St. Philip's students gain exposure to musical artists through Class Notes program
May 14—BEMIDJI — St. Philip's
music teacher Susan Baird kept her eyes peeled for ways to engage her students during the coronavirus pandemic.
With restrictions on in-person learning, Baird sought a resource that would aim to counteract learning loss and heighten engagement in her classes while distance learning was in place.
"I was searching for something to send out to the kids, and when we came back to school, we weren't allowed to sing or play or anything," Baird said. "I had used Class Notes a lot during that time."
A branch of
YourClassical MPR, Class Notes
provides free K-12 classroom resources and concerts as a way to engage students as well as teachers throughout their work.
"We exist to be a service to music educators," MPR's Aerin O'Malley said, detailing two main services the program offers. "We have our lesson library where we have music educators write music lessons that are free for other music educators to use, then we have our concerts."
Class Notes concerts involve around 15 Minnesota-based ensembles who embark on musical tours within the state. Offering these services for free is indicative of the program's commitment to accessibility, O'Malley explained.
"Everything we do is totally free to schools and teachers," O'Malley said. "A lot of students don't get to see live concerts as that's something that usually costs money. Maybe they don't live in a family that thinks to go to concerts, especially these younger kids who are pandemic babies. Some of them are seeing live music for the first time in their schools."
For what's believed to be St. Philip's first Class Notes concert, the harp-flute duo e(L)ement performed for students on Friday, tying in lessons about their instruments and musicality in between pieces.
During their push to visit greater Minnesota schools, the duo ended their tour in Bemidji following stops in East Grand Forks and Thief River Falls. O'Malley added that Class Notes arranges roughly six tours every year to reach schools outside of the metro.
"We're normally just in the Twin Cities, so it's been great. I, for one, have not been this far up into Minnesota before," harpist Mallory McHenry said. "The students were wonderful to play for today and we've had a great time being by the water, learning about the city. It's been really nice."
The pair have been involved with Class Notes for roughly four years, giving them a full-circle view of the return to in-person learning and concert experiences.
"We were able to do some really creative work with (Class Notes) at the height of the pandemic when we couldn't be in the classroom," McHenry added. "It's nice to be able to have that in-person experience with the kids while we're here."
Flutist Karen Baumgartner expounded on the support given to students as well as the performers themselves throughout their excursions.
"The students are the focus of the whole program, but as artists, we're also very well supported," Baumgartner noted. "This brings our performing and educating sides together, which is pretty unique. It's great to bring them together and I always love interacting with the kids because they're so eager to learn."
Bringing her prior Class Notes connection to her stomping grounds provided an ecstatic twist to Baird's day on Friday as students walked away with a bit more musical knowledge.
"I'm super excited that they can come here now and share their music with us in a live setting," Baird left off. "I hope students take away that music is fun, interesting and beautiful."
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