The Fat Lady Sang

The end of the year at ALPHA is a furry with enrollment, end of the year programs, last minute activities, sports events, and the list goes on.

One of the highlights was an end of the year recital we had last night at school. It was a dream realized. Since we started the school in 2000, music has been part of our curriculum. In a country where the school music program doesn't exist, it was a challenge to forge ahead despite the fact that most people don't have a clue what it is we are trying to do.

This year was the first time we were able to juggle the class schedule just enough to have two instrument groups practice twice a week. Recorder ensemble, lead by my co-teacher, Milton, was the larger of the group. Because of the availability and cost, recorders are the choice of instrument for most of these kids. All of our 3rd and 4th graders learn how to read music and play the recorder in their weekly music class. This optional class was designed for 5th - 7th graders who wanted to continue to learn.

RECORDER ENSEMBLE 2006

Band was a far bigger challenge. Using donated instruments (practically no one would be able to afford their own), seven students started learning the fingering and technique of their instruments. To top it all off, I managed to find a band method available on the internet (downloaded and printed the Adobe files) and started arranging songs for our mix of instruments. No available pre-made band arragments here!

BAND Six of the original 7 students finished the year. The really young one on the far right is me (just in case you didn't recognize!) :)

Jessica, Jezreel and André tried keyboard for a semester

Next year is just around the corner and I hope that the initial results will have spurred interest in more students to take the plunge. Will be sure to let you know how it goes!

VIOLIN QUARTET We invited one of the members from our violin ensemble to fill out a quartet as a guest presentation.

7th GRADE CHOIR This group practiced and performed at our first recital in June. For never having sung in a choir, these kids managed to learn 3 parts on several songs and really grew in their vocal ability. Due to scheduling problems we were unable to continue during the 2nd semester.