The Past Two Weeks

I haven't had time to post for the past 2 weeks because I attended the Kodaly Society of the Philippines' annual summer seminar/workshop on Kodaly Methodology and Conducting.  

This was my schedule for ten days:

8:00 -- 9:30: Musicianship Class Level III (under Prof. Sarolta Platthy, a wonderful Hungarian teacher and conductress who teaches at the Kodaly Institute in Kecskemet, Hungary). Solfege and dictation were such a joy to study under her... we were doing gorgeous Renaissance/ Palestrina motets!!?!? I bet if CMu solfege classes were like ours under Ma'am Sarolta, people would have a very positive attitude towards solfege.

9:45 -- 11:15: Methodology Class Level I (under Prof. Carolyn Cheng): we were guided step by step on how to teach Music to prep/first graders

11:15 -- 12:30: Choir! My favorite time of the day. :) In two weeks, we learned and performed the ff: Sir Agot Espino's arrangement of Pen Pen de Sarapen, Kodaly's PANGE LINGUA, YOUR SHINING EYES (an English madrigal), two Hungarian songs by Bela Bartok, a three-part Nocturne by Mozart: Due pupille amabille, and Palestrina's JESU REX ADMIRABILIS.

12:30 -- 1:15: Lunch Break

1:15 -- 2:15: Elective Class Level II (for the first 3 days, we had Recorder class under Sir David Guadalupe... then 2 days of Orff under his wife, Ma'am Joy Timbol-Guadalupe... the rest of the time we had Philippine Music class under Ma'am Lilymae Franco :)

2:15 -- 3:15: Conducting Class Level II and III: Under Ma'am Sarolta, we had to study and conduct a few pieces. I got three chances to conduct the "choir," and it was one of the most exhilirating/terrifying experiences I've ever known. :)

3:15 -- 4:15 (in the second week, we'd often extend til 5 pm): Materials Class Level I under Ma'am Leleng Matias for the first week, where we studied songs/games we could use for our lessons. The second week, we had Practicum Level I handled by Prof. Carolyn Cheng, which was like a workshop in teaching technique. :) We had to make lesson plans/segments, then teach them to our classmates.

Yesterday we had our Culminating Activity, where we performed the Choir pieces. Our Philippine Music class also performed a Maranao gong ensemble piece with three of us girls dancing (myself included). We also got awarded our certificates (I got my Level I certificate, yay! Two more years to go!). Pictures to follow :)

This experience has been so wonderful! I learned so many things, and made several new friends. I am so impressed by Kodaly's vision and am in awe of the Kodaly Society of the Philippines' dedication to their cause. "Music is the birthright of EVERY child," Kodaly said. Thanks to the Kodaly Society of the Philippines (and similar institutions), there is still hope for the future of Music Education in our country.

My calendar is fully booked in the coming month. I'm going to be teaching everyday. To be honest, I am a bit apprehensive because of my inexperience but I am thankful that I have the opportunity to apply what I've learned.

CONGRATULATIONS TO MY DEAREST TWINNIE!! She graduated magna cum laude last week from UP. The very next day after graduation, she reported for work at the Ateneo. Galing diba?

Congratulations also to the Opera Workshop class and cast of LITTLE WOMEN!! It was a fabulous show. I take my hats off to the performers... simply learning the parts was a Herculean job!

Hopefully I can update this blog more frequently over the summer.