Arts And Education

SFMS brings musicians, dancers and craftspeople into schools to help students to learn about folk culture. Over the last several years, we have been establishing partnerships with many schools including the Harrisburg Academy; Melrose, Scott and Sci Tech High School in the Harrisburg School District; Dillsburg, Northern and South Mountain Schools in the Northern York County School District; and Fishing Creek Elementary in the West Shore School District.

Music, Dance and Stories from the Colonial Period

October 15, 2007 at Hoover Elementary School, Camp Hill, PA

The Colonial Period comes to life with Heidi Clare & AtaGallop, a Tennessee-based band that features fiddle, banjo, bass and guitar. Through colorful stories, toe-tapping jigs and reels and Appalachian clog dancing, the group tells the stories of Scots-Irish immigrants who settled in Pennsylvania in the early 18th Century. This program introduces students to American folk music and dance and coordinates with the Social Studies curriculum in Pennsylvania’s Elementary Schools.

Heidi Clare was featured in the film soundtrack of Cold Mountain and traveled with the national tour for Oh Brother, Where Art Thou?

Welsh Traditions

York Country Day School students enjoyed a visit from the Welsh band "Crasdant" on Monday, October 23, 2006. The band, on a three-week tour of the U.S., played traditional Welsh music, clogged and taught students about their instruments during the assembly. It was hosted by the Susquehanna Folk Music Society. See our Photo Album for photos of Crasdant's visit.

Made possible in part by a grant from the Pennsylvania Humanities Council.

Medieval to Modern at Melrose School

During the 2006-2007 season, we sponsored three programs for students at Melrose School in the Harrisburg School District. SFMS is deeply appreciative to the sponsors who helped to make these residencies possible.

1. An Authentic Medieval Pageant:
Dramatic Storytelling, Music, Song, & Dance with Bells and Motley Consort

From November 6-19th, 2006, the students at Melrose School (Harrisburg School District) will be treated to a two week long residency with the Bells and Motley Consort. This group specializes in Medieval and Renaissance music, as well as other traditional folk and historic music. They are singers and multi-instrumentalists, playing a great variety of European and Early American historic and traditional folk instruments.

While at Melrose they will be working with the students to create the Geoffrey Chaucer play “Chanticleer Tale”, which is an authentic medieval pageant with dramatic storytelling, music, song, and dance. The residency will involve and connect as many student participants as possible, as theatrical, musical, and dance performers and students will be called upon to create simple Medieval costumes. The residency will bring authentic enrichment experiences in historic music, dance, art, literature, and folklore to this inner-city school.

Sponsors for this residency are Commerce Bank and Pennsylvania Council on the Arts.

2. Stories and Songs of the Blues:
Celebrating the Afro-American Experience with Guy Davis

Guy Davis’s “Stories and Songs of the Blues” residency is an exciting way for students to learn about the Afro-American experience from the time of slavery to the present. Through assemblies and classroom workshops, Guy will use storytelling and singing to tell the story of the black man in America. Through these activities the student will come to realize the importance of music all throughout black history.

This residency offering, at Melrose School on Thursday, January 11, 2007, will be a part of a celebration of Martin Luther King Jr.’s birthday.

Sponsors for this residency are IBM and Commerce Bank.

3. A Taste of India with Ragamala

Ragamala Music and Dance Theater presents a “Taste of India” for a truly cultural experience. This residency is presented on April 11, 2007 for elementary students at Melrose School (Harrisburg School District).

Through dance, music and discussion, students are encouraged to explore the arts and culture of India. This experience will inspire them to respect diversity and develop a curiosity about other cultures.

Melrose Elementary School students will attend a special assembly at the Rose Lehrman Arts Center, where Ragamala will introduce the children to Indian dance through movement and rhythm. The group will also discuss special gestures in Indian dance, and their meaning. Indian Arts will be personified by an exercise incorporating dance, music, poetry, and visual arts.

Sponsors for this residency are Fulton Bank and the Hall Foundation.