The Early Music America Outreach Award recognizes and promotes excellence in
outreach and/or educational projects for children or adults by
ensembles and individual artists.
2007 Recipient: Sarasa Ensemble, (Boston, MA)
The Sarasa Ensemble performs music from the early Baroque through the
Romantic eras. Drawing on a pool of more than sixty world-class
musicians from the United States, Europe, and Canada, the ensemble
varies in size according to the particular program of each of its
concerts. The ensemble produces the Sarasa Chamber Music Series in
Cambridge and Concord, Massachusetts and summer concerts based in
Putney, Vermont. Sarasa was formed in response to a concert played by
its founder, Timothy Merton, in the Sing Sing Correctional Facility in
1997. Since then Sarasa has been bringing high-quality music to those
who ordinarily have little access to it. The ensemble has performed in
adult and adolescent correctional facilities, homes for the elderly,
mental hospitals, and institutions for the disabled. For the last
several years Sarasa has been working almost exclusively with teenagers
in the greater Boston area. Every concert season the group plays more
than twelve outreach concerts and facilitates four residency programs
in teenage correctional centers. Through these programs Sarasa seeks to
address the spiritual and emotional suffering of incarcerated youth and
provide them with joy, hope and opportunities for healing through
self-expression. http://www.sarasamusic.org/outreach/concerts/index.shtml
"Early Music Brings History Alive" Award 1998-2006
This award acknowledged the importance of educational outreach in early
music, and exposing the next generation to its delights and wonders.
2006 Recipient: New York State Early Music Association (Ithaca, NY)
New York State Early Music Association and its performing ensemble, NYS
Baroque, have been presenting exceptional school programs since 1991.
They have been in an Empire State Partnership with Ithaca High School,
thanks to grants from the Arts in Education Program of the NY State
Council on the Arts. They strive to bring history alive through music,
making connections between Baroque music and European and colonial
American history. Art Loomis, choral teacher at Ithaca High School,
sings the group’s praises: “Their enthusiasm is wonderful!” Another
teacher described how a particularly troubled student came to life and
“smiled throughout the two days [NYSEMA] was there.” Executive
Directors Peter and Libby Hedrick established NYS Baroque in 1987 and,
with Music Director Michael Sand, also produce an annual concert series
in Central New York State. http://www.nysema.com/index.php?show=outreach
2005 Recipient: Nina Stern (New York, NY)
Nina Stern, one of this country’s leading performers of recorder and
classical clarinet, serves as Director of Education for the New York
Collegium and their Music in the Schools program. Since fall 2002 they
have worked in partnership with The Ella Baker School in New York City
to teach children the hands-on skills of playing, improvising and
reading music. Nina is the project director, and she teaches recorder
to students from second through eighth grades, joined by percussion
instructor Mauricio Molina. Together the two teachers meet with 300
students each week in their classrooms. In addition, Nina conducts a
percussion/recorder ensemble, The Ella Baker Players, that performs
regularly for the student body, and has appeared as guest artists at
the United Nations in celebration of International Youth Human Rights
Day.
2005 Special Award for Outstanding Contributions to Early Music Education: Mark Cudek (Interlochen Summer Arts Camp).
Mark Cudek is an outstanding lute and guitar player, a founding member
of the Baltimore Consort. For twenty summers, Mark directed the High
School Early Music Program at the Interlochen Summer Arts Camp, working
with over 750 high school students taking early music in the
“Shakespeare’s Music” classes and with 75 early music majors, some of
whom have gone on to careers in early music. It is with a certain
poignancy that EMA gives this award, since Interlochen has recently
discontinued the early music program. With this award, EMA expresses
its appreciation for Mark’s substantial contribution to the field.
2004 Recipient: Peggy Monroe (Seattle, WA)
Peggy Monroe's involvement in early music began in the early seventies,
when she started teaching recorder privately, mostly to children. She
also began doing demonstrations and mini-concerts in schools, always
with the idea of stimulating interest in early music and history. Her
educational projects evolved from one-time schoolroom appearances into
2-week-long residencies involving entire elementary schools in
medieval, Renaissance and colonial period studies. Her "Medieval
Experience" residency was offered at dozens of schools in the
Seattle/King County area for over 20 years. In addition, she also has
written several educational scripts, which have been performed under
the auspices of the Early Music Guild and the Medieval Women's Choir in
Seattle. A founding Board Member of the Early Music Guild of Seattle
and of Seattle Baroque Orchestra, she also served two terms on the
national board of the American Recorder Society, devoting herself
primarily to educational outreach in those organizations. In addition
to the recorder, she also plays flute and harp, but her principal
emphasis is historical percussion.
