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DATE: October 9, 2008 MEDIA CONTACT: Cathy Farmer
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE cfarmer@pamusacad.org
717-399-9733Pennsylvania Academy of Music Announces
New Course OfferingsLancaster, Pa. – Early music, recorder, percussion, choral and orchestra conducting, and jazz are new course offerings in the 2008-09 curriculum at the Pennsylvania Academy of Music. These classes join the Academy’s comprehensive education agenda which already includes an early development program, applied lessons, chamber music, choral program, composition and theory classes, performance training, master classes, and a pre-collegiate certificate program.
Early music and recorder classes will be taught by Rainer Beckmann, founding member of Ensemble La Bernardinia and director of the Greater Philadelphia Recorder Academy. Early music ensembles will focus on Renaissance and Baroque music performed on original or replica instruments including the harpsichord, recorder, and viola da gamba. Recorder classes, designed for children seven to nine years of age, include individual coaching, group lessons, and ensemble participation. Private lessons on the recorder also are offered for students of all ages.
Instruction in percussion instruments is offered by new faculty member Stephen Goss. He teaches new and advanced students all facets of percussion including tympani, marimba, and ensemble performance. Mr. Goss holds Performer/Educator endorsements with innovative percussion and sabian cymbals.
Courses in choral and orchestra conducting are offered with Dmitry Shmelov, who previously served as conductor for Glinka State Capella, a celebrated Russian choir dating back to 1479. Students will develop theoretical and practical skills in either group or individual lessons.
A comprehensive jazz class for instrumentalists is being taught by Mark Huber, an Academy faculty member and well-known area jazz pianist. Classes begin with an appreciation of the history and evolution of jazz. Hands-on instruction and performance elements are added later in the course.
The Pennsylvania Academy of Music is a non-profit pre-collegiate institution dedicated to the musical advancement of its students. Founded in 1990, the Academy attracts students from an immediate nine-county area as well as from around the world, who study disciplines ranging from instrumental, chamber music, orchestra, opera and vocal performance to music composition and theory, improvisation, accompanying ,jazz and recording. The Academy has a widely accomplished international faculty and is one of only 12 autonomous pre-collegiate music schools in the country accredited by the National Association of Schools of Music.
