Every Fall, Musiqa presents our popular “Around the World with Musiqa” as part of The Hobby Center for Performing Arts’ Discovery Series, a free arts education program that brings Houston area school students downtown to experience the performing arts. We perform eight concerts over four days for more than 4,000 students. This year Musiqa was proud the present an evening concert, in collaboration with the Harris County Department of Education and CASE for Kids, for a near-capacity crowd of students and family members in celebration of Lights on Afterschool, a national day of recognition to promote awareness of the need for quality afterschool programs.
“Around the World with Musiqa” celebrates folk music from all over the globe. Throughout the program, we use creative, interactive scenes to help students better understand the ins and outs of recording, arranging, and writing folk music.
Resident Artist and soprano Karol Bennett starts by warming up the audience, before being interrupted by the narrator, Bobby, who is frantically trying to “catch” a folk song with a butterfly net. Karol and Bobby then lead students in singing several folks songs in different languages—Zulu, Portuguese, English, French, and Spanish.
Throughout the program, musical terms such as “color,” from the lyrical violin to the percussive marimba, are reinforced with skits involving the “painting” of the stage, or Bobby as a mad scientist teaching students how to invent/compose their own music. These concepts are carried forward with sing-alongs, Q&A’s, and even Karol and Bobby breaking the fourth wall to interact directly with their audience.
Do you have an interest in arts education? Join us in making sure more students can experience programs like “Around the World!” Donate to Musiqa’s education fund.