Going Wild in New Brunswick

 
The Ensemble seeks to connect and inform all people who are committed to ensemble music education for youth empowerment and social change.
 
The Ensemble Newsletter

Regions

Africa

Asia/Oceania

Europe

Latin America

North America

Topics

Teaching & Learning

Program Design

Student Voice & Leadership

Community Building

Collaborations

Funding & Support

Perspectives & Collective Action

News & Resources

Going Wild in New Brunswick

Larry Matthews, freelance writer with a long association with the New Brunswick Youth Orchestra

10-02-2024

Performers and stage set for Wild Symphony. Photo: Maurice Henri.

The 1,500-strong audience in eastern Canada’s Moncton, New Brunswick erupted with a roar of approval. 

They were applauding the Sistema New Brunswick (Sistema NB) Children’s Orchestra, 110 musicians ages 9-14. But the performance of Tchaikovsky’s Marche Slave was only the warmup.

Soon, Dan Brown walked on stage. A world-famous author of bestselling novels such as The Da Vinci Code, Brown is also a composer. In 2020, he released a new work, Wild Symphony.

The work introduces children to classical music through whimsical musical portraits of animals. Brown created Wild Symphony to inspire a love for music in young audiences. An illustrated companion book includes a poem about each animal written by Brown and emphasizing teamwork, kindness, and the beauty of the natural world.

In recognition of the nature of the music and the opportunity, the New Brunswick Youth Orchestra (NYBO) made a pivotal decision to tap their younger musicians to perform this work.

Author Dan Brown narrating as Sistema New Brunswick Children’s Orchestra plays Wild Symphony. Photo: Maurice Henri

Therefore, the orchestra for “Wild Symphony” was recruited by audition from Sistema NB classrooms. The children performed four times during the week of June 11, 2024. Brown and his colleagues traveled to New Brunswick, where he read the animal poems on stage as part of the performance.

Almost 5,000 children in New Brunswick saw Wild Symphony live. An estimated 10,000 children watched a livestream at their schools, through a partnership between Sistema NB and the Department of Education and Early Childhood Development.

“Obviously, Dan Brown’s presence was a huge factor in this success,” says Ken MacLeod, founder of Sistema NB and former CEO of the New Brunswick Youth Orchestra (NBYO), which runs Sistema NB. “He and his team were incredibly generous with their time and engagement with the kids. We are deeply grateful, especially as these were the only North American performances where Mr. Brown participated in person.”

“Until now,” he adds, “Wild Symphony had been performed only by professionals. We could have used either our provincial or regional youth orchestras, with many older youths. Instead, we formed this children’s orchestra. We knew the younger kids had the talent and capacity. We also decided that this would be a show, not a concert. We hired producer Marshall Button and invested in props, décor, graphics, projection, and professionals in lighting, audio, and video.”

The production took full advantage of Brown’s fame. Months of work boosted social media presence and generated extensive local, regional and national media coverage—raising Sistema NB’s profile and showcasing its mission of music for social impact.

Sistema NB Children’s Orchestra performing Wild Symphony along with projected images from Brown’s book. Photo: Maurice Henri

“Then,” adds MacLeod, “we made a priority of getting kids in seats to see other kids—peers, friends, classmates—play amazing music at a high level. I applaud our partner school districts, schools, and teachers who gave thousands of children their first-ever experience of live symphonic music.”

Perhaps most important, Sistema New Brunswick also took the opportunity to deepen its long relationship with the provincial education department by asking them to create a new educational framework so that the learning could continue well beyond the performance, and in contexts other than Sistema NB and the NBYO.

“The education department commissioned curriculum resources based on Wild Symphony that teachers can use for years,” says MacLeod. “We were delighted to help.”

Andrea Gaujacq, a Learning Specialist in Creative Arts, led the way in creating resource bundles that include lesson plans for kindergarten to grade 8, with multiple connections between official learning objectives and the music and poetry of Wild Symphony. “For example,” says Gaujacq, “in a Grade 3 lesson plan, after students listen to one story—say, the one about the Anxious Ostrich—they’re asked: ‘What do you think his environment looks like?’ In response to that question, they’re in their playground finding materials to create their image of that landscape. That’s one way this music can enhance the learning we want for every child.”

A slide presentation makes it easy to play musical segments. Each frame illustrates an animal and includes an embedded audio file. Teachers can read the poems (in French, English, or Wolastoq, the language of the Wabanaki people) and immediately play the music.

The education department also purchased copies of the Wild Symphony book for every school. Readers can scan a QR code in the book, download a Wild Symphony app, and listen to the music as they read.

Finally, the creators of this project are committed to sharing its details with teaching artists in programs across the world. They’ve created a microsite that gives readers access to assets such as the livestream recording of the performance and the lesson plans for Grades K-8 developed by the NB Dept. of Education.

“Teachers know what the kids need,” Gaujacq says. “We wanted to provide idea starters and a flexible resource to help educators do what they do best. To me, the arts—all the arts—are the best way to reach all learners, regardless of their race, or gender, or the language spoken at home . . . to set kids up for success. And Wild Symphony really engages children.”

Kenn Mainville became President and CEO of NBYO in March 2024. He says that Dan Brown and his symphony helped Sistema NB reach a wider audience. “A large number of young children in New Brunswick are performing an extraordinarily high caliber of orchestral music. The world is discovering what has been happening here over the past 15 years.”

Andrea Gaujacq, Arts Integration, Canada, Children's Orchestra, Classical Music for Kids, Creative Arts Curriculum, Curriculum Development, Dan Brown, Educational Partnerships, Ken MacLeod, Larry Matthews, Live Music for Children, Moncton, Music and Literature, Music Education, Music in Schools, Musical Storytelling, NBYO, New Brunswick Youth Orchestra, October 2024, Orchestral Performance, Sistema New Brunswick, Social Impact through Music, Wild Symphony, Youth Orchestras

Related Content

Share

ABOUT US MASTHEAD THE AMBASSADORS THE ARCHIVES SUBSCRIBE CONTACT
© Copyright 2022 Ensemble News