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VIRGINIA CHAMBER ORCHESTRA
47th Season

David Grandis, Music Director

VCO Education Programs

The Musical Side of Thomas Jefferson

Musical Side of Thomas Jefferson logo
Viewers explore Thomas Jefferson’s less widely known talents and interests as they learn about the music of the Colonial period, played and collected by our third president. This program introduces students to the folk and classical music played in Colonial and Early American times. Lively discussion features Bill Barker, noted Jefferson interpreter from Colonial Williamsburg, and Luis Haza, conductor of the Virginia Chamber Orchestra. They also respond to questions posed in real time from students in the United States and Mexico. Students from a magnet school for the arts and sciences demonstrate how they use computers to learn about music.

Originally targeted to public school students, this program was subsequently requested for broadcast to all community colleges nationwide, via an uplink at George Mason University's Capitol Connection. The Claude Moore Charitable Foundation bestowed a special grant in 2010 enabling a free streaming video of the Jefferson program around the clock for eleven months. Produced by the Fairfax Network.

Time: 75 minutes (original version) / 40 minutes (edited version)

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This icon stands for an Adobe PDF file. Lesson Plans     This icon stands for an Adobe PDF file. VEMEA Lesson Plans     This icon stands for an Adobe PDF file. Student Activity Guide
This icon stands for an Adobe PDF file. Thomas Jefferson Paragraph     This icon stands for an Adobe PDF file. Essay Assessment     This icon stands for an Adobe PDF file. Theme from Symphony No. 94
This icon stands for an Adobe PDF file. Word Find     This icon stands for an Adobe PDF file. Word Find Solution     This icon stands for an Adobe PDF file. Word Find Double Puzzles
This icon stands for an Adobe PDF file. Recorder Fingering Chart     This icon stands for an Adobe PDF file. Recorder Performance Assessment    

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Wonders of Geography: A Musical Atlas of America

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Wonders of Geography: A Musical Atlas of America was originally produced in collaboration with the Fairfax Network. The program takes viewers on an innovative musical journey into five major regions of the United States.

The Virginia Chamber Orchestra, supplemented by additional instruments, performs selections that transport students to sites including Mount St. Helens, the Grand Canyon, the Mississippi River, and the Appalachian Mountains.

Studio guests discuss the physical and cultural features of each region and how those sights and sounds inspired American composers. Live in the studio, students demonstrate percussion instruments used in the musical examples.

Joseph McLellan, the late chief music critic at The Washington Post, called this “a marvelous enhancement of two subjects by having them interact.“ Produced by the Fairfax Network.

Time: 45 minutes

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This icon stands for an Adobe PDF file. Student Activity Guide
This icon stands for an Adobe PDF file. Introduction to teacher-made lessons

Lessons by Cynthia Carlton:
   This icon stands for an Adobe PDF file. Wonders of Geography Music Lessons    This icon stands for an Adobe PDF file. Musical Examples    This icon stands for an Adobe PDF file. Create Your Own Region

Lessons by Debra Lindsay
   This icon stands for an Adobe PDF file. Lesson Plans    This icon stands for an Adobe PDF file. Father of the Waters Arrangement    This icon stands for an Adobe PDF file. Simple Gifts Recorder Fingering    This icon stands for an Adobe PDF file. Simple Gifts Orff Arrangement    This icon stands for an Adobe PDF file. Simple Gifts Song Sheet    This icon stands for an Adobe PDF file. Simple Gifts Song Sheet    This icon stands for an Adobe PDF file. Vocal Performance for Simple Gifts    This icon stands for a MIDI music file. Father of the Waters midi file

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I Heard That! Listening to Classical Music

I Heard That logo

In response to a request communicated by the Fairfax Network for a program focusing entirely on music appreciation, this program was designed especially for the youngest public school students. Their older peers, who introduce students to Mozart, Haydn, and Bach, provide all narration. They learn about accents, major and minor scales, and how composer Joseph Haydn would “surprise” his audiences!

Students and budding musicians develop an appreciation for classical music as the Virginia Chamber Orchestra performs excerpts from major works by the composers. The program is structured so that it can be used in segments as well as in its entirety. Spoken material, musical examples, and award-winning graphics illustrate basic musical concepts. Produced by the Fairfax Network.

Time: 30 minutes

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This icon stands for an Adobe PDF file.Student activity guide for I Heard That!    This icon stands for an Adobe PDF file. Lesson Plans

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History Notes: The Music of Washington's World

Music in Washington's World logo

Students discover the music of Pre-Revolutionary America that reflects the Colonists’ growing revolt against the tyranny of England as well as the traditional songs of African slaves. They hear music written about George Washington and learn the music that George Washington would have heard on the battlefields and in the ballroom.

Student hosts travel to such 18th century sites as Gadsby’s Tavern for an 18th century ball and a conversation with General Washington; Pohick Church to hear 18th century hymns sung by the West Potomac High School Colonial Singers; and Mount Vernon where the United States Army Old Guard introduces them to music as a form of communication on the battlefields of the American Revolution.

The Virginia Chamber Orchestra performs concert music popular in Washington's time. Historians David Hildebrand and Larry Earl introduce students to a new understanding of 18th century America revealed through music. Produced by the Fairfax Network.

Time: 45 minutes

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Lesson Plans by Debra Lindsay (grades 4-7, adaptable for grade 8)
   This icon stands for an Adobe PDF file. Lesson Plans   This icon stands for an Adobe PDF file. Lesson Materials   This icon stands for an Adobe PDF file. "Air" from Water Music Lesson

Lesson Plans by Cynthia Carlton (grades 6-9, adaptable for grade 5)
   This icon stands for an Adobe PDF file. Lesson Plans    This icon stands for an Adobe PDF file. Choral Score for Chester    This icon stands for an Adobe PDF file. Crossword Puzzle    This icon stands for an Adobe PDF file. Double Puzzle    This icon stands for an Adobe PDF file. Lyric Sheet Assignment    This icon stands for an Adobe PDF file. JW Pepper

Mt. Vernon partnership page (link will open in a new browser window)
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Music in the Life of President Lincoln

Lincoln program logo

Music in the Life of President Lincoln illustrates what Lincoln’s musical preferences and experiences reveal about him as a man and a leader, and about his vision for music as a way to reunite the country after the Civil War. Opera excerpts, folk music, patriotic melodies and spirituals are performed by the Virginia Chamber Orchestra led by Music Director David Grandis. The all-professional orchestra is joined by soprano Meghan McCall, the Alexandria Choral Society, and the Grand Contraband Jubilee Singers.

Time: 39 minutes

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This icon stands for an Adobe PDF file. Study Guide    This icon stands for an Adobe PDF file. Lesson Plans    This icon stands for an Adobe PDF file. Teacher Guide    This icon stands for an Adobe PDF file. Overview

P.O. Box 7484, Alexandria, VA 22307-7484
The Virginia Chamber Orchestra is a Registered 501(c)3 non-profit organization
Last updated: 11 February, 2017......v.4.01