8
COMMUNITY NEWS
A Triumphant Ending
PREVENTION AND AWARENESS, CONTINUED FROM PG 7
CHILDREN’S CONCERTS SERIES CONCLUDES EIGHTH SEASON WITH
FREDONIA SCHOOL OF MUSIC GUITAR QUARTET ON SATURDAY, APRIL 26
Contributed Article
SUNY Fredonia
The Musical Journeys
Program of the SUNY
Fredonia School of
Music concludes its
eighth season of free
concerts designed to
appeal to very young
children. Selected
student ensembles from
the Fredonia School
of Music will perform
half-hour Children's
Concerts on four Saturday mornings with
two performances (one
at 10:30 a.m. and one
at 11:30 am). The next
concert will be held on
Saturday, April 26 in
Dunkirk Free Library,
536 Central Avenue,
Dunkirk.
Planned with the help
of SUNY Fredonia
faculty who are experts
in music and education, the concerts are
designed to introduce
very young audiences (from infants to
6-year-olds) to musical
instruments. In this
child-friendly environment, performers will
invite the children to sit
on the floor close to the
musicians; family members are encouraged
to bring blankets or
carpet squares to sit on.
Strollers can be parked
around the edges of the
seating area.
"It's wonderful to see
the musical relationship
between the children
and the college student
performers develop as
the concert progresses.
The musicians are
sharing music they
Timothy & Alexis Branden of Fredonia with Fredonia student Alexa DiRaimo
of Rochester.
love, and the children
certainly respond
to that," said Sarah
Hamilton, associate
professor of oboe and
co-organizer.
A guitar quartet will
perform at the Apr. 26
concert. The musicians
are Fredonia School of
Music students Devon
Kelly (Orchard Park,
NY), Joshua Erb (Penn
Yan, NY), Matthew
Mazanek (Mastic
Beach, NY), and Matthew Downey (Fredonia, NY).
"The Children's
Concerts are enjoyable, child-appropriate
opportunities for very
young children to interact with music and musicians. For the young
audience and the performers, music becomes
a playmate to join in
a thrilling adventure."
said Jill Reese, assistant
professor of music and
co-organizer at the Fredonia School of Music.
"During these events,
learning and teaching
among the children
and the student musi-
CHAUTAUQUA STAR
FRIDAY, APRIL 18, 2014
cians is mutual: children learn about music
through moving, listening, and creating, and
our student musicians
learn to engage young
imaginations and ignite
new musical passions!"
The Children's Concert
Series is part of the Musical Journeys Program,
a community outreach
project offered by the
Fredonia School of
Music. More information is available at www.
fredonia.edu/music/
community/ccs.asp or
call (716) 673-4628.
Chautauqua County
is not immune to child
abuse and neglect.
The Child Protective
Services Unit of the
Chautauqua County
Department of Health
& Human Services
investigated 2,357 State
Central Registry (SCR)
reports of suspected
child abuse or neglect
in 2013.
“Child abuse unfairly
strips children of their
innocence, rips families
apart, and compromises the health and wellbeing of children and
families. It’s important
to provide our children
with the chance to succeed mentally, emotionally, and physically
every day,” said Schuyler. “On the heels of the
release of the County
Health Rankings, I’m
hopeful that the direct
correlation that exists
between child maltreatment and poor health
outcomes can be seen.
Abuse harms more
than just an individual
child’s chances for
success—it harms a