Hawthorne Elementary students will be treated to a visit from the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra's maestro next week as part of the VSO's Connects program.
"There are less and less music specialists in elementary schools. So to have these people come in, I think it's great to help children learn and to get them interested," said Hawthorne vice-principal Sharon Wyatt.
The program is a two-year commitment with nine learning modules and the visit from Bramwell Tovey is one of the learning modules.
Tovey will be at Hawthorne on May 14 to discuss his role in the symphony, answer questions and perform on the piano.
"He's wonderful," said VSO education and community programs man-ager Christin Reardon MacLellan. "He's warm and he's welcoming and he's accessible. It's a very engaging event."
"It's great for kids to be exposed to music. And how many kids get to go to the symphony? So this is one way the symphony is coming to the school," said Wyatt.
In a second-year module students visit the Orpheum Theatre to watch a symphony rehearsal. MacLellan said musicians and UBC music students visit the schools five times per year.
"It's really fun to see them build a relationship with the musicians who come back. Then when they do come to visit the symphony it's more exciting because they have that personal connection with the musicians in the orchestra," said VSO education assistant Pearl Schachter.
The program is also a hands-on learning opportunity for the post-secondary music students who will one day be music teachers or performers in the symphony.
"The best moments are when you see these tiny five-year-old girls who get this big noise out of the French horn. Their eyes go as round as saucers and they're like, 'I didn't know I could that,'" said Schachter.
The Connects program began in 2006 as a way to bring music education into elementary schools and has since expanded to include secondary schools.
Every year school districts select one school to participate in the program sponsored by RBC. This is the first time a South Delta school has been chosen.
