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VIRGINIA CHAMBER ORCHESTRA
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Originally targeted to public school students, this program was subsequently requested for broadcast to all community colleges nationwide, via an uplink at George Mason University's Capitol Connection. The Claude Moore Charitable Foundation bestowed a special grant in 2010 enabling a free streaming video of the Jefferson program around the clock for eleven months. Produced by the Fairfax Network.
Time: 75 minutes (original version) / 40 minutes (edited version)
Watch the streaming video (40 min.)
Lesson Plans |     | VEMEA Lesson Plans |     | Student Activity Guide |
Thomas Jefferson Paragraph |     | Essay Assessment |     | Theme from Symphony No. 94 |
Word Find |     | Word Find Solution |     | Word Find Double Puzzles |
Recorder Fingering Chart |     | Recorder Performance Assessment |     |
The Virginia Chamber Orchestra, supplemented by additional instruments, performs selections that transport students to sites including Mount St. Helens, the Grand Canyon, the Mississippi River, and the Appalachian Mountains.
Studio guests discuss the physical and cultural features of each region and how those sights and sounds inspired American composers. Live in the studio, students demonstrate percussion instruments used in the musical examples.
Joseph McLellan, the late chief music critic at The Washington Post, called this a marvelous enhancement of two subjects by having them interact. Produced by the Fairfax Network.
Time: 45 minutes
Watch the streaming video
Student Activity Guide
Introduction to teacher-made lessons
Lessons by Cynthia Carlton:
    Wonders of Geography Music Lessons
    Musical Examples
    Create Your Own Region
Lessons by Debra Lindsay
    Lesson Plans
    Father of the Waters Arrangement
    Simple Gifts Recorder Fingering
    Simple Gifts Orff Arrangement
    Simple Gifts Song Sheet
    Simple Gifts Song Sheet
    Vocal Performance for Simple Gifts
    Father of the Waters midi file
FCPS Video Store (link will open in a new browser window)
I Heard That! Listening to Classical Music
In response to a request communicated by the Fairfax Network for a program focusing entirely on music appreciation, this program was designed especially for the youngest public school students. Their older peers, who introduce students to Mozart, Haydn, and Bach, provide all narration. They learn about accents, major and minor scales, and how composer Joseph Haydn would surprise his audiences!
Students and budding musicians develop an appreciation for classical music as the Virginia Chamber Orchestra performs excerpts from major works by the composers. The program is structured so that it can be used in segments as well as in its entirety. Spoken material, musical examples, and award-winning graphics illustrate basic musical concepts. Produced by the Fairfax Network.
Time: 30 minutes
Watch the streaming video
Student activity guide for I Heard That!
    Lesson Plans
FCPS Video Store (link will open in a new browser window)
History Notes: The Music of Washington's World
Students discover the music of Pre-Revolutionary America that reflects the Colonists growing revolt against the tyranny of England as well as the traditional songs of African slaves. They hear music written about George Washington and learn the music that George Washington would have heard on the battlefields and in the ballroom.
Student hosts travel to such 18th century sites as Gadsbys Tavern for an 18th century ball and a conversation with General Washington; Pohick Church to hear 18th century hymns sung by the West Potomac High School Colonial Singers; and Mount Vernon where the United States Army Old Guard introduces them to music as a form of communication on the battlefields of the American Revolution.
The Virginia Chamber Orchestra performs concert music popular in Washington's time. Historians David Hildebrand and Larry Earl introduce students to a new understanding of 18th century America revealed through music. Produced by the Fairfax Network.
Time: 45 minutes
Watch the streaming video
Lesson Plans by Debra Lindsay (grades 4-7, adaptable for grade 8)
    Lesson Plans    Lesson Materials    "Air" from Water Music Lesson
Lesson Plans by Cynthia Carlton (grades 6-9, adaptable for grade 5)
    Lesson Plans
    Choral Score for Chester
    Crossword Puzzle
    Double Puzzle
    Lyric Sheet Assignment
    JW Pepper
Mt. Vernon partnership page (link will open in a new browser window)
FCPS Video Store (link will open in a new browser window)
Music in the Life of President Lincoln
Music in the Life of President Lincoln illustrates what Lincolns musical preferences and experiences reveal about him as a man and a leader, and about his vision for music as a way to reunite the country after the Civil War. Opera excerpts, folk music, patriotic melodies and spirituals are performed by the Virginia Chamber Orchestra led by Music Director David Grandis. The all-professional orchestra is joined by soprano Meghan McCall, the Alexandria Choral Society, and the Grand Contraband Jubilee Singers.
Time: 39 minutes
Watch the streaming video
Study Guide
    Lesson Plans
    Teacher Guide
    Overview