Snow Pond Center for the Arts - Summer Concert Series
Snow Pond Center for the Arts, Bangor Symphony Orchestra , Evan Wilson Viola soloist, NEMC Pops Concert, Broadway Under the Stars, U.S. Air Force Strings, In the Woods,
Snow Pond Center for the Arts, Bangor Symphony Orchestra , Evan Wilson Viola soloist, NEMC Pops Concert, Broadway Under the Stars, U.S. Air Force Strings, In the Woods,
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<strong>Snow</strong> <strong>Pond</strong> Community Music School<br />
Igniting a lifelong love of music<br />
Over <strong>the</strong> past year, <strong>Snow</strong> <strong>Pond</strong><br />
<strong>Center</strong> <strong>for</strong> <strong>the</strong> <strong>Arts</strong> has truly come<br />
to life as a year-round education<br />
center. The picturesque lakeside<br />
grounds buzzed all winter long<br />
with <strong>the</strong> energy of young students<br />
acquiring new skills and adult students<br />
revisiting techniques of <strong>the</strong>ir<br />
youth. This energy comes from<br />
<strong>Snow</strong> <strong>Pond</strong> Community Music<br />
School, where local teaching artists<br />
and families have ga<strong>the</strong>red to enrich<br />
<strong>the</strong>ir lives with <strong>the</strong> study of music.<br />
<strong>Snow</strong> <strong>Pond</strong> Community Music<br />
School engaged 120 students of all<br />
ages in individual lessons, group<br />
classes, ensembles and workshops<br />
in this first year. The faculty and<br />
students of Pineland Suzuki School,<br />
under <strong>the</strong> direction of Betsy Kobayashi,<br />
came to SPCMS last September,<br />
bringing with <strong>the</strong>m <strong>the</strong><br />
nurturing energy and exciting pro-<br />
16<br />
gramming of <strong>the</strong><br />
Suzuki Method.<br />
The SPCMS<br />
faculty is a diverse<br />
and talented group<br />
of teaching artists<br />
whose expertise<br />
spans many genres, from classical<br />
strings to rock guitar to Caribbean<br />
steel drums. The SPCMS student<br />
body comprises students from many<br />
central Maine towns, from Bangor<br />
to Damariscotta. And in true<br />
community music school fashion,<br />
a wonderful cross-pollination of<br />
methods and talents has occurred.<br />
Suzuki students per<strong>for</strong>m in ensembles<br />
toge<strong>the</strong>r with more traditional<br />
students, piano students are learning<br />
accompaniment skills, students<br />
experience o<strong>the</strong>r instruments in<br />
rehearsal, and per<strong>for</strong>mance season<br />
brings about a host of ways <strong>for</strong> stu-<br />
dents to per<strong>for</strong>m toge<strong>the</strong>r.<br />
The reasons <strong>for</strong> studying and<br />
per<strong>for</strong>ming music are vast, beginning<br />
with <strong>the</strong> fundamental way<br />
music feeds our souls. Then <strong>the</strong>re’s<br />
<strong>the</strong> emotional engagement, <strong>the</strong><br />
intellectual stimulation, <strong>the</strong> self-expression,<br />
and <strong>the</strong> sheer joy of making<br />
beautiful sounds, not to mention<br />
improved reading, verbal and<br />
math skills, enhanced self-esteem,<br />
increased sense of responsibility<br />
and cooperation. All in all, music<br />
makes us better people.<br />
<strong>Snow</strong> <strong>Pond</strong> Community Music<br />
School strives to offer music-making<br />
opportunities to as many students<br />
as possible. For this reason,<br />
SPCMS has launched an Outreach<br />
Program initiative, to help make<br />
music education more accessible in<br />
<strong>the</strong> wider community.<br />
SPCMS Outreach<br />
Programs<br />
Even as <strong>the</strong> student body of<br />
SPCMS grows, it is clear that <strong>the</strong>re<br />
are numerous community members<br />
who desire to make music but<br />
time and resources make it difficult.<br />
<strong>Snow</strong> <strong>Pond</strong> Community Music<br />
School is proud to partner with<br />
neighboring schools and community<br />
organizations to offer music<br />
classes on site at partner locations.<br />
150 students participated in outreach<br />
programs in 2015, all free of<br />
charge.