Sample Outreach Venues:
1. Family /Public Library Concert: “Listening with Imagination”Goal:
The ASQ involves the entire family in this interactive concert experience, and gets children (and adults) actively participating in their own listening experience.
This program includes introduction of the instruments as the “string family”, and demonstrates how we interact with one another while we play. The primary focus of the presentation is to demonstrate the limitless resources of each person’s imagination, and how active participation as a listener enhances the concert experience. The program culminates with the children drawing to the music played by the quartet. Everyone leaves the concert with their drawings to remind them of the music!
2. Visit to a university/college class: Art, Physics, Business or History Goal: Demonstration of the links between music and other academic disciplines.
Art: The ASQ highlights music’s versions of form, shape, balance, shading, trends, strokes, and profile, and how we relate these concepts to the visual arts.
Physics: The ASQ reveals the integration of science into art, and shows how musicians need to understand the basics of sound production. We discuss vibration, overtones, instrument construction and historical impact on evolution of the instruments, and balance of weight – tension – speed, gravity, etc.
Business: The ASQ discusses concepts of group dynamics: group problem solving, communication skills (verbal and non-verbal), conflict resolution, meeting deadlines, equal individual involvement and investment in our product, and skills relating to shared leadership.
History: The ASQ shows how social and political trends throughout history are depicted in the music of the greatest composers, and how these universal and timeless issues help keep the music vital and current for today’s audience. Specifically, we can discuss the age of revolution, social equality and the rise of the middle class, nationalism, romanticism, and impressionism.
3. Visit to high school/youth Orchestra: “Practical Applications”Goal:
To leave music students with ideas and techniques they can immediately employ and integrate into their own musical processes. The ASQ performs for students and discusses practice techniques, problem solving, ensemble skills, and the importance of historical context of music. Also, the ASQ can work with small ensembles or the entire youth orchestra in a master class style setting. This can all be open to the public/parents.
4. Hospital or Assisted Living Facility Goal:
To offer residents the chance to focus on something other than the adversity they are currently facing.The concert presentation includes talk and interaction with the patients, but is tailored to the needs of the facility and persons attending.
5. Pre-concert talk Goal:
The members of the ASQ are happy to present pre-concert talks for audience members interested in gaining a “behind-the-scenes” perspective on the upcoming performance. Issues discussed range from the historical context and motivations for the works being performed to sharing insights into the ASQ’s rehearsal and interpretive process. We have found that audiences have a heightened sense of ownership and involvement in the concert experience if they feel a personal connection to the players and performance. As visitors to a community, this is also one of the most direct avenues for personal connection between the members of the quartet and the local audience.