2003 Recipient: Piffaro (Philadelphia, PA)
Piffaro, the Renaissance Band (founded in 1980) gives an annual concert
series in Philadelphia, but the ensemble also tours extensively
throughout the United States and Europe. Since 1985, the ensemble has
presented school performances, first as part of Young Audiences of
Eastern Pennsylvania and the Delaware State Arts Council Residency
Program, and then throughout the United States, in conjunction with
their concert tours. The group created and published “An Introduction
to the Renaissance Wind Band and its Instruments,” a valuable
supplementary resource for teachers and students. Co-directed by Joan
Kimball and Robert Wiemkin, Piffaro has inspired and entertained
students across the nation.
2003 Honorable Mention: David Coffin (Boston, MA)
David Coffin is a Boston-based singer and instrumentalist who sings sea
chanteys from the New England whaling and fishing industry of the 19th
century, and plays an extensive array of historical wind instruments
for school assemblies.
2002 Recipient: American Classical Orchestra (Norwalk, CT)
The American Classical Orchestra is interested in rediscovering the
music of the Classical period in its original glory: performed with
stylistic integrity on original instruments. Comprised of leading
period instrumentalists in the New York metropolitan region, the
Orchestra has achieved significant critical acclaim through its
performances and its professional recordings in Connecticut and New
York City. Classical Music for Kids® (CMK) was created by the American
Classical Orchestra as an education and outreach program to introduce
children to the pleasures of classical music in an interactive,
age-appropriate, entertaining format. Since CMK’s creation in 1999, the
Orchestra has reached more than 200,000 students and their families
with its in-school and family matinee performances. http://www.amerclassorch.org/education.shtml
2000 Recipient: Ensemble Musical Offering (Milwaukee, WI)
For over 19 years, Musical Offering, Ltd., under the guidance of
Artistic Director Joan Parsley, has been a leading producer of early
music in the Midwest. The group has received critical acclaim and
become the recipient of national education awards. Since 1988, Musical
Offering has been offering quality early music performances in
Milwaukee County and has gained a national reputation for its work in
curriculum development (K-12) by designing Artist-in-Residence programs
in the Greater Milwaukee Area. Ensemble Musical Offering has been a
valued affiliate of the Milwaukee Symphony’s arts and community
education program, Project ACE. Its Artist-in-Residence programs have
taken place at Wauwatosa East High School, Whitefish Bay Middle School,
and Milwaukee School for the Arts.
1999 Recipient: Chatham Baroque (Pittsburgh, PA)
Chatham Baroque, western Pennsylvania's only professional baroque
ensemble playing on period instruments, excites audiences with dazzling
technique and artful interpretation. The group’s wildly popular Peanut
Butter & Jam Sessions are designed especially for preschool
children and their parents, encouraging young children to become active
and enthusiastic listeners through music, dance and games. Chatham
Baroque also takes its programs to unlikely venues throughout
Pittsburgh and Allegheny County, such as art galleries and museums.
Many of these performances are free to the public. http://www.chathambaroque.org/pb.html
1998 Recipient: Nottingham Fair (New York, NY)
Nottingham Fair, a project of the Early Music Foundation, was formed in
1979 by Henry Chapin and Betsy Blachly to present residencies and
culminating theatrical presentations in elementary and middle schools.
The in-school projects presented stories from various historical
contexts, incorporated early music, dance, and costumes appropriate to
the time. These immensely popular residencies involved the students in
all aspects of the performance, from script development to performing
on-stage. Nottingham Fair’s projects included “Martin Cookson: A Day in
the Life of a Renaissance Boy,” “Fauvel: The Quest for the Most
Beautiful Music in the World” (set in 13th-century Europe), “Navegando
Con Colon” (“Sailing with Columbus,” as told by the mother of the Santa
Maria’s cabin boy Diego de Salcedo), and “Mansa Musa’s Court” (set in
1325 West Africa).