It’s been nearly eight weeks since Hurricane Harvey made landfall and inundated metro Houston will record-setting rainfall and flooding. Theatre district venues downtown—the Alley Theater, the Wortham Theater and Jones Hall—were severely damaged.
The Hobby Center for the Performing Arts, Zilkha Hall, the home of Musiqa’s education production, “Around the World with Musiqa”, rebounded from minor flooding.
“While our home for ‘Around the World’ wasn’t damaged enough for us to reschedule or find a new location,” Executive Director Brian Hodge said, “the delayed start to the year has meant schools haven’t had the enough time to get settled in order to register for our production. It’s really been challenging.”
Resident Artist leads a spirited pre-concert workshop at Atherton Elementary
“Around the World with Musiqa” features modern arrangements of folk songs from different cultures to teach a variety of musical concepts to students. Since the students actively participate in the concert by singing along in 5 languages, preparation is key.
“Pre-concert workshops are so vital to the experience,” says Karol Bennett, Musiqa’s resident artist. “I travel to each school and teach the songs to the students and teachers, so they will be ready to have fun at the concert.”
Teaching Artist Chelsea Helm
With a shortened registration and workshop window Musiqa has enlisted the help of another teaching artist, vocalist Chelsea Helm. In the coming weeks Karol and Chelsea will visit the 27 registered schools and give workshops to 3,889 students and teachers.