POP News Magazine

The Joy of Singing In A National Children's Choir!

By Dana Rice

This summer a group of students from Dana Rice Music's FAME Studio joined other children ages 5-11 from around the country to sing in the Gospel Music Workshop of America (GMWA) National Children's Choir.

Everything was made from scratch! All songs were taught by the songwriters - 4 songs in 3 rehearsals. On top of that, the choir directors and musicians learned the songs at the same time as the children! Then on day 4 the choir presented a concert as part of the GMWA National Convention.

Unlike many state, regional or national children's choirs, there was no audition process and no opportunity for preparation by the singers or musicians ahead of time! The entire process was organic and not only did they pull it off, but they had a great time while doing it!

The choir learned 4 songs taught by the songwriters themselves in just 3 rehearsals and presented a concert as part of the Gospel Music Workshop of America Convention.

The opportunity to participate in a choir of this magnitude affords students many benefits such as making new friends, learning to sing in harmony, learning music with a positive and potentially life-changing message while working directly with national recording artists and clinicians.

Do you have a child that loves to sing? Consider looking beyond school choirs and ensembles to give your child even more variety.

From LA To Atlanta:

Arts School Administrators Share

Sound Advice For Parents

By Dana Rice

The adjustment from summer vacations and summer camps to early mornings, school lunches and bus calls signal thoughts of how to best help children succeed. Every parent is faced with this question, yet the question of how to best help has some unique layers when it comes to parenting performers. In many instances when we think of schooling it is with the future in mind. We think about how what children learn in the classroom today can help prepare them to face the world tomorrow.

When the child is in the arts, however, the question often becomes, "How can I find a school that will equip my child with academic skills and skills they can use for an audition today or a performance tonight?"

To help parents answer this question and more, we talked to administrators from two outstanding arts schools in the United States - Orange County School of the Arts (OCSA) in Santa Ana California and DeKalb County School of the Arts (DESA) in Atlanta, GA. Read on to find out about the magnificent opportunities these schools provide and get valuable insights about arts training from the perspectives of the administrators that are leading the way.

Meet Teren Shaffer

Of Orange County School of the Arts

Founded in 1987 as an after school program with a very small number of kids and a choir teacher -Ralph Opacic- Orange County School of the Arts (OCSA) is a public school that now has 2100 students in 21 disciplines from 100+ cities across Southern California in grades 7-12. Today the school is led by Ralph's successor, Teren Shaffer, who is the school's newly appointed President and CEO.

Before diving into sharing all about the "amazingness" that is OCSA, we'd like to share what Mr. Shaffer told us about his point of entry to the arts.

Teren Shaffer: “I’m a recovering musician” My background was in classical instrumental music. I was a professional conductor for several years before I literally fell into education.

My dad was a professional pianist and arranger. He helped arrange music for the Tonight Show band with Johnny Carson. He kind of fell out of love with music shortly before I was born because of the pressure of the industry and what he was doing and needing to churn out charts and get things done - like if he had an assignment and the Tonight Show needed music at 6am and it became really hard for him knowing that my parents wanted to start a family. So he made a crazy decision to stop music cold turkey. He went into the insurance industry and has never turned back. Growing up though, he always loved music and having music transition from what he did for work and to bringing joy to his life as sort of an extra curricular. I think it fulfilled him much more than it did when there was the pressure of doing it professionally.

I grew up in a house where I was sitting on my Dad’s lap learning to play piano and because it wasn’t work for him and because he was so good it was really fun for me and it fostered a love of music and the arts at an early age. I think I was playing piano at 4 years or 5 years old. So I just always loved it. I went to a traditional public school. I had the benefit of having an amazing experience and wonderful teachers which makes a huge difference obviously for young people. And I decided early on that I wanted to be a professional musician. I never thought in a million years I’d be in education let alone running an arts school, but here I am."

[At OCSA] "We’re always trying to think about how to do things differently and better. This year we’re launching a new conservatory program called the Arts and Enterprise Conservatory," says Mr. Shaffer. He elaborates by explaining that "The creative economy dictates that there are more jobs behind the curtain than in front of the curtain being the person performing on stage. We’ve historically done an amazing job preparing students for performance oriented careers in the arts but what we haven’t done in a deep way is preparing students for the other side of the industry."

With the new conservatory, OCSA is seeking to prepare students for jobs that have not been highlighted as much in arts education such as museum curator, music producer, record label exec, arts management or arts leadership etc. "So quite frankly," Mr. Shaffer says, "we’ve designed a conservatory that’s going to be full of kids that at some point are going to be the ones employing all of the other artists. So we’re developing a program that’s really about business and entrepreneurship as it relates to the arts."

Follow OCSA on Instagram @weareocsa

Meet Bianca Hamilton

of DeKalb Elementary School of the Arts

Nestled in the heart of Metro Atlanta, DeKalb Elementary School of the Arts (DESA), is a visual and performing arts magnet school for grades K-8. In addition to core academic classes, students are immersed in dance, drama, vocal and instrumental music, and visual arts classes of their choice.

The school is led by Bianca Hamilton, who has been the principal for the past 10 years. Due to her extensive background as an academic classroom teacher, dancer, parent, and her experience as an administrator on the district and state levels her approach to leading a school like DESA is one of a kind. On a casual scroll through the DeKalb Elementary School of the Arts Instagram feed you'll discover Mrs. Hamilton bouncing into the new year with students in the hallway, dancing with students, and celebrating academic achievements with students and teachers.

In our interview, Mrs. Hamilton chooses to jump right in and address a question that many people who understand the value of arts education have:

When it comes to public schools, why is an arts school the exception and not the rule?

Her answer is simple.

From a school perspective, it's expensive.

And while it may be true that having an arts school is expensive, Mrs. Hamilton points out that "kids [who are artists] seem to feel more comfortable when they are around other kids who are artists. That's why you see children who really want to do it gravitating to schools like DESA." This passion for the arts often continues into the high school years, Mrs. Hamilton elaborates. "They do this even though it often means giving up a whole high school experience with athletics, etc to be educated like this."

So what are the top 3 things on her wish list for parents?

1. If your child is a professional or pursuing that route, stay in constant communication with someone in leadership. Mrs. Hamilton has a running list of her students who are working professionally. Absences are not excused BUT students are allowed to make up the classwork.

2. Consider having an appreciation for the arts yourself as a parent. It’s very hard to do a school if you don’t even appreciate the arts yourself and what it requires.

3. Be realistic about their strengths vs what you want them to do. The artist has to develop their own path. Be open and flexible for things to change on a dime if your child is pursuing this professionally.

As we come to the close of our interview, Mrs. Hamilton takes a beat to drop a few final gems to help parents navigate their child's arts education:

"Just because you say your kids is dramatic does not mean they are an actor or a good actor. A lot of families think that acting is being dramatic but it’s way more than that. That’s a big mistake parents make. There’s a big difference between TV acting, stage plays and commercials. So parents should think about what interest their child has shown. Dance moms - your child doesn’t always have to be the lead. A child in the back row center will grab the audience’s attention just as much as the group role in the front. This doesn’t make them any less of a good dancer. Just enjoy it with your child instead of trying to make them have the lead spot all the time. There is no time limit for performance. Parents are often upset because their child is only on stage for 2-3 minutes, but that is the average amount of time. The time is not an indication of the quality of the piece. It’s a lot of fun to watch them grow as artists."

For her final comment, Mrs. Hamilton says to parents:

"Allow your child to self reflect and set goals. When they’re ready to quit let them quit. If it’s who they are they will come back to it. They might just need a break.

Follow DESA on Instagram @desa_dreamsbig