The beginning of every school year is always a fascinating journey. We start out slow, learning new teachers and new schedules, distributing posters and other resources that we created over the summer. We start to get an idea of where we might be needed most. We’re in schools before the children arrive, cleaning up instruments and even making minor repairs. One of my proudest moments, in fact, was when we saved three cellos using parts from a totally hopeless cello that was broken in pieces. One thing I’ve learned after five years as teaching artist-school instruments break!
So what exactly is our role, what is the life of a teaching artist? The Teaching Artist program was started around 2016 with a big idea and a strong partnership between Pinellas County Schools and The Florida Orchestra. Pinellas County Schools needed support for their fast growing orchestra programs, and the idea was that TFO could create a dedicated position for a musician who could also run out to schools to be that vital support for teachers. In the most basic sense the Teaching Artist wears two hats: Orchestral musician, and educator/pedagogue. These two hats require completely different skill sets. The orchestral musician is a diligent practicer of their instrument, spending hours each day working on perfecting their craft. The educator/pedagogue is flexible and empathetic, they must understand that teachers are coming from all sorts of backgrounds (usually not strings) and children are entering the classroom from all walks of life. It’s a delicate balance, but I believe that practicing that balance helps our sense of humanity and thus makes us into better artists at the end of the day.
Managing both of these roles on a week-to-week basis is quite the balancing act. In one morning I could find myself at a class demonstrating how to improve tone quality or hold the bow, and then just an hour later be on stage utilizing these same skills in the professional setting. I’ve personally found that constantly teaching the craft of viola playing has made me a greater artist because I am always aware of the techniques that I share with students. I can also say that being on stage makes me a better teacher, because I bring my experience from the stage right into the classroom. Effective rehearsal techniques that I learn from world class conductors also happen to work in the classroom, as well as advice on how to breathe together and how to work together to create a more inspiring product. My favorite part about balancing my performance/teaching roles is working with the kids. I remember being a kid who was into music (probably to an obsessive degree!), and I am reminded of that passion every time I enter the classroom. It’s not that professionals lose that passion, but it changes. If I play too much orchestra without enough teaching, it begins to feel like I’m a musical athlete training for the Olympics. I become hyper focused on the perfection of every note, nailing all of the challenging runs, and I can lose sight of the actual music. Going into the classroom can be a breath of fresh air that reminds me that music is so much more than learning notes with perfect rhythm and intonation. Kids are pure of heart and unconcerned by things as trivial as perfection. The passion they feel is for the music, it is for those magical moments that give you goosebumps and send chills down your spine. It would do every musician well to visit some classrooms to be reminded of that unconditional love of music for music’s sake.
What we’ve realized over the last few years is that there’s just not enough of us to go around. There are about 30 schools on our list spanning the entire county (south St. Pete up to Tarpon, all the way west to Seminole!) and as of this moment there are only two of us. On a week where we don’t play with the orchestra, we might be able to run out to as many as 8 schools each, but there’s just no way we can get everywhere. One of our solutions for this was to start wearing another hat-content creators! We have been working on developing resources that teachers and students can access from the TFO website including instructional videos, worksheets, and we even made posters that show great posture and technique for string playing for every classroom.
The other solution is our Partner School Program. Teachers can apply to become a Partner School, and we choose three schools to focus on throughout the year. These schools get regular visits and we work closely with the teachers to make a game plan to help them achieve their goals for the class. They also get special perks like a group of TFO musicians come in to play for them and coach them around their Music Performance Assessment time, and they perform in the lobby before watching a TFO show. These experiences have a huge impact on the kids, and the hope is that by building such a strong relationship with our young community, we can help them become lifelong music lovers. This program adds so much depth to our work because when we see the classes so consistently, we really get to know the students and the teachers. We see them through all of the challenges of the year and work closely enough with the students that we can really help to boost the level of the class as well as the confidence of the teacher. There is nothing better than seeing our Partner Schools playing in the lobby before a TFO show, accomplishing all of the things that we worked on to get there. Those have been some really proud moments!
The beautiful thing about what happens in the classrooms and on the TFO stage is that we are ultimately all trying to do the same thing. We are all here to make music. Whether we see a group of kids playing Jingle Bells at their Winter Concert or we are watching TFO perform Strauss’ Zarathustra, we are still watching people express themselves through music. And both of these examples are very impressive – Jingle Bells is not easy when you held a violin for the first time three months ago!
If you live in Pinellas County, there is a way that you can help us make sure our schools have the materials and the support they need for successful arts programs. That is by voting “Yes” on the Pinellas County School Board Referendum Question. We see referendum funds in action every day. Teachers are able to purchase what they need to have a successful classroom: instruments, books, strings, tuners, etc. And programs like our own Teaching Artist program could only exist with the support of the referendum, so it is important to vote Yes whenever it is on the ballot!
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