Contributed by Michael Ganci, Syntax, for The Bronxville School

Feb. 21, 2018:  Bronxville High School students in Dr. Denise Lutter’s orchestra class heard their musical compositions come to life when the PUBLIQuartet visited on February 5.

Through collaborative creative processes, the students and professional musicians explored ways to enhance both the content and interpretation of the compositions.

During their visit, which was generously funded by The Bronxville School Foundation, the musicians worked with the students in small groups to help the students revise and refine their pieces. They also discussed strategies for developing ideas; played and critiqued their compositions; and provided them with an invaluable and enriching learning experience.

“The revised compositions showed tremendous growth in terms of their complexity and harmonic content,” Dr. Lutter said. “The students learned a great deal along the way and I’m very proud of their work.”

As a result of the creative and collaborative process, the students said they learned a variety of strategies for composing music. For many, it was the first time they had composed anything and had the opportunity to explore creativity through the eyes of a composer.

“Originally, my piece was repetitive–it had three main sections and I had the melodies and harmonies switching between parts, but everything was one tempo, and all pretty much the same dynamic level,” sophomore Sabrina Mellinghoff said. “With the help of the quartet member and my group, we were able to add different textures to the music and different dynamic levels to make it overall much more interesting.”

The collaboration enabled the orchestra students to be creative and innovative, which are skills closely aligned with the dispositions of the Bronxville Promise.

Watch a video about the creative process on the district’s website at www.bronxvilleschool.org.

Pictured here: Bronxville High School students collaborating with a member of the PUBLIQuartet. 

Photo courtesy The Bronxville School 

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