3074
Whitney Ave.
Bldg. 2, 2nd Floor
Hamden, CT 06518
phone: 203-230-8101
fax: 203-230-8131
DENNIS WARING
World Music and Culture
Dennis Waring, ethnomusicologist,
music educator, performer, instrument maker, and author of six books,
is proprietor of Waring
Music, providing music resources for a wide variety of applications. He
is a Connecticut Master Teaching Artist and was selected as “Connecticut
State Troubadour” for 2003-2004. Dr. Waring has circumnavigated
the world twice with the University of Pittsburgh’s Semester At
Sea program as shipboard ethnomusicologist. He is presently manufacturing
musical instruments for the classroom and community and performs regularly
with the world music ensemble, Sirius Coyote.
From Trash To Tunes Assembly (Grades K-12)
Music-Science-Fun! Imagine two giant tables covered with magical, mythical,
musical instruments. “From Trash To Tunes” is a
performance of scores of handmade musical instruments based on ideas from
around the world. Dr. Waring weaves tales of the origins of music and
how all cultures through time have built fascinating sound making devices.
Interesting sights, sounds and stories provide students with new insight
into folklore, music, craft, science and world view. Instruments are from
materials which are usually thrown away as trash. Guitars can be made
from plastic containers, sticks and fishing line; sweet sounding flutes
assembled from water pipe; xylophones fashioned using scrap wood and twine;
drums built using tubes and cans.
Length: 45 Minutes
Instrument Making Demonstration
Following the assembly program and prior to the workshop, this “Mr.
Wizard style” presentation shows students how to assemble their
own string, wind or percussion instrument from recycled materials. Length:
30minutes
Single Performance: $515
Pair of Performances: $620
Instrument Making Workshop (Grades 3-12)
Participants build their own individual instruments such as the cardboard
box banjo.
Length: 1 hour, tables and volunteers required Instrument making kits
are also available for independent project activity.
($5 per Student Material Fee)
Extended Residency
Residencies includes sessions involving refining and decorating instruments.
Participants are shown how to hold and play the
instruments they have built. Concepts of tuning, melody, scales, rhythm
and group playing are explained and practiced. Instruments are then coordinated
into small ensembles for performance.
Musical Expeditions (Grades K-12)
Musical Expeditions is a fascinating interactive tour through the musics
of six different world cultures. Indigenous musical
instruments, each culturally unique, are demonstrated through story and
song. Small ensembles of selected participants then engage in instrument
play reflective of each of the culture areas: Native Peoples, Latin America,
Africa, India, China, American Folk music. Designed for smaller audiences,*
this program emphasizes participation for everyone. Length: 1 hour
*For large audiences, this show can also be performed as a two person
ensemble with master musician, Dirck Westervelt. A world
traveler, Dirck has intimate knowledge of and facility with African, Latin,
and Indian musics as well as mastery of American folk and jazz.
Multicultural Presentation (Grades 9-12)
Through fun, informed musical activity featuring the latest techniques
and resources, ethnomusicologist Dr. Dennis Waring
involves participants in song and instrument play representative of three
interconnected cultural traditions: Africa, Cuba, and Brazil. By singing
and drumming traditional music of Africa, playing characteristic Cuban
rhythms, and experiencing the Brazilian samba,
participants will more fully appreciate how four hundred years of intersecting
musical folkways have shaped a large portion of today’s global expressive
culture. Length: 1 Hour
Teacher-In-Service and High School
A TransAtlantic Experience:
Through fun, informed musical activity featuring the latest techniques and resources, ethnomusicologist Dr. Dennis Waring involves participants in song and instrument play representative of three interconnected cultural traditions: Africa, Cuba, and Brazil. By singing and drumming traditional music of Africa, playing characteristic Cuban rhythms, and experiencing the Brazilian samba, participants will more fully appreciate how four hundred years of intersecting musical folkways have shaped a large portion of today’s global expressive culture. This show is intended for small to medium-size groups for maximum participation.
Africa
After an introduction to instruments found in a typical drumming ensemble of West Africa (bells, rattles, various drums), and viewing an introductory video, players will learn simple songs and create traditional polyrhythms characteristic to the culture. A follow-up activity of learning a recreational piece from Ghana called Gahu.
Cuba
Cuba offers the greatest insight of how African music influenced the music of many Latin American countries. By learning about the various percussion instruments in a standard Cuban rhythm ensemble (cowbell, claves, maracas, bongos, conga drums), paraticipants experience through playing how the intricate polyrhythms fit together. Further insight into various styles of Cuban music such as mambo, chachacha, rumba, and santeria, provide special understanding of Cuban culture in general.
Brazil
Brazil is musically noteworthy for the samba. The street samba or batucada samba, heard during the annual Carnival festivities, is most interesting for its special percussion instruments (surdo, reco-reco, ganza, panderio, etc.). Invariably involving song and dance, the samba is known around the world for its intoxicating, driving rhythms and spirit.
Participants will gain:
- A working knowledge of selected world drumming traditions—their history, music literature, and sources in art and folk traditions.
- An awareness of the pluralistic nature of most musical traditions.
-An understanding of various culture’s musical organization form many perspectives: value systems, relationships to language, musical structure, transmission strategies, social hierarchies and, within their socio-cultural contexts, the relationship of music to the other arts, religion, philosophy, and human values.
-An understanding of the fine points of performance, improvisation, and composition in more than one tradition.
-An understanding of the political, social, technological and economic factors which affect the arts in various cultures in order to make informed decisions as listeners, composers, consumers, and/or patrons, taxpayers, and voters.
-An appreciation of classical, folk, tribal and popular musics as essential to a population’s local, regional, national and global identity.
-Development of non-ethnocentric views and positive attitudes regarding diversity issues.
-Recognition of the interconnectedness of all subject disciplines.
CCT Funding Available
Curriculum Connections:
Social Studies, Music, Science
PWRT