HSLBA Programs
In-School "I Love Music"
This is an award-winning, comprehensive music education for all the students in CCISD elementary schools.
At school, first graders are shown a puppet show which teaches the four families of instruments which make up a symphony orchestra. The participants in this show are HSLBA member-volunteers.
Brian del Signore, principal percussionist with the Houston Symphony further develops the roles of instruments in the symphony orchestra in an entertaining performance for second graders at their schools.
Third and fourth graders are entertained and educated with performances by ensembles of professional wind and brass musicians, who come to their schools.
Fifth graders are bussed to Jones Hall for a performance by the Houston Symphony Orchestra.
-
Concerto Competition
For over 50 years the Houston Symphony League’s Concerto Competition has been a major educational and artistic experience for advanced student instrumentalists in the Houston metropolitan area. The mission of the Competition is to identify gifted young musicians and encourage them to aspire to the highest levels of performing excellence by providing an evaluation forum of distinguished professional musicians.
Houston Symphony League Bay Area awards a $1000.00 cash prize to the first place musician. In addition, members provide lunch for judges and volunteers. -
Maestro the Magnificent Puppet Show
For many years HSLBA members have been volunteer puppeteers to educate while entertaining the first graders in all the CCISD Elementary Schools.
A dog, a giraffe, a hippopotamus and a monkey represent the four families of instruments in a symphony orchestra: the strings, the woodwinds, the brass and the percussion. The conductor is a temperamental lion. A narrator and a demonstrator interact with the puppets and with the children in the audience. One or both of them show and play, is they are able, on a collection of instruments. This season we have new instruments, which are displayed on stands and tables beside the puppet stage. The narrator and demonstrator show large pictures of instruments, not on display. The narrator operates a disc player, which is part of a sound system, also new this year. Short selections of music, featuring each instrument family are played, and the show ends with a full orchestra selection. The script can be as short as half an hour, but is usually somewhat longer. If there is enough time after the show, the children can inspect and handle the instruments, and actually play the percussion instruments.
A driver, who may also be a puppeteer, with a large car or van, picks up the puppet show equipment from a storage locker and drives to the scheduled elementary school. After they check in to the school office, the puppeteers go to the assigned room, and assemble the stage, framed in PVC pipe and covered in red fabric. There is a painted diagram of an orchestra below the stage opening. The puppets appear before a black curtain, which hides the puppeteers.
A large number of people work in these puppet shows, so they meet and perform with a variety of fellow participants. Before each show, they decide the roles each will perform and pass out the scripts and puppets. Each performance is unique. There are shows in both English and Spanish at McWhirter and
There was a very good puppeteer training session on September 17, 2009. It was an opportunity to learn about the new sound system and admire a few of the new instruments. Some newcomers did very well putting on a show. If you missed this training and are interested in participating in this rewarding activity, contact Pat Biddle, 281 488 2346. She schedules participants for each show. On the job training works very well.
-
Imagination Celebration
In the fall, Imagination Celebration is an all-day Saturday event to celebrate the visual and performing arts, held at
-
Sounds Like Fun
In the spring, Sounds Like Fun is a series of free concerts by the Houston Symphony at various venues around the city, directed toward families with children. The symphony brings a collection of musical instruments, which are displayed on tables for the children to handle and play before the concert. At the concerts in our area, HSLBA volunteers preside over the tables and help the children enjoy the instruments. Also, HSLBA contributes financially toward the costs of the Sounds Like Fun concerts.
-
Note-Ables (Like To Sing? Come Join Our Group)
If you like to sing, you will like singing with the Note-Ables. We are a community service group of 26 singers who provide musical programs for clubs & organizations, nursing & retirement homes, church groups, and Rotary clubs among others. We have performed at M.D. Anderson twice and will be performing again this year at the Rotary International House for patients and their families; three times at UTMB in Galveston; twice in Jones Hall lobby prior to the symphony concert and will be there again this year (we get a county bus to take us in for these performances); and twice for events sponsored by the City of Nassau Bay.
We sing Broadway tunes, golden oldies, Christmas carols, Irish tunes, patriotic tunes, including songs for all branches of service; folk songs and some hymns.
Our Director is Carol Barwick, a retired teacher of choral music and school choir director at
We are sponsored by the Houston Symphony League Bay Area and we are a group of singers, primarily from church choirs, who are interested in community service. There are no auditions – you want to join in the fun with us, you’re welcome whether or not you are a member of the Symphony League – That is not a requirement!
If you are interested in joining or in coming to one of our rehearsals and checking us out, please contact Jo Anne Mills at 281-286-3171 for information.