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Fall
Presidents’ Messages
2006
1
Review:
Music From Five Continents 3
Review: OISE Workshop
5
Upcoming Events
Newsletter of the Ontario Orff Chapter • Music For Children - Musique Pour Enfants •
Past President’s Message
6
Volume 12 Issue 4
President’s Message
“Since the beginning of time, chil“Music making forces us to create,
dren have not liked to study.
reflect, bare our souls,
They would much rather play,
ponder, and react in new ways…
and if you have their interests at
Music lets us get in touch with our
heart, you will let them learn
feelings, our intuition, and our hopes
Past President Mary Cousens and Current
while
they play.” Carl Orff
and fears.
President Marion Roy.
It activates our dreams and moves
I hope you have enjoyed your play time this summer!
us through troubled waters.”
Can you believe another school year has begun? Here
Music with the Brain in Mind, Eric Jensen
we go again!
I wanted to share this outstanding quote with each of
2006 was a huge Orff year for all of us; what with the
the Ontario Orff Chapter Members as I found myself
DeLelles/Kriske workshop in the winter, a very successcompletely moved by the thoughts and images it creful National Orff conference in April, Orff Levels trainated in my mind and reminded me once again about
ing and Doug Goodkin’s course in the summer. As we
the power we have as music educators when teaching
begin the new school year, let’s keep that Orff enthusichildren. I hope it will also cause you to reflect on
asm going! The Ontario Orff Chapter Executive is lookthe important role you play as a music educator who
ing forward to keeping you aware of the workshops and
stimulates, supports and encourages students to excourses that are available to you!
perience the true love of creating and exploring music
every day of everyone’s life!
“Plus ca change, plus c’est la meme chose.” A. Karr
Those of you who are regular recipients of the Mosaic
As I move into the role of Past President for the Onnewsletter will notice some changes to the format.
tario Orff Chapter, I am thankful for the support and
Amanda Bragg, our Mosaic editor, has had a happy addiencouragement that I have received from the Execution to her family with baby #2 and is off on maternity
tive and Membership. The experience has been wonleave. Congratulations Amanda!
derful and I have attempted to lead this organization
New to the Executive and the editor role are Jennifer
to support greater advocacy for music education and
Stacey and Dawn Lane. They have embraced this posiexpanding the Orff philosophy to a larger audience.
tion with gusto — hence the innovative look to the
I am thrilled that we have created an even stronger
newsletter. Stay tuned — I’m sure there will be more
bond with the Ontario Music Educators Association
to come from these two creative women!
and have been advocates on your behalf with the Ministry of Education through the work with all of the
Suzanne Waller will co-chair the positions of Vice
music organizations in Ontario and Canada. The fact
President and Workshop convener with Catherine Irthat Beth Knox and Yana Ioffe led many of you with
ving. Suzanne, an Orff Specialist, has been involved with
the presentation of Collage was our greatest
(Mary...Continued on page 4)
(Marion...Continued on page 4)
Page 2
Ontario Orff Executive
2006-2008
Past President:
Mary Cousens
President:
Marion Roy
Vice Presidents & Workshop Convenors:
Catherine Irving
Suzanne Waller
Secretary:
Mary Cousens
Treasurer:
Batya Levy
Publicity:
Executive
Membership:
Caren Ludwig-Shoychet
Workshop Site Administrator:
Kathryn Edmondson
Newsletter Editors:
Dawn Lane
Jennifer Stacey
Members at Large:
Yana Ioffe
Anne Tipler
Mosaic Mosaïque is published three times a
year by the Ontario Chapter of Music for
Children, Carl Orff Canada, Musique pour
enfants. Articles in the newsletter express the
viewpoints of their authors and do not imply
endorsement by the Chapter.
Mosaic Mosaïque welcomes contributions of
articles, ideas for columns, news and questions.
Submissions are requested by November 25 for
the January Issue, February 25 for the April issue
and July 25 for the September Issue.
Submissions are subject to approval and editing.
Please send submissions to:
Dawn Lane
98 Glen Cameron Rd.,
Thornhill, Ont.
L3T 1P8
(905) 882-1506
[email protected]
or
Jennifer Stacey
13 Willowgate Dr.,
Markham, Ont.
L3P 1G1
(905) 472-6312
[email protected]
Message from
the Newsletter Editors
Change seems to come suddenly. One minute you are a vice president, the next president, suddenly you are teaching
kindergarten and not music. As adults, change appears to hit us like a ton of
bricks. Getting ready for performances, building learning communities, these
give us another perspective, a gentler view of change.
