During the day, Mr. Page visited all four elementary schools and
led whole-school assemblies. Here, he leads the entire O’Hara
Elementary School student body in song.
At Kerr Elementary, Mr. Page asked several teachers to help lead one of the songs.
Students also played Orff Instruments.
Mr. Page worked with the fourth and fifth grade choruses at
each school for about an hour before their classmates from
kindergarten-grade five gathered with them. Although the
students knew some of Mr. Page’s songs, he brought a level
of fun and spontaneity to each of his performances with the
students.
Following the Community Sing Concert, O’Hara fifth grade
chorus member Emily Torbert exclaimed, “It was really
exciting. We knew what we were going to do, but we didn’t
know how it would happen! It was really spontaneous.”
The songs Mr. Page brought to the district have universal
appeal. In addition to “Do You Shine?” the students sang
“Hamba Nathi.” “Come to the table and share our bread,” Mr.
Page explained the meaning of the song to the fourth and fifth
graders at O’Hara as he taught the students the hand motions
to make the invitation.
At the evening performance, once again, Mr. Page acted as
song leader as he led the all-elementary school fourth and
fifth grade chorus. One of the songs they sang, “Train Song,”
was an arrangement commissioned by the Fox Chapel Area
School District music department specifically for Mr. Page’s
visit. He explained that “Train Song” actually combines two
songs that come from opposite sides of the world, but share
the same message of sadness when loved ones leave on a train,
and the happiness experienced when the loved ones return.
The students raised their hands, danced, and played on Orff
instruments as they followed Mr. Page’s lead. They also sang
Mr. Page’s song “Fairest Lady.” For the finale, Mr. Page invited
all children from the audience to come up on stage to join in as
they sang “This Land is Your Land.”
Kerr fourth grader Pierce Osterholm said he especially enjoyed
singing with the all-elementary school chorus and that he liked
working with Mr. Page. “He had a good sense of humor. It was
a fun experience and I liked performing on stage with the other
schools’ choirs.”
Mrs. Ehman commented, “Many of the students that I
spoke to said that they enjoyed singing with all of the other
elementary schools on the stage, so maybe we need to think
about doing that more often.”
Although Fox Chapel Area elementary students sing, play
instruments, improvise, dance, and create in their regular music
classes, Mrs. Ehman said, “Mr. Page did all of those things
with some new material that the students really enjoyed. The
whole auditorium was energized and I know the students will
remember this special performance and visit for a long time.”
The Community Sing Concert, the commissioning of “Train
Song,” and Mr. Page’s visit to the elementary schools were
all made possible from funds raised at the district’s 2012
Community Gala event.
During the community sing concert finale, Mr. Page invited all of the
children in the audience to come up on the stage to join the all-elementary
school chorus in song.
Fox Chapel Area | Summer 2017 | icmags.com 17