Latrobe Art Center offers WQED's new creative music program for kids

Children from kindergarten through grade 4 can explore music in creative ways through a new program from WQED Education.

“Lead With Music” will be held 10 a.m. to noon Monday through Aug. 12 at the Latrobe Art Center, 819 Ligonier St.

Participants will listen to and learn about different styles of music, including classical and world music, and participate in related music-themed crafts.

“It has been a goal of ours to begin expanding our artistic programming to include different forms of art beyond just the visual arts, and this program is a fantastic first step to help us achieve that goal,” said Michael Tusay, executive director of the art center.

The program as originally developed was centered on exposing children to different types of classical music and music theory, Tusay said.

“We’re building upon that to introduce some new and different things,” he said. “One of the musical crafts the kids will be doing will be making instruments that are not necessarily classical music instruments, but are instruments from different countries around the world, like the didgeridoo and the African rain stick.

“Because those crafts were already part of the curriculum, we decided to add a whole day to discuss music from around the world,” he said. “We’re actually expanding upon the curriculum that WQED had developed and adding our own flairs to it, but in partnership with them, so we’re all on the same page.”

Tusay will lead the sessions with two representatives of WQED Education. Special guests, including a vocalist and musicians, will be featured throughout the week.

Two special guests will appear via Zoom:

• Cory Hills, a Los Angeles-based multi-percussionist, composer and Grammy award-winning recording artist who created Percussive Storytelling, a program that brings classical music and storytelling to children in underserved communities. A member of the Los Angeles Percussion Quartet, Hills was the inaugural Gretsch Fellow in Children’s Music at the Saint Vincent College Fred Rogers Center during 2021-22 school year.

• Katherine Palmer, an ethnomusicologist and curator of education at the Musical Instrument Museum in Phoenix, Ariz. Palmer also was awarded the 2021 Gretsch Fellowship in Children’s Music at the Fred Rogers Center, to investigate how diverse music-making and listening can promote empathy and cultural awareness.

“The point of the program is to introduce topics to kids that they might not have the opportunity to engage with,” Tusay said. “That’s also where the classical music focus comes from, because a lot of kids aren’t exposed to that kind of information or education, even if they have robust music education in school.

“This lets kids engage hands-on with music and think about music in different ways,” he said. “One of the activities we’re integrating is talking about how music makes you feel, and the kids will draw or paint or express themselves in some visually artistic way in response to the music they listen to.”

Preregistration is required for the program; space is limited to 50 participants. There is a $10 deposit, which will be refunded on the last day of the program depending on week-long, daily attendance.

For information and reservations, call 724-537-7011 or visit latrobeartcenter.org.