Educational Outreach and Collaboration Keys to Success

MNO Visits the School

This is our primary school engagement activity. MNO artists such as the conductor, soloist, composition fellow, or orchestra members present a program for the student body or a master class for music students. During the COVID-19 pandemic, these activities have shifted to video presentations.

MNO and the School Collaborate on a Performance

Top-level solo musicians are candidates for the Young Artists Series of recitals.

Musicians from a school or partner organization may also join the full orchestra for a concert, sitting next to and learning from professional musicians. Most recently, these collaborations have included Tempe High School and Harmony Project Phoenix. This requires long-range planning with orchestra programming, as well as preparation of student resources. Student artists will need a high level of skill and must commit to a rigorous preparation, rehearsal, and performance schedule.

Educational Outreach and Collaboration History

Outreach

In recent years, the MusicaNova Orchestra has conducted outreach activities at Tempe High School, Salt River High School, and the Hirsch Academy in south Scottsdale. Presenters talk about their experiences as musicians and demonstrate some of their playings. As many as 900-1,000 students and faculty members have enjoyed these programs on a single day.  

Collaboration

MNO is Artist-in-Residence at Tempe High School, working with more than 150 student musicians in the orchestra program. Since 2016, students from Tempe High and Gilliland Middle School have joined the orchestra on stage for concerts that included classical music and arrangements of pop tunes.

With pandemic restrictions, many of these collaborative efforts are now being done via video, which allows MusicaNova to extend its efforts to other schools in the Tempe Union High School District. At request, these videos will be provided to other schools.