Music For Life

Ars Viva Symphony Orchestra and the Music Institute of Chicago bring you a unique new program for you and your children. Our 2011 – 2012 Music for Life Program provides world-class musical experiences that are family friendly!

Core Concept

Families experience together one of Chicago’s finest professional orchestras in concert. Then, children go with MIC teachers to a separate room for engaging and interactive music education experiences while you enjoy the remainder of the concert!

Children in our Prelude program (ages 4- 7) experience the first piece on the concert before heading to Music for Life classrooms, where they experience exciting programming designed to engage, enrich, and educate them about the music they have just experienced!

Our Encore program (ages 8 – 11) is geared toward the developing listener. Children in this group stay for the first half of the concert, and join MIC teachers for activities geared toward these maturing listeners.

Music for Life 2011 – 2012 focuses on “Knowing the Score.”

Drawing on an interdisciplinary curriculum that includes drama, musical creation, creative movement, storytelling, and visual arts, the curriculum explores the music children have just experienced in depth.

Music for Life is grounded in the philosophy that music is best understood through experience as well as context. Children in the program will rotate through two focus areas each week: Creating Connections and Cultivating Creativity.

Creating Connections

MIC teaching artist Matt Boresi will explore the context for the musical works: who the piece was written for, why it was written, and how it fits into the broader culture. Students explore the traditions of composers and explore the story that weaves through each program.

Cultivating Creativity

MIC teaching Artist Dave Ness provides a chance for students to engage in the arts by creating and performing music. Students will explore new musical concepts each week, and will extend their understanding of the programmed music through the creation of their own musical works!

Additional Benefits

• Students hear live performances from the student helpers from MIC’s acclaimed Academy program, who demonstrate music concepts and provide an opportunity to hear America’s next great artists “up close and personal.”

• The Music for Life program provides an intermission snack and time for students to socialize – just as the adult concertgoers do. Children are encouraged to share their ideas and reflect on the music, but also to make new friends!

• Children in the Music for Life program receive a concert program newsletter which outlines the concepts covered in the activities, but also makes suggestions for “keeping the conversation going” with adult concertgoers through activities and conversation starters.

The Music for Life curriculum is aligned with the National Standards in Music Education.

Meet The Faculty

Corinne Ness

The Music For Life program is coordinated by MIC’s director of school and community partnerships . Ms. Ness is an assistant professor of music education and director of music theatre studies at Carthage College in Kenosha. Additionally, she is director of MIC’s Arts Link: Community Engagement program. Ms. Ness spent 10 years in the public schools as a music teacher before moving into higher education and curriculum development. She is a regular presenter at national and international conferences, and has published original research. Ms. Ness will complete her doctorate in cultural and educational policy studies in 2011. Ms. Ness will design and implement the curriculum with the assistance of two outstanding MIC faculty.

Matt Boresi

Matt is a teacher, director, and writer of musicals, opera, art song, and choral works.  He is a faculty member at North Central College and a co-founder of the NCC Summer Musical Theater Workshops, and has taught or conducted workshops for the School of Performing Arts, the Tanglewood Institute, Midwest Young Artists, the Northwestern University School of Music, and City Center/Encores!. Mr. Boresi has worked with students in the Chicago Public Schools for two years, delivering the popular elementary school program Smash Up! as well as his Making a Scene curriculum. Mr. Boresi is a co-director of MIC’s music theatre programs, where he designs curriculum and creates new works.

Dave Ness

Dave has been an MIC teaching artist for eight years, collaborating with Chicago public school teachers to deliver arts integration in the classroom. He is an experienced educator, having taught general music in the public schools for several districts in addition to serving on the faculty of colleges and universities, including Northwestern. Mr. Ness is a regular improvisation teacher at Suzuki festivals and workshops. An active Chicago jazz artist, Mr. Ness recently released his debut recording, Sketches, where he was lauded by critics for his “superlative guitar” work and “tasteful flights of improvisation.” Mr. Ness is also a faculty member of the College of Lake County, where he teaches guitar and music theory.