SATURDAY, MAY 10, 2008 * HILL AUDITORIUM, ANN ARBOR

The University Musical Society honors flutist Sir James Galway at the

13th Annual Ford Honors Program.

So.....I must brag a little!!! My flute duet friend and I went this concert and as part of the award to honor Sir James Galway we played a brand new piece of flute music commissioned as a surprise gift for him. The piece was a fantasie on "Oh, Danny Boy" and it was beautiful. So I've been going around telling everyone that I PLAYED FOR James Galway! (Hey, my name is even listed!) <<>> Of course the details are that there were over 100 flutes in this choir but it was very much a thrill for me! Sir James Galway said that out of all the halls in the world to play in his favorite was the opera hall in Sydney Australia and second was Hill Auditorium in Ann Arbor. True; as I listened to his concert I felt like my head was inside the piano...I could hear the felt of the hammers hit the strings and at the same time the flute was in perfect balance....It was a beautiful concert. I also enjoyed hearing his wife play with him on the Franz & Karl Doppler : Rigoletto Fantasy

As I look at the program book I'm thinking...."Now I HAVE to start a scrapbook!"

Glockenspiel Days!

Yeah!!!! My Young Child I students have taken home their glockenspiel for the first time! The can play Dr. Foster, Toot-Toot Train is a Comin', and Ding dong Ding dong.

Hey! If you click on the Kindermusik Young Child Logo you can play a virtual Glockenpiel!

For the Young Child 3 students we've tried out a seasonal song. Joy to the World is built on a scale. So try this: begin on the white dot C and play down to the bottom of the glockenspiel singing "Joy to the world...." you can play the rest by ear! It is easy and it's great brain work for anyone! Have fun.

Next, can you figure out "Jingle Bells"?

Music and language connection

Science is always trying to justify music! Why do we humans need music? This Stanford research shows that people who played musical instruments as children process spoken language faster and more accurately than their non-musical counterparts as adults. http://www.usatoday.com/tech/science/discoveries/2005-11-17-music-training-language_x.htmThey suggest that many children who become poor readers have trouble making auditory distinctions. Auditory discrimination is our work and our play in Kindermusik!