructor at the Institut, Miriam Samuelson ("Mimi") heard I was from Burlington, Vermont, and wanted me to know SHE grew up on the street around the corner from me!!!  Mind you, Mimi is now 75 years old, so things look much different in Burlington now.  It turns out Mimi lived in the home of a friend of mine -- Allegra Miller!!!  This is just too crazy!  Daaa Da Daa Daa Daaa Da Daaaa.  You know??  "It's a Small World After All"!!!

I took a picture of Allegra's house to share with Mimi and last night was my chance to give it to her. She pointed to the room that was her bedroom when she lived there! Another new friend I just met at this Institut, Joan Linklater, was also invited by Mimi to have dinner with us.  After our last session of the day Mimi picked us up and brought us to the Rechenwirt Gasthof restaurant. It was raining out, so we did not spend much time outside, but I did manage to take these pictures of our dining experience:

Joan Linklater, Miriam Samuelson and me!

DAY ONE and DAY TWO

DAY ONE

Session 1 -- "Why Music Education Needs Imagination" with Werner Beidinger
(Only a sliver from each session -- don't worry, I won't spoil all the fun in case any readers decide to visit in the future!)

Today was all about mixed meter.  I simply have to do more mixed meter, and more triple meter, for that matter. First of all, it's fun!  And secondly, it is important to challenge one's sense of balance and anticipation.  Everything cannot be a march!

While in the city center of Salzburg last Sunday, I wandered the streets and came across this "Club Take five".   No, we did not do this famous Dave Brubeck piece today in this session!  The piece we did was from OSW III, German Edition, "Taktwechseltanze 4".  I know I have heard this piece many times!

Session 2 -- "Playing With Objects" with James Harding

I've got to remember these games once I get back to the classroom.  They are wonderful ways to introduce and get to know each other, as well as relax the group.  Children are given the task, so class does not need to begin with the teacher giving lengthy instructions.  Ownership is on the children right away to explore and report back to the class as a whole.  This session also delved into producing sounds and movement, sometimes with inspiration from pictures.  Of course it really is all about relating to each other on some level and performing in a group.

Session 3 -- "Come Into Play - Patterns For Developing Ensemble Compositions" with Isabel Rosner

Have you ever gotten a song stuck in your head? Such is the case for "Tumpalele".  It has kind of a haunting melody, which went along with the movement activity.  In this class we got out all the Orff instruments (xylophones, glockenspiels and metallophones), as well as small rhythm percussion.  There was so much opportunity to just PLAY the instruments!  Highly encouraged to explore -- no right or wrong, which is affirming.

Session 4 -- "Vocal and Instrumental: Making and Creating Music" with Christoph Maubach

Simple, familiar melodies, but based on songs from New Zealand!  Lots of successive play as a fast, reaction/ice breaker.  This was the first session that invited us to wear name tags!  That really helps to make people feel comfortable.

DAY TWO

Session 1 -- "Dance Journeys" with Andrea Ostertag

A game is always a great way to start the day, then stretching, breathing, controlled, purposeful movement and forming relationships.  I loved using the water bottles to elongate and establish free flow.  I thought the movement with a partner was based on "trust", but that is not exactly correct.  It is based on establishing a relationship for the moment.

Session 2 -- "The Whole Voice" with Andrea Sangiorgio

He will provide notes on Thursday...  We did some fun group work with vocal sounds and creative play.  I was glad to have my iPad mini to help our group.  It was really fun, and we got some good feedback on our group improvisation!

Session 3 -- "Come Into Play" - Part 2  with Isabel Rosner

She will provide notes on Thursday, too!  Guess there was a rush to the copier this morning.  Again, we used lots of instruments and it was fun. I can see using this activity in my kindergarten classes. Loved the use of string (that's all I'm going to give you on this session...)

Session 4 -- "Vocal and Instrumental" - Part 2 with Christoph Maubach

We used a simple, familiar melody, but with new words, and we also used string but in a different way than in Session 3.  Group work, use of instruments, and lots of improvisation.  I got to solo in class and it was really fun!

Opening Session

Sunday night was the opening session where everyone meets and finds out how the week will work. Werner Beidinger opened with a song he wrote, "Hello, Let's Go!" (In Deutsch that's "Auf los geht's los!").  Lucky for me, the language will be English throughout the week.  But not so lucky for everyone.  Andrea Ostertag then introduced everyone by country.  There are 27 countries represented!!!  Wow!!  At this moment I do not have a list of all the countries, but I hope that information will be available just so I can try to remember everyone I have met.  The interesting thing is that when instruction is given with words, some people are exhausted trying to understand, or just don't even try.  But once the English words stop and the music begins, EVERYONE joins in!  All participants are eager to make music, and to create music.  Music really is a universal language! 

I love the fact that we never enter a room with our shoes on!  Glad I got a pedicure before I left home!! 

I'm in Salzburg!!

As mentioned in my last post, travel was bound to be exhausting -- but a good night's sleep has taken care of that.  And today has been an absolutely beautiful first day here in Salzburg.

