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September 14, 2006
Instrumental Program for Young Children Starts at Academy
Parents who want to see if their young children have a talent for playing musical instruments should explore the Pennsylvania Academy of Music's new “Introduction to the World of Winds” class, which begins on October 11, meeting for eight sessions on Wednesdays from 4:30 to 5:15 p.m.. This program will introduce children, ages six through nine, to the recorder, a simple wind instrument often used in early music. Classes will be taught by Jennifer Grim, the Academy's flute instructor and an award-winning performer. Instruments will be provided and no previous knowledge of music is necessary to enroll. For information on schedules and fees, parents should call the Academy at 717.399.9733.
“Introduction to the World of Winds” is a useful stepping stone to other instruments, especially those in the wind family. Children will learn breath control, finger dexterity and basic note-reading, all of which are skills necessary for pursuing studies in flute, oboe, clarinet, bassoon or any of the brass instruments. Finger dexterity and basic note-reading skills are also essential for children who go on to pursue studies in keyboard instruments.
“If parents are unsure how to start their children down a musical path, this is the perfect class,” says Academy Dean Frances Veri. “It gives children a taste of the excitement and discipline involved in serious musical study but with a very reasonable investment of resources.” Veri notes that the class instructor, Jennifer Grim, is a superlative teacher and performer. “We're very fortunate to have such a gifted musician who also has a talent for connecting with young children.”
Grim received her B.A. in music from Stanford University and her Master's and Doctorate from Yale University. Hailed by the New York Times as “a deft, smooth flute soloist,” Grim has performed across the United States as an active solo and chamber musician of both the classic literature and contemporary music. A recent first prize-winner in several national chamber music competitions, Grim has performed with such groups as the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center and St. Luke's Chamber Ensemble. She is the flutist in the award-winning ensemble, the Zéphyros Winds, a woodwind quintet based in New York. With Zéphyros, she has performed at prestigious venues such as Lincoln Center, Dumbarton Oaks in Washington DC and Da Camera of Los Angeles. She is the principal flutist of the Vermont Mozart Festival and has appeared at the Aspen and the Norfolk Chamber Music Festivals. As a soloist, she has been featured numerous times at the Vermont Mozart Festival, performing all of the Mozart flute concerti and quartets.
The Pennsylvania Academy of Music is a non-profit pre-collegiate institution dedicated to the musical advancement of its students. Founded in 1990, the Academy attracts students from an immediate nine-county area as well as from around the world, who study disciplines ranging from instrumental, chamber music, orchestra, opera and vocal performance to music composition and theory, improvisation, accompanying ,jazz and recording. The Academy has a widely accomplished international faculty and is one of only 12 autonomous pre-collegiate music schools in the country accredited by the National Association of Schools of Music.