This issue of Mosaic acknowledges some of the changes that have happened
since the last issue: a new executive council, a new Doug course, new editors, a new school year.
Welcome to the 187 new members who joined the Ontario Orff Chapter
when they attended the National Orff Conference in April, Collage 2006.
Our Chapter is now 400 strong! Please introduce yourselves at Alice Pratt’s
Fall workshop. We are sure it will be a “Musical Happening!”
Young people learn by imitation. Doug Goodkin encourages us to teach musically. This issue of Mosaic has many voices praising the teachings of Doug
Goodkin. If you don’t know him already, visit www.douggoodkin.com and
learn more about the San Francisco School of Music.
The new editing team of Mosaic, Dawn Lane and Jennifer Stacey, ask for
your patience, encouragement, photos and articles. We are honoured to
continue the proud tradition of this newsletter and to serve you in this role.
How lucky we are to stay connected to the news, triumphs, celebrations and
challenges of education with Orff in our toolbox. If you have any ideas or
comments about the newsletter, please let us know by email.
Take time to listen to your heartbeat, your inner drum. Thank you for
reading.
Dawn and Jennifer
Carl Orff Canada Website’s New Look!
Have you visited www.orffcanada.ca lately? There's a great new Members
Only section featuring a members directory, job listings, and complete issues of Ostinato. Remember that your userid is membersonly and the password is carmina. The website is the best source for up to date information
on courses, workshops and special events in Ontario and across the country. You can also list Orff children's classes on the site for free - help those
parents find your class! Contact information for all services is available on
the site.
Page 3
Music From Five
Continents: an Orff
Perspective
with Doug Goodkin
July 17- 21, 2006 at the RCM
Reviewed by Peg Hobbs
This is a difficult piece to start as it
seems a shame to parse such a
beautifully constructed “whole”
into its many carefully created
parts.
Let’s start with our clinician: Doug
Goodkin. Doug is well known and
so appreciated as an Orff Master
Teacher that this course was significantly oversubscribed. An hour
into the first morning’s workshop,
it is easy to see why. The body
percussion and instrumentation for
“Funga Alafia” signal that this is going to be an exciting and challenging
aural journey through the oral traditions of many lands. Next, three
very clever games explore the interlocking nature of rhythm and
movement in much world music,
and the use of positive and negative
space. The workshop ends with a
Kolingtang from the Philippines: A
Donko A Donko Agagit. We are
scrambling to take down as much
detail as possible to pass the experience of this tremendous fun on
to our children for we are, to our
chagrin, emphatically NOT an oral
tradition.
Many of us also struggle to make
the material we present flow seamlessly and well, musically. Fortunately, Doug is a master model of
musical teaching with a minimum of
verbal cueing and we see the grace
and power of this style immediately. If we’re stuck with teaching
music as a subject instead of experiencing it as a way of life, we can
least improve the way it is experi-
Doug leading a game.
enced in the classroom.
In its aural/oral, “from the body”
elemental nature and in its experimental and improvisational spirit,
Orff Schulwerk is an excellent
match for world music. We trace
the development of movementbased pedagogy in the early
Guentherschule and, with the rekindled realization that body percussion is a powerful pedagogical
tool, strengthen our own capabilities with an in-depth exploration
of Keith Terry’s Body Percussion.
Through these exercises, we start
to sharpen our senses, feel
rhythm as additive, rather than divisive and truly appreciate anew the
power of the rhythmic ostinato .
In orchestration after orchestration
throughout the week, we are
stretched to new understanding of
the complexity and magic of these
wonderful rhythms which stand in
the place of harmony throughout
much world music. No wonder
Orff pedagogy feels so logical and
organic, it is underwritten by millennia of similarly constructed music from many world cultures.
The divergent nature of this wonderful music makes it accessible to
the young, as Orff intuited, but
gives a structure for limitless improvisation in the hands of a master.
Orff/Keetman Schulwerk is also
compatible with world because of
its pre-harmonic and post-harmonic
nature. We examine fresh new (to
us!) examples of pentatonic games
(Five Continents… Continued on page 5)
“Thoroughly enjoyed all of
the children’s performances.
Kwasi Dunyo and Sofia Lopez-Iblor were great.”
Some thoughts about the
2006 National Conference:
“What an experience!
Phenomenally useful information and enthusiastic,
vigorous presenters. Wow!
Thanks!!!”
Alberta
“What a treat to be at a
conference with people who
revel in singing, dancing,
togetherness!”
Ontario
Ontario
“It was wonderful to see
what is happening in the
schools with the wonderful
performances. Many
thanks!”