As I waited for the bus, I took this photo of the Salzkammergut Mountains, a mountain range of the Northern Limestone Alps, located in the Austrian states of Salzburg and Upper Austria (according to WIKIPedia, that is).  This mountain range is quite impressive, but all the mountains around Salzburg are breath-taking.  Check out this mountain range as seen behind the Orff Institut:

It was just a spectacular day!  I went on a self-guided tour -- actually I just wandered aimlessly, but we'll call it a self-guided tour.  Lots of tourists, but I felt completely comfortable exploring on my own.  I bought a ticket to go up to the Festung Hohensalzburg on their Festungs Bahn and that was a good idea in order to get a fabulous panoramic view of Salzburg and the mountains.

Got Orff?

Traveling is certainly stressful! Lack of sleep fuels the aggravation. Finally, I have arrived in Salzburg!

  JA!

Getting Ready To Go

I packed last Friday...  I have secured all my transportation arrangements...  I got some Euros from AAA...  I even got an International Driving Permit!  I have been trying to acquire some German via Rosetta Stone, and have downloaded apps on my phone:  "Speak and Translate" and "DuoLingo" which are really helping a lot.  I also just learned about another app:  "Word Lens".  What did non-native travelers do before all this technology???

I am gearing up for the six hour drive to New Jersey to see my family.  They will drive me into Newark Airport and from there I will fly to Frankfurt (7 h 50 m) and a 3-1/2 hour lay-over...  On to Vienna (1 h 20 m) and another 3 hour lay-over...  And with one last and quick 50 minute flight finally SALZBURG!!  So after six hours of driving and 16-1/2 hours of air travel, you can calculate:  It will take many, many hours to get there.

All this anticipation. A little bit of worrying, too.  After all, this is my first trip to Europe, and I'm beginning it alone.  Wish me luck!

I'm In!!

I received word last week that I have been accepted into the Summer International Institute in July!  I am so excited and can hardly wait, but I have a lot to do to prepare, so I'll try to calm down a bit.  I will share my experience with applying to the program, as that is a story.  The funny truth is that I had an almost identical experience to my friend and colleague, Steve Owens when he applied to the Institute back in 2008.  His blog may be found at http://orfftrip.blogspot.com/.  I will share my application experience in this blog on my Page called Trip Details.  Stay tuned!  

Time to Make Some Plans

When I first created this blog, I was on school vacation back in February, 2014.  At that point, attending the Orff Institut was only a dream.  There were a few things I had to establish before I could start making plans.  First, I needed to get my husband on board with this idea.  Second, I needed to be realistic about whether I could afford this trip.  And third, I needed to stop procrastinating about it and just start planning!

My husband is celebrating a big birthday this summer.  Actually, it is on July 12th.  So one of the wrinkles I'm trying to iron out is the fact that we will not be together for his birthday if I am in Austria and he is still at home!  My solution is that I want my husband to join me in Austria after my course is over so we can travel through Europe!  It has taken about a month, but he is now on board with my attending the Orff Institut AND flying over to join me at the conclusion so we can continue on exploring.  I am so excited about this!!!

I have been saving money this whole school year with the intent to go to Austria next summer.  There are so many things to figure out, but I believe I will be able to afford this trip.  The Institut is very reasonably priced, and I will request professional development funds through my school district to reimburse the cost of attendance.  I will have to foot the bill for travel, lodging and food, so it will not end up being cheap.
 
The International Summer Course 2014 runs from July 6-12.  To arrange for this, I will make a visit to my credit union in the next few days to arrange a wire payment -- the U.S. equivalent of 350,-EUR, which is approximately $481.28.  Next, I need to send in my Registration Form.  I need to request housing accommodations separately, as the Carl Orff Institut cannot make housing arrangements.  I want to go as cheaply as possible, but I am years away from my early 20's, so I would like some privacy, if possible.

After I receive word about acceptance into the Institut (I hope I will hear either way), I will book my plane flight and then my husband can book his flights.  He travels a lot in his work, and he accumulates frequent flyer miles, but there are restrictions.  We may end up not being able to fly home together!      

Thoughts About Summer...

It's February, and I'm on school vacation this week.  This is the time I begin thinking about plans for the summer.  I have taken many vacations with my husband and family.  I have taken many graduate courses for professional development.  But I am feeling the need to do something different next summer.  One thing on my bucket list is to travel abroad.  Yes, it is time to plan a trip outside the contiguous U.S.A.

I always think about professional development.  I need that shot in the arm to feel refreshed and ready to return to the classroom in the fall.  And when I think of professional development, I think of Orff Schulwerk!  In fact, I think I think about Orff Schulwerk almost every day!  It's not hard to hear the music of Carl Orff's Carmina Burana in many commercials these days.  So there are constant reminders. But really, have you seen the Hershey's Spreads commercial???  I guess Orff is sweet!

When I purchased my first car in 1985, I also purchased a vanity license plate with the name "ORFF".  Here is a picture of that car and me on vacation camping in Nova Scotia:

I was very proud of that car.  People often asked "What is ORFF?"  I got to say my spiel:  "ORFF is an approach to teaching music to children..."  "Oh," was the response.  They thought it had to do with the dog that was in the back seat.  We have come a long way since then!  

My Wish To Go To The Orff Institut

I have wanted to go to the Orff Institut for many years.  But it always seemed like such a far-off dream. I really want to see Europe, too.  I am classically trained in music, so the thought of going to Mozart's birthplace, as well as seeing opera and other performances is of high interest.  I am also interested in going to see where my father was born, in Germany.  Yes, it's time to plan this trip.