Education and Community Outreach
Through in-person and virtual presentations of period instruments, performance, and culture, we strive to demystify the music of the Renaissance, Baroque, and Classical periods while addressing key subject areas such as social-emotional learning, language arts, math, science, social studies, and ESL. Interactive programs that utilize both presentation and inquiry-based learning can be used in class, as take-home assignments, or as group projects. For more information, please email Emma Wine, Operations & Outreach Manager, at ewine@arslyricahouston.org.
Ars Lyrica Houston partners with Arts Connect Houston to bring its programming to Houston schools and communities.
Recent Programs
Thursday, October 13 at 6:30 PM
Maria’s Magical Music Adventure - Live reading with music
Children’s Museum Houston, 1500 Binz St, Houston, TX 77004
Presented as part of Free Family Night for Hispanic Heritage Month at Children’s Museum Houston, ALH presents a live reading of our newest children's book, Maria's Magical Music Adventure, in Spanish and English and accompanied by live music for solo viola. Featuring narrators Emma Kent Wine and Verónica Romero and violist Lauren Ross.
Our Programs
Musical Detectives
K-2nd grade virtual fieldtrip
Take your students on a virtual field trip while embedding social-emotional learning into your music room.
Explore the connection between emotions and music with Ars Lyrica Houston’s Musical Detectives educational program. This suite of lessons provides a comprehensive general music experience that includes singing, movement, listening, playing instruments, iconic rhythm reading, and basic composition. Using a range of activities, students will express, classify, and create musical experiences to demonstrate the four emotions of happiness, sadness, anger, and fear. Teachers can use these lessons as they are presented or pull individual activities creating a “plug and play” bank of activities to embed social-emotional learning into their curriculum all year long.
The K-2nd Grade Musical Detectives curriculum is available for $20 through the Music ConstructED website. Downloadable content includes lesson plans, accompanying projectable visuals, and the professionally-recorded virtual fieldtrip:
Video timestamps & summaries
2 music scores
Worksheet
6 complete 45-minute lesson plans
64 classroom visuals
PPT and PDF Format
The 3rd-5th Grade Musical Detectives curriculum is currently being built and will be available soon!
Orígenes
K-2nd grade and 3rd-5th grade virtual field trip (bilingual)
The Orígenes: K-2nd Grade and Orígenes: 3rd-5th Grade curriculums are currently being built by Music ConstructED and will be available soon!
Orígenes is a virtual, bilingual program that introduces students from 1st to 5th grade to early vocal literature and period instruments with an emphasis on Spanish and Latin American cultures. This program, curated by mezzo-soprano Cecilia Duarte and percussionist Jesús Pacheco, features impassioned vocal works accompanied by historical percussion and guitars. While examining the different roles in a classical music ensemble, Orígenes connects students to the musical heritage of Spain and Latin America.
Orígenes engages students with:
Two targeted videos, one catered to the needs of students in grades K-2nd and another for grades 3-5
A comprehensive introduction to classical music performance, covering a wide range of topics from studying historical sources to collaborating within a team
The voices and music of Mexico-born mezzo-soprano Cecilia Duarte and Spanish percussionist Jesús Pacheco, along with guitarist Bruce Brogdon
An exploration of each set of instruments on the program: human voice, three percussion instruments, and two guitars
Six passionate, exciting, and diverse works from Baroque composers of Spain and Latin America
Professional audio and video engineering to bring students closer to the music and performers
The Orígenes: K-2nd Grade and Orígenes: 3rd-5th Grade curriculums are currently being built by Music ConstructED and will be available soon!
Musical Storytime
Musical Storytime is an ongoing virtual series. Episodes feature fascinating stories from diverse cultures, narrated in two languages, and accompanied by original music tracks. With over 100 languages spoken and 53 dual-language schools in Houston, this series celebrates the rich cultural and ethnic diversity of our cosmopolitan city.
Episode 1: A Boy Named Giotto
in Spanish & English
Listen in as singer Cecilia Duarte and percussionist Jesús Pacheco tell the story of A Boy Named Giotto, where a gifted shepherd boy learns how to paint magnificent frescoes during the Italian Renaissance. The book is read in both English and Spanish, and Cecy and Jesús accompany the story themselves with Renaissance pieces for voice and percussion.