Australia
“This was a truly magical
weekend - feeling energized amidst the exhaustion. Thank you! Love for
kids was paramount
throughout the weekend.”
Page 4
(Marion … Continued from page 1)
(Mary … Continued from page 1)
accomplishment and I know that
the work of the committees will
never be forgotten by the attendees to this most amazing Orff National conference! I have been
honoured to work with these outstanding women who have become
friends who I admire and respect
wholly!
As I move to Past President and
support Marion Roy as she becomes President of the Chapter, I
know that Marion has the skills and
talent to guide this wonderful
chapter — her connections with
you, her creativity and leadership
will support this group continuing
its mission to support Ontario
Orff music educators! Congratulations and Bravo Marion! I thank
everyone for giving me the opportunity to work with the Ontario
Orff Chapter — this is not a job
that is done alone! To the Ontario Orff Chapter Membership,
thank you, best wishes, I will not
be disappearing — so I look forward to seeing you all at the workshops — but wanted to say thank
you again for this great chance to
work with the best teachers in
Ontario! Keep up the excellent
work!
Mary Cousens
Welcome to our newest
member to be: Neve Pedro,
Daughter of Amanda Pedro.
Born August 10th
According to Amanda—
“Little baby Neve is doing
well. She eats and sleeps a
lot—just what a mother of
two ordered.”
Orff for several years and has
both participated and presented
workshops.
Beth Knox who has been on the
Executive for a long time is taking
a much deserved break. We are
so grateful to her for the roles
she has played over the years on
the Executive.
Fortunately there are Executive
members returning to their positions. Cath Irving will continue
booking great clinicians as co-VP/
Workshop convener. Batya Levy,
our talented and accurate treasurer will ensure our books are
balanced and Caren LudwigShoychet our magnificent persistent membership secretary will
endeavour to keep our membership up to date! Yana Ioffe, will
stay on as member-at-large and
upbeat cheerleader!
You will have already read a message from our new past president!
For the past 4 years we have been
fortunate in having as our President a woman who is passionate
about the Arts in general, and
who is dedicated to spreading the
Orff philosophy. She is honest,
innovative and unwavering. Mix
that with a great sense of humour
and you have Mary Cousens.
Mary has inspired all of us to
work hard to ensure that all of
the opportunities the Ontario
Orff Chapter offers are successful.
She has ensured that Orff has a
voice at the OMEA meetings.
Mary was an integral link between
us and the Collage committee for
the National Orff conference. I
know all of the Orff members including the Executive are indebted
to Mary for all of her hard work
and effective leadership! THANK
YOU Mary for all that you have
done for Orff ! You have left some
big shoes to fill!
As luck would have it, I enjoy
Mary’s style in shoes and will be
taking over the role of President of
the Ontario Orff Chapter. I have
been on the Executive for 4 years
sharing the VP role. I am motivated in continuing to spread the
Orff word! I too am passionate
about Orff! It is child-oriented,
playful, interesting, and even intriguing. It allows the Orff learner
to connect with others, to experience the power of song, to experience a range of feelings and
thoughts and to learn about different cultures. (I am thinking of the
farewell song from the Goodkin
course this summer.) It allows for
rhythmic exploration and improvisation. (Do you remember the version of ‘Toast’ at Collage?) And it
allows the learner to take on different roles – even becoming Mrs.
Mitchell’s underwear.
I am looking forward to working
with the fabulous Ontario Orff Executive for another wonderful year
of Orff opportunities!
“Tell me, I forget. Show me,
I remember. Involve me,
I understand. “ C. Orff
If you would like to meet the Executive, plan on attending the Orff
workshop on October 14th. Or
better yet, join the Orff Executive
and get involved!
In any case, it’s time to rev those
engines, set the alarm clock, stock
up on Tylenol , find your favourite
mug , fill the water bottle, train the
(Continued on page 5)
Page 5
bladder! Let’s go!! Whatever this
year has in store for you, I hope
you remember to laugh, to skip
and to learn, to make connections,
and to experience something new
the Orff way. Enjoy!
Marion Roy
( Five Continents … Continued from page 3)
and songs, including a brilliant excursion through the three available
pentatonic scales available on our
instruments of Do, Re and La with
the story of Antonio y Claretta.
Then it is on to modal melodies
from Iceland, Bulgaria, Macedonia,
Spain and 12th century England,
among others, and finally to functional I IV V harmony with examples from Zimbabwe, Egypt, Bulgaria, Scotland, Sierra Leone and
more. The wealth of material, the
product of years compilation and
sharing, is astonishing, but one
feels that this is a work in continual
progress as, again and again, participants are asked to share their
gifts of language, of experience, of
song in many languages.
