Local library to host collaborative piano ensemble

MSU.CPs_.voice_.students.jpg [1]

Aaron Mann, Elizabeth Jones, Roxanne Ditto, Allen Sanders and Hollyn White

By KELLY DANIELS
citybeat@bellsouth.net [2]

Next Sunday — Jan. 22 — marks the International Day of Collaborative Music.
And to celebrate, the Starkville Public Library will host a collaborative concert performed by Mississippi State University music students who will play and sing songs based on classic literature.
Intended for an audience of grades three through six, the show will begin at 2:30 p.m. Students performing include Aaron Mann, Elizabeth Jones, Roxanne Ditto, Allen Sanders and Hollyn White.
“I think it’s going to be a really neat hour for the students,” said Dr. Karen Murphy, who teaches the class.
During the show, students will demonstrate concepts of awareness, cooperation and trust.
“We’re going to talk about what it means to collaborate,” Murphy said.
The performers, while enrolled as pianists, are paired with voice and instrumental students for the semester and rehearse, attend lessons and coaching, and also perform for the both the class and a required jury at the end of the semester.
The Music Teachers National Association are proclaiming the Year of Collaborative Music, which launched in March of 2010 in Albuquerque, N.M.
The celebration will officially end in March at the MTNA’s National Conference in Milwaukee, Wis.