Program Description & Vision Statement

District 95 offers Orchestra as a co-curricular elective to students in Grades 4-12. The program is structured for sequential development: this is accomplished through sectional classes and in large ensemble rehearsals. The aim is for Orchestra members to be able to:

  • perform varying repertoire from standard orchestral literature
  • distinguish between contrasting musical styles, periods, and forms
  • execute rhythmic and tonal patterns correctly
  • understand and apply major and minor scales and key signatures
  • produce pleasing tone quality
  • demonstrate various bowing styles
  • show development in left and right hand technique
  • compose original music, research composers and musical time periods, and complete music theory drills

In summary, students should know about music, and they should be able to play it with as much proficiency as they are capable. By learning to play a stringed instrument, students can experience music in a way that provides them with a means of self expression. The LZ95 Orchestra program is valuable in helping each member develop his or her aesthetic potential to its highest possible level. The goal is for students lives to be enriched through their experience in Orchestra in such a way that they carry with them a love of making music and of listening to music.

The following is from "Music and the Goals of Education" Adapted from John Dewey, Experiences in Education (New York: Macmillan Co., 1938-63) and Robert R. Rush, The Doctrine of the Great Educators (New York: St. Martin's Press, 1965)...

It is generally agreed that the overall objective of modern education is to transmit cultural heritage, knowledge, skills, attitudes and ideals to create a responsible citizen. Developing skills in critical thinking and problem solving will enable students to solve not only the problems of today, but also those not yet posed for tomorrows world.

American communities are faced with the difficulty of finding ways to bring divergent groups of people together to reach the common goals of living. In view of the racial and political turmoil gripping the nation, it must be realized that something beyond a job and house is desperately needed. A job and good housing alone do not make a being human. Considerable evidence shows that a students conception of himself and his abilities is a major factor in achievement.. Self-image and achievement are directly related. Self-image is the product of socio-cultural forces interrelating with an individuals personality. The Orchestra program can involve the learner emotionally when he or she plays, and can provide additional experiences and learning opportunities for less verbal students. Ideally, education helps students to develop skills of discrimination and judgment, and to refine their attitudes, patterns of thought, and actions. Each child is entitled to an opportunity for self-realization in an environment favorable to artistic creation and aesthetic experience. Pestalozzi believed the purpose of education was to train the hand, the head, and the heart. This includes artistic skills! Schools should be about the business of contributing to students being well-rounded. The following objectives for students in the Orchestra program stem from this philosophy.

  • Music is a basic human expression. Students demonstrate, to the best of their ability, intense involvement in and response to personal musical experience.
  • Students think, feel, and act creatively with music materials.
  • Students develop manipulative and organizational skills through musical study and performance.
  • Students acquire knowledge of their heritage through great works of music.
  • Students develop a set of values for discrimination, leading to effective living.

The goals of music education and specifically of the District 95 Orchestra program are primarily MUSICAL. Music is a worthy part of the curriculum for the sake of its own intrinsic value. Many extrinsic values result as well. The discipline and teamwork necessary to progress on a musical instrument carries over into other areas of learning and life. Mathematical aspects are reinforced through musical studies. The social, intellectual, and aesthetic experiences in music help promote good citizenship in students. Society needs music, and musicians make quality citizens!

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Page Sponsor:  Dave Gardner-Principal
Author:  Ron Polomchak
Webmaster:  Al Willer
Created:  April 22, 1999
Updated:  Thursday August 31, 2006