Italian Composer 1582 – 17 February 1652
When we go on tour, we like to teach as much as we can to as many as we can. To this end, and as a way to keep groups straight, I create family groups. Each family group consists of one chaperon and 5-7 children, depending on the dynamics of the group. Each family group is then given a nationality of either American, or the country we are touring. In this instance, it’s Italian. Once a nationality is established, each family group is then named for a composer of that nationality. If a student can’t remember her chaperon’s real name, they can identify themselves as Italian, or American and/or composer.
Since we typically tour on two motor coaches, one coach becomes the Italian Family bus and the other becomes the American Family bus, and a flag is placed in the window of the coach to help identify who goes where.
Each chaperon gets a book with their students information. On the front of that book, is a photograph of their family group composer, the flag of their nationality, and the birth, and if applicable, death dates of the composer. Each chaperon is asked to contact their family group members in advance and maybe even plan a small get together to help bond the group before we leave. I encourage them to include something about their new family patriarch, the composer.
While I was hunting photos and facts for all of this fun stuff, I found this video someone made to Gregorio Allegri’s Miserere mei, Deus
Usually, videos are of a choir singing the piece or of some religious paintings, but this one featured some gorgeous photography of nature and I thought it would be such a nice thing to share with anyone who wanted to sit back, relax with a cup of something warm and let the audio and visual be a relaxing meditation of a sort. Best at full screen!
Snippets and Tidbits 