The Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra wrote to let us know that they’ve been sending small ensembles from the orchestra to nursery and elementary schools this year, with 41 schools visited in four days in November, and two more weeks set aside in January and April. In all, over 12,500 young people will have the chance to hear ensembles from the WSO through these programs. “Having these programs in the nurseries and schools opens the door to the symphony world, a world that the kids can enjoy for a long time to come,” says Tanya Derksen, director of Education and Outreach at the WSO. “We’re providing them with a great opportunity to start learning early about symphonic music, the instruments and the musicians that play them, when the kids wouldn’t necessarily get that opportunity, especially at those early ages.” www.wso.ca

Meanwhile, the Windsor Symphony Orchestra has partnered with the Royal Conservatory of Music’s Learning Through the Arts program on a collaborative composition project at three different Windsor-area public schools. Working with WSO music director John Morris Russell, singer/guitarist Ted Lamont and cellist Karen McClellan, grade 4 students from the schools will create a composition based on the Renaissance hit tune, L’homme armé, which will then be arranged for the orchestra by WSO Assistant Conductor Peter Wiebe and presented on education concerts later this spring. Learning Through The Arts is a program administered through the Royal Conservatory of Music and designed to bring artists of all disciplines into partnership with classroom teachers to enliven core curriculum. These grade 4 students will receive instruction in the curriculum Music Expectations integrated with the core subjects including Social Studies (Medieval times), Science (of sound), and Language Arts (writing expectations). For more information about the WSO, please visit: www.windsorsymphony.com

For more information about Learning Through the Arts, please visit www.ltta.ca