Sewn into all this are many teaching strategies, philosophical discussions, and anecdotal observations.
The week flies by.
Over and over, Doug calls on his
considerable understanding of different cultures (his breadth of
travel and ease with a variety of
musical instruments and styles is
highly impressive) to illustrate the
beauty of different aesthetics, the
different expectations surrounding
performance and the different
roles dance, song and instruments
play in knitting community and
contributing to human health.
Upon writing this, I find myself
tearing as I lament what we have
lost. We got a little of this precious commodity back this week.
“A Donko A Donko Agagit” at Summer Orff
Workshop.
OISE AQ Treat:
Summer Orff
Workshop with
Doug Goodkin
In July, Doug Goodkin, master
Orff clinician from The San Francisco School was in Toronto at
the Royal Conservatory of Music. OISE Part I and Part II Primary/Junior Vocal Music students
were fortunate enough to spend
Monday morning with Doug and a
group of other participants who
were taking a weeklong course,
Music from Five Continents.
Right from the start, Doug taught
“musically”. He led the large
group of adults through several
music activities without giving any
verbal directions. Everyone
needed to observe Goodkin’s facial and body gestures carefully in
order to play along. These welcoming activities evolved into the
West African song “Funga Alafia.” He began with teaching actions and call and response snippets from the song. Then, he
taught the melody of the
song. Next, Doug challenged us
to perform several rhythmic body
percussion patterns. Confident
performers were invited to play
these rhythms on various instruments (e.g. drums, cowbell). Finally dance movements were
added, filling the spaces in be-
tween the
times for singing. By the
end there was a large moving circle
of singers with percussion players in
the centre of the circle. Many people eagerly offered their backs for a
little shoulder massage while continuing with their singing and dancing. The very warm gymnasium was
filled with magical music and activity
that was extremely captivating.
Following the experience wtih
“Funga Alafia,” Doug debriefed the
process of how he taught the song
and explained some of his thoughts
on teaching music. He then had participants sing songs and play games
from various countries (e.g. Ghana,
Japan). Everyone enjoyed learning
and playing the games because they
were so fun! It was also easy to see
how useful the process and the material will be for teaching many aspects of a solid music curriculum.
The final musical experience used
the song “A Donko A Donko
Agagit” from the Philippines. By the
end of the workshop, Goodkin had
every single participant either playing instruments or performing a
dance that involved dancing through
bamboo sticks. It was quite a sight
to see!
Mary-Evelyn Lather
Mosaic sends a large thank you to
Yana Ioffe (OISE instructor & Curriculum Consultant—Music and Literacy,
YRDSB) for sharing this teacher review.
Page 6
Up and Coming
Ontario Chapter’s Orff Workshops:
Alice S. Pratt - Saturday, October 14th, 2006 - Musical Happenings!
This workshop will demonstrate how to make your music classroom literally come alive through the use of drama
and in so doing create focused and long-term learning for the student. (Watch for flyer with details.)
Anne Tipler - Saturday, January 27th, 2007—Musical Fun, Musical Learning
This workshop will offer practical ideas for the Primary and Junior music classroom, and will provide links to the
Ontario Arts Curriculum. Participants will experience songs and games through the Orff approach to music education, and be guided through a process that brings children from the world of simple and accessible repertoire, to
improvisation. (Watch for flyer with details.)
The Ontario Music Educators’ Association and
the Canadian Music Industry Education Committee
will be presenting its annual conference: Unison ‘06,
November 2- 4, 2006 in London, Ontario.
For further information visit www.omea.on.ca.
Orff Level I is running at the Royal Conservatory of Music on Thursday
evenings September 28-April 19. For registration please go to www.rcmusic.ca
or phone (416) 408-2825.
For information contact Catherine West at <[email protected]>.
Doug Goodkin’s Workshop July 2006
Advanced Certificate in Orff Schulwerk
at the RCM
The Royal Conservatory of Music, in consultation with Carl
Orff Canada, has developed an Advanced Certificate in
Orff-Schulwerk as a process for training and mentoring
Orff Levels Course instructors. This program is for the experienced Orff Specialist who has been implementing an Orff
program in a school setting for a number of years, and has
started the process of becoming a leader in the Orff community through giving workshops, writing articles, mentoring
other teachers, developing innovative programs and/or performances, or volunteer work with Carl Orff Canada. The
successful candidate will work closely with the Basic Orff Level
I teacher to plan, teach, assess, and evaluate the July 2007 Orff
course (July 9-20). At the present time this training is available
only during the summer session. For further details and application forms please contact Catherine West at
<[email protected]>.