On Thursday, February 2024, 2, Music Dialogue artists held an outreach program for 8 sixth grade students at Meguro Ward's Ookayama Elementary School.
MD artist Fumie Kato is a cellist who has accumulated experience in outreach across Japan as a "regional creation" artist, and this time she was in charge of everything from planning the program content to hosting the event on the day.
The performers are Karen Kido (violin), Chisa Kitagawa (violin), Ayako Tahara (viola), and Fumie Kato (cello).
The program began with Mozart, and using string quartets by Haydn, Dvorak, Shostakovich, Ravel, and others as examples, the program explained why the three elements that make up music (melody, rhythm, and harmony) are important, and then had the participants experience each of them. In a quiz along the way, the participants experienced how different people can feel differently when listening to the same music. After fully engaging their senses and imaginations, the program ended with the main event of listening to Mendelssohn's string quartet.
For the encore, a string quartet performed the Ookayama Elementary School school song, which was a little different from the familiar school song that the audience is used to, and there was a murmur of excitement when it began.
Here are some of the comments we received from our students.
We received a message from Fumie Kato.
When planning outreach activities, I once again feel that it is important to leave space for children to think about various things.
It is introduced on the Meguro Persimmon website. ↓
[Outreach Program] Meguro Ward Ookayama Elementary School | Kaki no Ki Nikki Outreach Program | Meguro Persimmon Hall / Nakameguro GT Plaza Hall (persimmon.or.jp)
At Music Dialogue, we hope to continue to spread the joy of music and chamber music in various ways. We are grateful to the Meguro Persimmon Hall for inviting us, and to the teachers and students at Ookayama Elementary School for their warm welcome!
Photo courtesy of Meguro Persimmon Hall
