Chamber ensemble plans workshops, performance
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. » Carnegie Hall’s Decoda Ensemble will spend some time with students at Saratoga Independent School during an upcoming week-long songwriting workshop, culminating in a local performance at Bethesda Church in downtown Saratoga Springs.
Led by The Decoda Ensemble, the first-ever affiliate chamber ensemble of Carnegie Hall, the composition workshop from Dec. 11 to 15 will focus on songwriting exploring themes of relationships, environment and change.
The project will culminate in a free concert featuring a new, collaboratively composed song, which will include the students performing alongside Decoda artists at 7 p.m. on Friday, Dec. 15 at the Bethesda Church at 41 Washington St. in downtown Saratoga Springs.
Along with the premiere of the student-produced composition, the SPAC @ Bethesda Church program’s finale will be the Decoda Ensemble’s presentation of Wynton Marsalis’ A Fiddler’s Tale Suite.– considered a response to Stravinsky’s famous A Soldier’s Story from the perspective of later twentieth century music, including but not limited to jazz.
This opportunity is presented by a Saratoga Performing Arts Center through its partnership with the Decoda Ensemble. “I have been an admirer of the ground-breaking work of the Decoda Ensemble almost since its inception. Partnering with Decoda here in Saratoga for this special collaboration gives us an exciting opportunity to immerse children into the life-changing benefits that participation in the performing arts brings,” said Elizabeth Sobol, president and CEO of Saratoga Performing Arts Center, in a press release.
Decoda is a New York Citybased modular chamber ensemble dedicated to creating meaningful musical experiences through dynamic performances, education, and a quest for social impact.
More than 70 students in grades one through five at Saratoga Independent School will be mentored by musicians from the Decoda Ensemble to learn how to compose music and enhance their performance skills
based on this year’s school theme: Relationships, Environment, and Change.
The mission of the project is to inspire young minds to learn effective team working skills, discipline, compositional and music production techniques, and creative problem solving. The students will work together to compose and produce an original work that connects with their community.
The residency is part of Saratoga Performing Arts Center’s commitment to youth arts education, which in 2017, reached more than 15,000 young individuals, offered more than 125 classes, presentations, performances, and events, and partnered with more than 70 schools and non-profit organizations across the greater Capital Region.
Tickets to the family-oriented concert on Dec.15 are free, but reservations are strongly recommended.
More information on the workshop and SPAC @ Bethesda Church performance is available online at spac.org.