Professional Development at Juilliard
After attending the PD at Juilliard, I started to really understand collaboration in the arts, and what a huge impact that can make in a community. Coming back to Village, I sought collaborations with my middle school bands. For my upper-level 7/8th band, I had the privilege of working with the Middle School Theater and Technology departments.
The theatre students, under Chelsea Lerner's guidance, recorded their own movie clips that fit with two of our concert pieces, Pirates of the Caribbean, and Harry Potter. Marc Abrate (tech) had his students create their own films by editing together the recorded clips from the theatre students. The last piece, Star Wars, included live-action with the theatre department. You can read more about this here.
The second collaboration I headed at the school involved Katie Lopez's Middle School Art students. The 6th-grade band performed music, while Lauren's 6th-grade art students designed art pieces based on what they heard. Art was displayed on the sides of the audience, while photos of the art pieces were projected. Above are some of the art pieces that were projected during the live music.
It's been an absolute blast to see all this come together! Many students were involved in multiple ways. None of this would have come about without the inspiration from the Juilliard Department. We're already making plans for next year!
Find out more about professional development with Juilliard and collaborate with other schools involved in the collaboration by visiting the Juilliard community on NAU.
Sarah Perkins
Music Teaching Fellow
The Village School, Houston