Kids First Kids sing "Ode to Joy" as part of Make Music LA and La Fete De La Musique

KidsFirst is a children's program slated to expand this Fall at Plummer Elementary School and operating at Hamlin Charter Academy providing high quality, low cost, innovative before and after school programs presently offering its 9 week summer program. This summer it has field trips, music, science, art and so much more going on.

Yesterday they joined the international music playing and performance "flash mob" (worldwide free concerts) that was occurring in over 50 American cities from the classroom as part of summer fun.  The program featured the Ode to Joy section of the 9^th Symphony and included the American lyrics from the Methodist United's hymnal allowing children to link their studies on the rug with 50 states on it to their heritage, the world's musical heritage, and to the study of music in print, in performance, from events, and as part of a vital preparation from song study to song performance.  The kids chose how to work with the lyrics, learned the melody, worked as a group wrote their own lyrics. What emerged was a summer postcard to the world from West Hills, CA.

What can music do? Motivate, inspire, enchant, delight.  Both today and in the past as well as build capacity and focus futures.  What happened?  We took a small famous melody and a beloved composer and in 3 days developed a summer program that could bring the world, history, shared culture, a sense of place and a sense of time as well as performance to Kids First's summer offerings at Hamlin Charter Academy and Shadow Ranch Park this week. Children were feted and showcased their talent in the process of integrating play, performance, language arts and history to bring a new understanding of music, performance, creativity to this year's daily schedule.

The response building something out of the pending Wednesday event was moving. It was wonderful to see the enthusiasm of 3 student story tellers who wove the historic mention "that the deaf Maestro Beethoven was greeted with hats thrown high and flowers to signal the joy with which the 9^th symphony into their musical performance for June 21^st.   The composer's story made it into their puppetry prop making response as they began building miniature black top hats and roses out of paper with the intention to throw the items into the audience as part of their choral competition plot and resposive puppet show. Two little finger puppets were an excuse to use Henry Van Dyke lyrics and their own melody and storyline for a song competition to win a Prince husband with a surprise ending.  (Note: Both groups requested more music instruction and more time on task to write, compose, sing and play music or compose songs.)

Our second cross age choral group worked separately to write new lyrics reflective of pastimes with great company. Solstice with friends reflected in antics, drumming, learning to take a melody apart with found sounds, counting beats and singing solfege, song mapping in the air and working on the board with rhythms, breathing, vocalizes, and beats.  They were able to watch diverse child and adult performers on youtube and build up a new arrangement of their own response to this classical piece working on breathing, position, passion, smiling, standing in rows, and lyric writing.

They had a quick introduction to song form, the 9^th symphony, their demographics, using a thesaurus, teamwork, attention work, and of course working on camera. It was a long way from a traditional singing class using the arts framework, the time frame to prepare, and the pending event to have fun, reach for the stars, discover their voices.  It was fun, engaging, a stretch, and now a "fait accompli" (fete accomplished).

For more information on how you can bring your child to KidsFirst programs this Fall at Hamlin or Plummer, call Lynda Reichbach at 818-517-3651 and ask for a registration form.  To help out, write New Education Options at bo@kidsfirst.la , it will take a team of fundraisers to us the JW Pepper fundraising site or find matched donations to restore our scholarship fund.  We will announce when we have the performances to share with you online. In the meantime, enjoy the lyrics below. For now, enjoy your own " summertime, summertime".

Fete de la Musique response in Woodland/West Hills neighborhood:

https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/fait%20accompli

JW Pepper Online Fundraising Program beginning soon. Your purchase will support help KidsFirst to fill student seats by underwriting scholarships for those in need) :

www.pepperfundraising.com/program/neoprograms

Kids First at Hamlin participated in Make Music LA (All 88 communities):

http://www.kidsfirst.la/brochure.html

http://makemusicla.org/

https://www.tripsavvy.com/paris-street-music-festival-1618362

Started in NYC and supported by NAMM, find out about MMNY or about Summer Namm in Nashville:

https://www.namm.org/summer/2017

http://pianopronto.com/

http://www.makemusicny.org/summer-schedule/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5b6uo7EwwYU

Plummer Elementary Program taking registrations:

http://notebook.lausd.net/portal/page?_pageid=33,54194&_dad=ptl&school_code=6123

http://www.kidsfirst.la/program_information_2.html

http://www.kidsfirst.la/

What is childcare?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Child_care

West Hills:

http://www.westhillsnc.org/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/West_Hills%2C_Los_Angeles

Fallbrook Chamber of Commerce:

http://www.fallbrookchamberofcommerce.org/

Woodland Hills:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Woodland_Hills,_Los_Angeles

Hamlin Charter Academy:

http://www.lausd.net/Hamlin_St_EL/

Enrichment Works:

http://www.enrichmentworks.com/

Here's our lyrics:

1. Happy Field trips

"All together

We're at Hamlin

in West Hills

2. KidsFirst Kids in

Camp together

Singing for the

World today

Chorus: Hot days swimming

nine weeks off school

Lots of friends

warm summer daze (days)

3. Hope you have a

good vacation

Love from KidsFirst"

Written by Summer Kids First Kids at Hamlin, June 2017, adaptation to the work "Ode to Joy" in German and in English for Make Music LA.  A postcard to hard working peace. Thank you to Aaron Friedman for bringing this experience to our expanded learning program.

Video and photographs being cleared now for release and uploading for your enjoyment.