Music in Our Schools

"Music in our Schools" classroom visit.

The "Music in Our Schools" program is the first such program in New Mexico designed to serve the rural part of the State and through this, a broad segment of the diverse population is reached. Musicians from the "Young Artist Program" perform 30 classroom concerts in rural area schools together with associated lectures and discussion as part this special and unique program.

Year after year, public school music programs continue to be cut nationwide. Each season, Music from Angel Fire continually attempts to increase the "Music in Our Schools" program in an effort to reach out to as many schools and communities as possible, thus exposing and educating area students to the world of classical music. These "hands–on" classroom concerts include performance, instrument demonstration, and the integration of music to history, geography and mathematics.

A preparatory booklet containing related materials along with a compact disc with musical selections is distributed to all teachers prior to the "Music in Our Schools" residency. The classroom concerts serve area students from ages 6 through 18 in the rural Northern New Mexico communities of Angel Fire, Raton, Las Vegas, Red River, Eagle Nest, Mora, Taos, Peñasco, Questa and Cimarron. These residencies will be in addition to the already public professional "Family/Youth" concerts that the Festival produces. This program is very unique and innovative in that the Festival is furthering the professional education of young "up-and-coming" musicians from one of the world's leading music conservatories while utilizing them in educational classroom concerts at rural area schools served by the Festival.

For the 2007 Season, this program is presented in part by the Eugene V. and Clare E. Thaw Charitable Trust of Santa Fe, the Albert I. Pierce Foundation of Albuquerque, the Lenfest Foundation of Pennsylvania and United Chevrolet-Toyota of Raton and Angel Fire.