Today I want to take a little time to share a fun, community building experience I had recently with my daughter. We joined some friends from Southeast Nashville Homeschool Enrichment on a field trip to see the Nashville Symphony! As an aside, I work as the Assistant Director of Southeast Nashville Homeschool Enrichment, but I do not receive any sort of compensation for sharing about this organization here.
If you didn’t already know, the Nashville Symphony holds regular Young People’s Concerts, some of which are targeted specifically for school groups and field trips. These are fantastic, in depth explorations of specific musical elements, approached in a way that isn’t overwhelming for kids. These Young People’s Concerts are free for kids and just $10 for chaperones, making this an extraordinary opportunity for a fantastic cultural experience that you won’t want to miss. When you register for these events as a homeschooler, the symphony also sends out a small supplementary curriculum that their education department puts together that is unique to each of these programs that you can incorporate into your homeschool routine. This is also free and accessible online on the symphony’s website for anyone who missed it. The supplement from this particular Young People’s Concert has such a broad collection of videos and listening links that can help explain jazz to kids that I’m linking it here.
The concert we saw was called “Jazz Transformations.” The symphony is also temporarily releasing a recording of this concert for streaming in late March, and I’m sharing the link to register for that here in case you’d like to take the time to enjoy this with your family and weren’t able to make it to the live show. Jazz Transformations compared and contrasted Tchaikovsky’s Nutcracker Suite with the jazz album by Duke Ellington of the same name. Each piece was first played the way Tchaikovsky wrote it, then it was performed per Ellington’s innovation. For families who also love taking in Wishing Chair Production’s puppet shows, this particular concert could be conveniently paired with their show, Ellingtown, for a deeper exploration of Duke Ellington and his music. Wishing Chair typically holds their puppet shows live at either the Main Library downtown, or at libraries and community spaces around the city with their puppet truck. During the pandemic, however, they took the time to put all of their puppet shows on YouTube so kids could continue to access their wonderful and deeply imaginative shows, see behind the scenes, and stay in touch with story time, so I’m grateful to be able to share a link to that puppet show for those who want to dive deeper from the comfort of their own homes and at any time of the year.
As it was, the symphony had a guest jazz composer who had met Duke Ellington sit in on the concert and offer his experience and expertise. He shared about improv and played his trumpet both with and without a mute. He spoke about using music as a language and played a participatory “poem” in which the audience was asked to shout “okay” at the end of each of his phrases before he translated his trumpet-speak into English. Turns out the kids were agreeing to always remember that they are creative and worthwhile, and this moment was truly touching. Finally, he also shared about his own music education and how his mother bought his trumpet even though they couldn’t pay their electric bill because she could see that it was his life’s calling to be a musician. What a beautiful reminder to nourish and nurture our children’s gifts, even in complicated or difficult times.
After the concert, my daughter gathered briefly with some friends to socialize, and I overheard several kids talking about how they felt about what they’d just experienced. Don’t you love it when the learning, digesting, and processing just happens automatically? Sometimes we get to dig in on the deep conversations with our kids, and sometimes they do it all on their own. These little moments are the ones worth looking for in homeschooling, since they pop up as a natural reminder that you’re on the right track and the kids are paying attention and learning something worthwhile.
Since we were already downtown, my daughter and I also took the time to walk over to Assembly Food Hall at the new 5th and Broadway development for lunch. On our way over there, we passed countless live music venues, their eclectic, vibrant but mostly country music pouring out through the open windows. We were able to continue the conversation about how much diversity there is among musical genres as we enjoyed the spontaneity of the day.
I hope you’re able to make it to one of these concerts sometime soon! If you aren’t able to join a group like Southeast Nashville Homeschool Enrichment for a field trip experience like this, you can email the Nashville Symphony’s education department at the link listed on the Young People’s Concerts webstite so you can stay in touch and be regularly informed about the myriad opportunities they provide for a fantastic music education for all of Nashville’s kids. And as always, feel free to reach out to me with questions or feedback by using the contact page and to subscribe to the Nashville Secular Homeschoolers newsletter so you can receive regular, local, secular homeschooling support delivered right to your inbox.
Happy Homeschooling!
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Nashville Secular Homeschoolers 