You could feel the excitement in the air at Wednesday’s Lower School Spring Concert, What is a River? Dr. Katy Nichols, Lower School Music Teacher, was inspired to write the program because she loved the meaning of the word Missouri, «town of the large canoes,” and how three major rivers (the Mississippi, the Missouri, and the Meramec) flow through the St. Louis region.
Dr. Nichols discussed the idea with Nicole Liebman, Lower School Library Associate, who found a lovely book, What is a River?, by Monika Vaicenaviciene. Dr. Nichols wrote the script based on the book and then researched songs that would be appropriate for each of the Lower School grade levels. Sarah Garner, Lower School Visual Arts Teacher, worked with students to make fish for the program, happily guiding them to create colorful props.
Students sang about rivers and spending time with family at the fishing hole. JK students sang wholeheartedly on Floatin’ Down the Mississippi and the folk song, Peace Like A River. First and second graders brought down the house with Meet Me At the Fishin’ Hole and the hilarious traditional Crawdad Song, with students acting out crawdads onstage. Third- and fourth-grade students sang in harmony on the opening number, Discovery, and the beautiful Fly Away Home, where their voices soared to mimic flying.
Second, third, and fourth graders arranged their instrument pieces for the program. Second graders wrote the lyrics to Fish Are Swimming, which featured all three of the St. Louis region’s rivers. They arranged a lovely melody on the instruments and paired with the first graders to have fish swimming on all parts of the stage. Third Graders arranged The Fish Orff Piece. They wrote variations on the melodic theme and chose which instruments would play each part. They also decided which parts they wanted to play for the program and whether they would be an instrumentalist or a fish swimming across the stage.
Fourth-grade students learned the melody on the soprano recorder for the Latin piece Wakilah, which means precious stone. “This was a very tricky piece with a syncopated Latin accompaniment,” said Dr. Nichols. Along with the recorder, students learned parts for the conga drum, the clave, the bass drum, and how to dance in a conga line. “This was the first time for many of the students to experience playing a Latin piece and to do a conga line,” Dr. Nichols said. “Students who wanted a challenge learned to play the harmony part on the recorder as well as the glockenspiel. It was a fun, collaborative effort!” she added.
The students ended the performance with JK through fourth grade singing The Boat Song, which featured how we «belong together.» It was a special evening that highlighted the musical skills of the children. The program acknowledged how we are part of the MICDS community, along with a celebration of our local rivers in the St. Louis region.
Dr. Nichols is very proud of her students and congratulates them, “Bravo, Lower School Musicians! I cannot wait until we meet together again at the fishin’ hole!”