Residency Description
The purpose of Sarah’s residency is to teach
the youth involved in this project that beautiful,
exciting and worthwhile experiences can be created
out of things that appear to be ugly. She will accomplish
this by working alongside kids to create music out
of percussive instruments made from found objects.
These objects include all metals, glass, wood, and
other durable materials.
The youth will gather at PlatteForum on Aug. 23 to
begin the project. Sarah will be joined by Bruce Kennedy,
a “found object” artist, who will help
facilitate the technical aspects of putting the instruments
together. Once the instruments have been assembled,
Sarah will work with the youth with the help of professional
percussionists to begin creating the music. Over the
course of the following week, the youth will gather
at PlatteForum to practice improvising the music through
non-verbal cues.
David Akombo, the founder and Director of Music Therapy
International will be on hand to teach the youth some
cultural folk music from Kenya. Mr. Akombo has studied
ethnomusicology, music education and music healing.
An “arts pals” relationship will be developed
between the Denver and the Kenyan youth during Sarah’s
stay in Nairobi.
Local filmmaker Donnie L. Betts will document the
youth’s creative process throughout the week
at PlatteForum as well as the concluding reception.
He and his cinematographer will then travel to Kenya
throughout the year to focus on the healing power
of music with the children in the Mother Theresa home,
and their relationship with the youth in Denver.
On August 30th at 5:30 p.m. the public “junk
jam session” will be held in the Riverfront
plaza at PlatteForum. The event will consist of the
outside improvisational concert put on by the youth,
which will evolve into a jam session in which the
public will be encouraged to participate. Everyone
will then move indoors for light refreshments and
talks by Sarah, Mr. Akombo, Mr. Betts, and the youth
about their experiences. This reception will also
serve as a fundraiser for Sarah’s trip to Kenya.
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Youth
component: |
full |
|
|
Schedule an artist’s talk |
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Performance
and reception: |
August 30, 2003 at 5:30 PM |
|
Curricular
tie-ins: |
Mathematics, Science, Geography, Social Studies,
school to career. |
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