A survey of the night sky from our vantage point on Earth is composed of white blips, but stars exist in many hues, and the music universe is a parallel. K-12 students are hardly exposed to the high-level experimental music and performance art; they are rarely afforded access to gear or practitioners of such art. Stars of Different Hues project puts these opportunities into the hands of students, while designed for students in my home state of Florida, has expanded to include university students across the United States.
THE CREATIVES – VIDEO RESOURCE
These interviews by living artists each come with a creative challenge prompt for students and are short enough to be used within the classroom for K-12 students.
Jessie Downs — Vocalist, Composer (Grades 3-8)
Brittany J. Green — Composer (Grades K-5)
Malcolm Jackson – Producer, Percussionist (Grades 3-8)
Suzanna Fatta — Vocalist, Activist, Model (Grades 4-12)
Anthony Green — Composer (Grades 6-12)
Nick Norton — Engineer, Composer, Producer (Grades 9-12)
IN-SCHOOL INTERACTIVE WORKSHOPS
As a part of the goals of the STARS OF DIFFERENT HUES project to connect students with a professional artist, Elizabeth A. Baker has traveled to schools around the United States to present interactive workshops for students K-12 as well as at the university level. Tailored to the needs of the participants, workshops include demo performances, open discussions about the sounds and instruments, as well as synth petting zoos and improvisational sessions.
FOCUSED LISTENING EXERCISE & EXAMPLES
– Do not reveal information about the track at the beginning of the exercise — remain neutral
– Using one of the listening examples below, play the entire track or a five minute excerpt
– Invite the students to draw or write what the piece makes them think or feel
– There are no wrong answers
– Remind the students to remain quiet and listen closely
– Allow students to present their reactions
– Invite classmates to ask follow up questions to presenting students
– Do not judge or create a qualitative comparison between students reactions
– Remain neutral
– There are no wrong answers
Remembrance – Carolina Eyck
Conjure – Gahlord Dewald
Bench Press Cattle – Jitters
Duet With Shifting Ground – Meredith Monk
LOCI 2 – Sean Hamilton
Bruce Lawn Part II — Arms Like a Mirage – Shatner’s Bassoon Band
Entertain Me – Tigran Hamasyan
Separating – Colleen
Let X=X – Laurie Anderson
Our Town – Square Peg Round Hole
If You’re Here – Cornelius
Voodoo Chile (Slight Return) – Angelique Kidjo
Crazy – Flutronix
Homage to Iran – Mvt II – Andante Rubato – Henry Cowell
Metalorgy – Deep Listening Band
Pop Titles ‘You’ – Pamela Z
Broken City – Atticus Ross
Rothko Chapel I – Morton Feldman
I Am Sitting In A Room – Alvin Lucier
Himalaya – Carl Stone
Modular Winter – Justin Wright
The MOOG And Me – Dick Hyman
Obeah Woman – Nina Simone
Moro, lasso, al mio duolo – Carlo Gesualdo
Love & Peace Raga – Ted Lucas
Because Patterns / Deep State – Isaac Schankler
Symphony No. 3, Op. 36 – Mvt. I. Lento – Henryk Górecki
Ein Kinderspiel: I. Hänschen Klein – Helmut Lachenmann
Sound Patterns – Pauline Oliveros
Three Compositions – Milton Babbitt
Rocaná (Room of Light) – Unsuk Chin
Words & Music – Morton Feldman
I Am the Brother of the Wind – Sun Ra
Verklärte Nacht – Arnold Schoenberg
Le sel de la terre – Thin Edge New Music Collective & Ensemble Paramirabo
Everything Is… Distorted – Bekah Simms
Donut Robot! – Drew Baker
Spatial Aspects of the Sound – Roscoe Mitchell
Flight, Pt. 1 – Jeff Coffin & Tatsuya Nakatani
Earache – mouse on the keys
Unseen – Vida Vojic
Armory – Daft Punk
The Hall of Mirrors – Kraftwerk
Reach for the Dead – Boards of Canada
Moondog’s Theme – Moondog
Wax Simulacra – The Mars Volta
40 Rods to the Hog’s Head – Tera Melos
The Ongoing Horrible – Maps & Atlases
Peal, Repeal – Dan Tepfer
Teachers may elect to have students keep listening journals in which, each individual should record their impressions of each example work, conjectures about what is making the sound, and attempts to speak broadly about what they hear on a track. Observations on sound walks may also be recorded in the listening journal resource.
ADDITIONAL READING FOR TEACHERS
Augusto Boal — Theatre of the Oppressed
Augusto Boal — Games for Actors and Non-Actors
Pauline Oliveros — Deep Listening
Arcana Book Series curated by John Zorn
Arcana I
Arcana II
Arcana III
Arcana IV
Arcana V: Musicians on Music, Magic & Mysticism
Arcana VI
Arcana VII
Arcana VIII:Musicians on Music — Ten Year Anniversary Edition
The Honourable Elizabeth A. Baker 