Program teaches children the classics

By Andrew Junker, The Catholic Sun
April 19, 2007

To an outsider, the scene that played out April 4 at Xavier College Preparatory was surprising.

More than 1,200 young students from the Valley’s Catholic schools sat transfixed, watching the stage as a soprano from Arizona State University’s school of music sang Mozart’s famous “Queen of the Night” aria from his opera “The Magic Flute.”

When the singer reached the highest notes in the piece’s melody, the students’ faces broke into smiles of disbelief that anyone’s voice could produce such a sound.

The song ended to the students’ energetic clapping and cheering.

Few people might predict that a centuries’ old song whose lyrics are in German could elicit such an attentive and appreciative response from small children.

But the students, who all participate in the diocese’s Katzin Classical Music program, are growing up with classical music and find nothing odd about it. Artists like Mozart or Schubert are second nature to them.

“This is extraordinary music,” said Betsy Sherf, diocesan director of the program. “The children can connect to this.”

She said the program was started five years ago through the generous endowment of local Catholic David Katzin. His love of classical music compelled him to fund a program that could introduce the music to young children.

Katzin approached Catholic schools Superintendent MaryBeth Mueller with the idea.

“Immediately, there was great enthusiasm. It was decided that his endowment would be made available for the five inner-city Catholic schools,” Sherf said, listing St. Agnes, St. Gregory, St. Catherine of Siena, St. Matthew and St. Vincent de Paul as the program’s first participants.

St. Thomas Aquinas and St. John Vianney schools were more recently added to the roster.

The program — which is taught by the student’s classroom teacher — uses a curriculum called “Themes to Remember.” Everyday, they listen to a brief theme from standard classical pieces, hear about the composer’s life, view a portrait of him and learn about the environment in which the work was written.

The curriculum makes use of little mnemonic lyrics to help the students remember which composer wrote what. For instance, over the iconic first bars of Beethoven’s 5th Symphony, the children sing, “Beethoven’s fiiiiiifth. Beethoven’s fiiiiiiifth.”

“So they hear it, they know it and they’re never going to forget who wrote it,” Sherf said.

Beyond broadening the students’ horizons by offering them something other than the pop musician du jour, the program has had other beneficial effects.

“As we developed the program we realized that the children were loving this. It was a day brightener for them,” Sherf said.

“It was beginning to have an interesting effect in the classroom. As the years went by, we were seeing that their grades were rising a little. It was also calming classrooms,” she said.

These ancillary benefits are consistent with recent studies suggesting that classical music can help order the brain and wire it for higher learning, Sherf said.

“It’s really a good experience,” said Deanna Bleyl, a fourth-grade teacher at St. Catherine of Siena. “The kids love it. They’re really interested and they really join in with it.”

To facilitate this active learning, each classroom has an electric keyboard with headphones. The students are allowed time to play with it, exploring the different sounds and maybe even composing something themselves.

Each year, the students attend a few live performances together. The concert at Xavier was the largest endeavor to date. Every seat was filled for the hour-plus concert that included classical instrumentals, jazz and African folk music played on xylophone-like instruments.

David Katzin said he was surprised by the overwhelmingly positive response the program has received. He attended the recent concert and scores of students and teachers alike thanked him for making the program a reality.

“I expected some resistance from the children,” Katzin said. “But we haven’t heard one word in a disparaging way about the program. I’m just delighted in the way it’s all worked out.”

He hopes that the program will teach the students to appreciate music that is longer and more complicated — but, he argued, ultimately more rewarding — than the 30-second sound-bytes played on MTV.

“If you wait to give it to them in high school, it’s too late,” Katzin said, noting that it’s more difficult to foster a love of classical music in a teen already formed by popular culture than to offer it to a child, who can grow up with the music naturally.

The program has its work cut out for it, as younger and younger children continue to own iPods and ape the styles and movements of this year’s American Idol contestants at school talent shows.

But the response given to a Mozart aria is a sign of the program’s positive impact, and one that might be seen more often in the future.

“I want the program in all the schools,” Katzin smiled.