Rehearsing and performing chamber music in the middle school orchestra classroom

Abstract

As a middle school orchestra director, I strive to give my students a well-rounded orchestral experience that builds musical competency, personal confidence, and a love for music-making. Oftentimes, the school orchestra experience is centered around large ensemble performances that are director-led, and students have limited autonomy over what they play and who they play with. Large ensembles can be and still are a fulfilling musical experience, but integrating small ensembles provides another creative vehicle for students to grow in musicianship and life skills. To diversify student performance opportunities, I removed a large ensemble concert from the calendar and replaced it with a solo and small ensemble unit. The goals of this unit were to increase student engagement and agency while building student independence and competency in rehearsal skills. The unit culminated in a concert formatted like a coffee shop “open mic night”. This performance was designed to be low-stakes and joyful in a way that promotes a positive association with performing, something that often feels anxiety-producing in the adolescent brain. I started planning this unit with research about structuring student-led rehearsals and managing adolescent performance anxiety. I then utilized backward design to create my unit plan, embedding formal and informal assessments. The unit started with a Speed Duetting activity where students practiced basic chamber music skills and duetted with each of their classmates. After learning and reinforcing fundamental skills, students chose their own small ensemble groups and selected a piece of music to perform at our Classical Coffee concert. They worked independently and used a Rehearsal Log to guide their progress. My teaching has developed through both philosophy and practice in many ways during my Masters’ Program. Through my Literature Analysis and Symphonic Literature classes, I have developed a more holistic approach to the study of, teaching of, and enjoyment of music. These classes imparted in me the value of understanding the historical context and background of each piece’s composer and composition process. While I used to think this research was a solely intellectual endeavor, the process and product helped me understand and therefore love the music more. The Curriculum and Learning Assessment course was invaluable in the creation of this project. I learned how to be proactive in my planning and start with the goals in mind instead of planning reactively as I went. This helped me pace my instruction well so students could reasonably achieve their goals and put on a quality performance that resulted from meaningful learning.