News
Communities LinkUP! Project
Posted Apr 29, 07:14 AM
By Jenny Parker, USM student reporter
Representatives of Carnegie Hall’s Weill Music Institute recently visited the University of Southern Mississippi to attend the 4th annual Communities LinkUP! Concert.
Along with the Southern Miss Symphony Orchestra, 900 students from Hattiesburg and surrounding area elementary schools participated in the concert held at Bennett Auditorium. The concert theme this year was the study of the concept of accompaniment. Students learned to distinguish between melodies and harmonies of American symphony classics.
Communities LinkUP! provides a valuable musical experience for local students across communities. Each year the Weill Institute at Carnegie Hall provides materials and support for 11 regional partnerships from Minnesota to Mississippi. “For students and teachers in Mississippi, it’s important because it fosters an appreciation for orchestral music, allows students to receive basic instruction in learning to read music and provides the experience of playing recorder in a symphony concert,” Whole Schools Initiative Director, Judi Holifield said.
An alumna of Southern Miss herself, Holifield introduced the Communities LinkUP! program in Mississippi four years ago. Now, over 10 elementary schools participate in concerts held in Hattiesburg and Meridian.
Carnegie Hall’s Marte Siebenhar, later told Mississippi Public Broadcasting reporter, Ron Brown, her mission this year is to help spread the concert series beyond these two local orchestras. “We have been very successful.” Siebenhar said to Brown, “With the help of the Mississippi Arts Commission we’ll expand to four sites next year”.
Through this program, Holifield hopes that students will learn that, “everyone can experience success in some form through music, as well as what the instruments of the orchestra are and how a live performance feels and sounds.”
Teachers and students from elementary schools with support from the symphonies spend an entire school year in preparation for the concert, and while these experiences may differ, each participant has the opportunity to learn through the art of music.