Episode 2: The Pied Piper of Hamelin
in German & English
The Pied Piper of Hamelin, a folk tale with origins dating back to the Middle Ages, tells the story of the German town of Hamelin, which is infested with rats. The townspeople summon the Pied Piper to get rid of the rats, but the Piper finds their own rat-like nature revealed in their greed. Full of colorful illustrations, the story is accompanied by traditional German folk songs sung by narrator Clara Haymon. The video includes optional subtitles in English and German.
Episode 3: Maria’s Magical Music Adventure
in Spanish & English
Maria meets Matthew the musical magician, and the two travel back in time almost 300 years to meet Antonio Vivaldi. Next stop: Venice, Italy! Rooted in the music of Antonio Vivaldi, the story is accompanied by original music and arranged excerpts from The Four Seasons played by string quartet. The video includes optional subtitles in English and Spanish.
Virtual Education Suite
The ALH Virtual Education Suite includes interactive, engaging lessons that use music as the lens to learn history, language arts, science, movement and more. Experienced teaching artists amplify the emotional content of Baroque music to enhance social-emotional learning and encourage viewers to think critically and engage with the material in innovative ways.
Some lessons come with supplementary materials, while others tell stories, engage viewers to learn about historical music and culture, or present masterclasses with Ars Lyrica artists. Click below to be redirected to our Virtual Education Suite webpage, where you will find more than 15 free educational segments.
Community Outreach
In addition to its subscription series in Zilkha Hall and school outreach activities, Ars Lyrica provides performances throughout the Houston community. Ars Lyrica's outreach initiative is aligned with its mission to revive important musical works and practices. Through presentations of period instruments and demonstrations of historical performance practices, we strive to demystify the music of the Renaissance, Baroque, and Classical periods.
An ongoing partnership with the Museum of Fine Arts has led to performances and lectures at MFAH facilities (including Bayou Bend, Rienzi, and MFAH main galleries) that complement visual art exhibitions.
Through joint events and cross-promotion with partners including Harmony in the Air, Houston Methodist Hospital's Center for Performing Arts Medicine, MD Anderson Cancer Center, Texas Children’s Hospital, Houston Early Music Festival, Theater District Open House, Discovery Green, Foreign Consulates, and Heights Kids’ Day of Music, Ars Lyrica continues to reach out to new and diverse audiences and make a significant impact on the community. For more information on community outreach, please contact Emma Wine, Operations & Outreach Manager, at ewine@arslyricahouston.org.
Testimonials
From patrons
“Jesús did a wonderful job of connecting the history to the music, and the songs were excellent choices. Jesús, Cecy, and Pedro were flexible with the crowd as it was a mix of young and old and I feel they gave everyone the attention they needed.”
“Ars Lyrica provided a professional, high quality performance featuring talent and creative content unlike anyhting else that could be found in the area. As an organization, Ars Lyrica was easy to work with, and the program participants provided an excellent experience for the museum’s guests. Thanks for providing a fantastic program!”
““The quality of the experience was enhanced by the performers and their obvious commitment to the music and their joy in sharing what they played so emotively. “”
“We’re so pleased for Ars Lyrica and its growing success under your direction and Matthew’s phenomenal talent. It’s a joy to see and hear!”
From teachers
“The musicians were fantastic! Great music, instruments and interaction. Many thanks for coming! Look forward to seeing you again.”
“I love that the kids have the opportunity to move and dance to the music. The kids really enjoy being able to touch the instruments. The use of “period” vocabulary is great! I wish we had more time! I can’t imagine a better presentation. ”
“The presentation was interactive and engaged the kids with questions and songs, and the connections made between music and the imagination was great. How you connected modern music to older music and how you encouraged appreciate for different kinds of music was really nice. ”
“The musicians were not only knowledgeable about the subjeect, but were able to relate to the students very well. I enjoyed the fact that they broke up the speaking sections with performances & also took turns describing their role in the ensemble. The best part of the exposure the students are getting to that type of music.”
“It was very interactive which kept the student interest level the entire time. The story telling component was fabulous.”
