2011/2012
Continued work for ReMuA (see below)
2010/2011
Continued work for ReMuA (see below)
2009/2010
ReMuA : the Réseau de Musiciens Intervenants en Ateliers
Choeurs à l’Ecole
This project followed on from Etoiles et Voix (mentioned below) and involved 5 Brussels primary schools. Phase I of the project culminated in individual concerts at each of the participating schools. Phase II, in which the children created their own texts that were then set to music by a team of professional musicians, built up to a magnificent concert given in the Brussels Conservatory on May 30th, 2010. The 5 schools (2 of which were trained by me) combined with 3 other schools that have been participating in another ReMuA profect: Orchestres à l’Ecole.
The concert in May was attended by Princess Mathilde. We were subsequently invited, together with some of the participating children, to sing in the presence of Queen Paola in the Serres de Laeken at the prize-giving of the Fondation Reine Paola.
2007/2008
ReMuA : the Réseau de Musiciens Intervenants en Ateliers
Etoiles et Voix.
This year saw the first edition of Sarah Goldfarb’s project Etoiles et Voix. Throughout the school year 2007 – 2008 I have been working within a team of 5 professional singers strengthening music education in Brussels’ primary schools.
Etoiles et Voix was an ambitious and imaginative project that ran alongside this year’s Queen Elisabeth Competition for Voice. It involved 1738 pupils in 9 French-speaking primary schools in Brussels; I was the ‘adopted’ singer for Saint Henri, Woluwe, and Sainte-Marie St. Gilles.
A central idea behind this year’s Etoiles et Voix was to introduce primary school children to opera, and in particular to the repertory being sung during the Queen Elisabeth Competition. Phase I of the project saw the children tackling works by composers such as Mozart, Bizet and Offenbach, in specially adapted arrangements.
In Phase II of the project we led one class of each school through the process of writing their own songs – a major creative effort which resulted in some excellent new works.
The project culminated in two concerts given in the Théâtre Marni, Ixelles, and the Maison du Peuple, St Gilles, in April and May.
Etoiles et Voix was a huge undertaking for everyone involved and demanded a great investment of time and energy from both the pupils and teachers. For me the results clearly reflect that effort. I was impressed with the obvious improvement, notably in listening and tone pitching, by the end of the project. My thanks to all concerned for your hard work and enthusiasm, and I look forward to a successive project in schools in Brussels, Liège and Namur next year.
Photos by R. Noviello
