TSO EDUCATION AND OUTREACH PROGRAMMES
"My favourite music used to be rap, but when the TSO came to my class it changed to classical."
– Dylan, grade 4 student.
In addition to providing over 100 concert performances, the TSO serves the community with one of the largest educational programmes in Canada, connecting students throughout Ontario with curriculum-based outreach.
IN SCHOOL PROGRAMMES
Adopt-A-Player
This popular and innovative programme teams a class of Grade 4 and 5 students with a TSO musician over a six-week period. Using a piece of music from the TSO’s current season, musicians specially coached to work with young students in the classroom help students understand the compositional process by exploring the different elements of music, eventually resulting in the creation of a new piece of music, which is performed for parents and other students participating in the programme.
Funded by the Toronto Symphony Volunteer Committee, this experience has a powerful impact on how young people listen to and understand orchestral music.
The Adopt-A-Player programme is generously supported by Scotiabank Group and the JP Morgan Chase Foundation.
TSO Preludes
In the TSO Preludesprogramme, small ensembles of TSO musicians perform in schools for students from Kindergarten to Grade 8. These interactive and entertaining performances incorporate story-telling and instrument demonstrations, in a programme of fun and age-appropriate music.
Thanks to a subsidy from the Music Performance Fund, programme fees are just $1 to $2 per student, allowing TSO Preludes musicians to visit over 20,000 young people in their schools each year. Students outside the Toronto area also get a chance to participate in this programme when the Orchestra takes the TSO Preludes programme on tour.
The Preludes programme is generously supported by the Patrick and Barbara Keenan Foundation and National Bank Financial Group.
Masterclasses
In this programme aimed at high school music students, members of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra coach student musicians in high school bands and orchestras. Drawing on their own professional expertise, TSO musicians lead intensive masterclasses coaching aspiring young musicians on performance technique, or working with them on specific repertoire.
PROGRAMMES AT ROY THOMSON HALL
Student Concerts
The Student Concerts series has the largest reach of all the TSO’s educational programmes, bringing 24 engaging, curriculum-based performances to over 65,000 young people every year. In consultation with school music coordinators, TSO education staff design the Student Concerts to help teachers deliver the Ontario music curriculum at each level. Four different programmes address the learning needs of Primary (Kindergarten to grade 4), Junior (Grade 4 – 6), Intermediate/Senior (Grade 7-12), and French-language students.
The concerts are entertaining yet firmly based on educational concepts. Classroom resources such as study guides, podcasts, and CDs help teachers to use this experience to help deliver the Ontario music curriculum.
Student Concerts are supported by TD Canada Trust and Gert Wharton.
Morning with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra
Morning with the TSO allows small groups of advanced high school music students access to TSO rehearsals to listen and learn from professional musicians as they watch the Orchestra prepare for an upcoming performance.
The session begins with an informative talk by one of the dedicated Toronto Symphony Volunteer Committee members. Perched in the choir loft above and around the orchestra, students then get a bird’s-eye view of the musicians, and a chance to watch their favourite section at work, often alongside world-class guest artists.
During the rehearsal break, a TSO musician or guest artist speaks with the students, answering their many questions regarding the music, rehearsal technique, or even life as a professional musician.
The Morning with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra programme is generously supported by Ernst and Young LLP.
OUTREACH PROGRAMMES
How the Gimquat Found Her Song
How the Gimquat Found Her Song is an educational resource package intended to assist teachers in delivering the new 2009 provincial music curriculum. These resource materials contain an award-winning DVD of a children's symphonic performance by the TSO, a compact disc of accompanying musical excerpts, and an in-depth Study Guide. These materials were developed by the TSO in partnership with Platypus Theatre, Oz Media, and Connexionarts. In September 2009, the TSO made How the Gimquat Found Her Song available to over 400 elementary schools in Northern Ontario as part of the orchestra’s annual Northern Residency.
Toronto Symphony Youth Orchestra
The Toronto Symphony Youth Orchestra (TSYO) is one of Canada's largest youth orchestras, providing a high-level orchestral experience for talented young people aged 22 and under. The TSYO programme provides a unique and powerful life-enriching experience encouraging participants to high achievement no matter what career path they pursue. The TSYO has a close affiliation with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra: TSO musicians serve as coaches throughout the season; TSO Guest Artists lead masterclasses for TSYO members; and the TSYO performs annually with the TSO in a side-by-side concert at Roy Thomson Hall.
The TSYO is led by conductor Alain Trudel and coached by TSO musicians Keith Atkinson (TSYO Woodwind Coach), Harcus Hennigar (TSYO Brass Coach)Young-Dae Park (TSYO Violin Coach), Daniel Blackman (TSYO Viola Coach), David Hetherington (TSYO Cello Coach), Paul Rogers (TSYO Double Bass Coach), and David Kent (TSYO Percussion Coach).
The Toronto Symphony Youth Orchestra is proudly supported by CIBC.
TSO NORTHERN RESIDENCY
Since 2005, the TSO has departed each September for a five-day residency tour with a strong educational focus. These Ontario tours have taken the orchestra musicians to Sault Ste. Marie, Sudbury, Timmins, North Bay, Sarnia, and Thunder Bay. Since 2005, over 40,000 students have benefited from the outreach educational activity.
The Orchestra performs one public concert in each city, as well as several student concerts in both French and English. With the tour’s main focus revolving around educational events, the TSO’s education team works closely with local arts coordinators to deliver high quality educational programming, including in-school performances and workshops, masterclasses for high school bands and orchestras, and intimate conductor and composer chats.
In September 2010, TSO Music Director Peter Oundjian conducts the Toronto Symphony Orchestra in North Bay and Timmins.
The Toronto Symphony Northern Residency is proudly supported by RBC Financial Group.
The TSO thanks the Ontario Trillium Foundation and the Ontario Arts Council for their support.