Lynch Elementary students got a pre-holiday treat on Tuesday, December 21, as the Flint-based Troubadours paid a visit to the school.
The musical tour included a string quartet and storyteller from the Flint Institute of Music who offered up a fun, music-filled half hour “in the round” in the school cafeteria.
With their lively tunes and banter, the Troubadours wove in lessons about geography, writing and social studies in their program: The Places You Can Go: Adventures in Music.
Throughout the program students were transported to different countries, learning about the customs and music of other cultures.
The Lynch audience also got a chance to see and hear stringed instruments in the hands of professional musicians and got an opportunity to interact with the musicians, up close and personal. Students got a chance to get in the act by playing along on traditional instruments, trying out the instruments the Troubadours played.
The Troubadours encouraged Lynch students to participate and use their imaginations, and then get up on their feet to dance to classical, folk and ethnic music. The Lynch visit included a view of Mozart’s Austria, the dragon dance of China and the traditional dances of the Scots who now make their home in Nova Scotia. A rousing chorus of “Take Me Out to the Ballgame” brought students back home to the USA.
The Troubadours have been performing in the Lapeer Community Schools for at least a decade, and this is the fifth year the group has entertained at Lynch. The innovative program is funded in part by grants from the Michigan Council for Arts and Cultural Affairs, a partner agency of the National Endowment for the Arts.
Additional photos are available at:
http://picasaweb.google.com/LapeerCS/TroubadoorsAtLynchElementary#
The new director is Gail Finley, who comes to the District from Royal Oak with more than 20 years of experience in transportation.
