Local Vocal Chord Bowl on April 7 at 7 PM

Mark your calendars for some incredible acapella!

Saturday, April 7

7 PM

Amherst Regional High School

The Local Vocal Chord Bowl takes place at ARHS and features adult, college, and high school acapella groups. It is a joyous intergenerational celebration of making music AND it is a FUNDRAISER for music and arts programs at ARHS and at Northampton High School. In the last three years, the event has raised over $12,000 for the schools.

2018 Talent Showcase THIS Friday, March 23 at 6:30 PM

The 2018 Talent Showcase will take place Friday, March 23, at 6:30 PM in the Fort River gymnasium. 

Proceeds benefit the 5th and 6th Grade Classes. All money raised will stay at Fort River. Donations for adult admission to the show will be accepted at the door and all kids will attend for free! No one will be turned away. 

There is a MANDATORY Dress Rehearsal immediately after school on Thursday, March 22. A few parent volunteers are needed to assist with acts and help keep students focused. Contact Shilpa if you are able to help: shilparph@mac.com.

ATTENTION 5th AND 6th GRADE PARENTS! Click here to donate baked goods or volunteer during the show on Friday. 

Music of the West African Kora at The Jones on April 7

Sean Gaskell will give a performance and educational demonstration on the kora, an ancient 21-stringed harp from West Africa. He will feature traditional songs that are the heart and soul of the kora’s musical repertoire in addition to some of his own personal compositions. The performance will take place at 2:00 pm at the Jones Library in Amherst on Saturday, April 7, 2018.

Sean Gaskell features traditional songs on the 21 stringed West African Kora. The Kora is native to the Mande peoples who live within the countries of Gambia, Senegal, Mali, Guinea, and Guinea Bissau. The music is traditionally played by oral and musical historians known as Griots (Gree-ohs). The Kora is a melodic and seemingly peaceful instrument, which is somewhat contrary to its musical repertoire. Many songs tell ancient stories of war and hardship, while others praise people of high political status and those who helped expand the Mande Empire. While the Kora is only 300 years old, some commonly played songs can be traced back 800 years to the Mande empires’ founding. Gaskell has studied extensively under the instruction of Malamini Jobarteh and Moriba Kuyateh of Brikama, The Gambia, and Kane Mathis of Brooklyn, NY. Gaskell has been featured at numerous festivals in the US, Gambia, and Senegal.

Free and open to the public. For more information about this event, please contact Janet Ryan at 413/259-3223. For more information about the presenter, please visit http://www.seangaskell.com or view video at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OxkfcUeToiI.

2018 Talent Showcase on Friday, March 23, at 6:30 PM

The 2018 Talent Showcase will take place Friday, March 23, at 6:30 PM in the Fort River gymnasium. 

Proceeds benefit the 5th and 6th Grade Classes. All money raised will stay at Fort River. Donations for adult admission to the show will be accepted at the door and all kids will attend for free! No one will be turned away. 

There is a MANDATORY Dress Rehearsal immediately after school on Thursday, March 22. A few parent volunteers are needed to assist with acts and help keep students focused. Contact Shilpa if you are able to help: shilparph@mac.com.

Click here to donate baked goods or volunteer during the show on Friday. 

Notes from the Music Room

Congratulations to Ms. White on her upcoming retirement! The final Chorus Concert last week caps an incredible career and was a cherished evening for everyone in attendance. Fort River students rose to the occasion, delivering a magical performance. Ms. White shared these updates in the recent Principal Newsletter:

Thanks to special funding opportunities, we have been very fortunate to have some fabulous artists come to work with our music classes.  I would like to thank both the Harold Grinspoon Foundation and the Amherst Education Foundation for funding the concert given by the band, Klezamir, on April 28th.  The entire school had prepared for this concert of Yiddish music and culture. The upper grades watched a film about the history of Klezmer, learning how klezmer music has spread throughout the world. Students learned the Israeli dance, Zemir Atik, which they danced at the concert.  Younger grades read the book, "Kugel Valley Klezmer Band," and learned to sing and dance to "Tumbalalaika." The entire school got up and danced to the infectious music, and a good time was had by all! 

I also want to thank the Amherst Education Foundation for funding our district-wide Culture Bearers Project.  Through this grant we were able to bring wonderful artists to each of our district elementary schools.  At Fort River, in addition to hearing Klezamir, students learned about the Yoruba tradition of the talking drum from artist, Champion Bakare.  Children learned to dance and sing, "Kakilambe," a traditional piece of the Baga People. Tashina Bowman and Donovan Riley Robinson came and taught the students how to drum, sing and dance this song of harvest celebration. Fifth and sixth grade classes were treated to an exceptional live jazz concert by the Jeremy Turgeon Quintet.  The entire school community was treated to an evening of beautiful Latin American dance by Grupo Folklorico Tradiciones at our Cultural Heritage Night. In addition, AEF funding enabled us to procure new teaching materials for the Cambodian Afterschool program which happens at all three elementary schools. 

Thanks to AEF and the Harold Grinspoon Foundation, it has been an exceptional year for musical performance and education at Fort River!

Thank you, Mrs. White, Music Teacher

 ♫ ♪ ♫ ♪ ♫ ♪ ♫ ♪ ♫ ♪ ♫ ♪ 

AEF Celebrates Music in our Schools on March 18

SPECIAL GUEST MICHELLE BROOKS-THOMPSON!

AEF is thrilled to announce its spring fundraiser: Music in our Schools!

Saturday, March 18, 2017

6 - 9 pm

Emceed by Performing Arts Department Chair John Bechtold and State Representative Solomon Goldstein-Rose, the evening will be filled with tributes, performances, and wonderful food and drink.

AEF will be giving a special award to ARMS Chorus Director Dave Ranen and lifetime achievement recognitions to all of our district’s music educators, past and present, who have taught for more than 20 years in the schools.

AEF has invited all music educators to be our guests at our event, and is pleased to announce that we will be joined by Fort River Music Teacher Anne White, Crocker Farm Music Teacher Eleanor Lincoln, Wildwood Music Teacher Jacob Brownell, ARHS Chorale teacher Todd Fruth, and retired Band Leader Sue Dunbar. The list is still growing!

Proceeds will support AEF's 2017 excellence grants, with a portion going directly to the ARPS music program.  Tickets can be purchased online at: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/aef-celebrates-music-in-our-schools-tickets-30365825000#tickets or by clicking here.

The event will be held at:  Marriott Center, Campus Center, 11th floor, UMass-Amherst, 1 Campus Center Way, Amherst, MA.

4th Grade Family Dance and Sing Night on February 24th