Chapter 5 The Sound of Music “Music docents creatively involve students as a whole-brain, whole-body way of learning about experiencing the arts. e stu- dents range from preschoolers who probably have their very first museum experience during the March Music Month to the high schoolers. e Libbey’s were very strongly committed to both the visual and performing arts. e Docents’ commitment to music and to art keeps the Libby legacy alive and helps the museum to fulfill its mission -- to ignite the imagination, stimulate thought and provide enjoyment. ank you for these 30 years and for the future joys of discovery and creativity that the music docents con- tribute to the Toledo Museum of Art. “ Museum director Roger Berkowitz spoke these words in 1999 on the 30th anniversary of the Music Docent program, the first of its kind at an art museum in the country. When the do- cent corps became a volunteer organization as part of the Toledo Museum of Art after 22 years under the Junior League of Toledo, the museum established three educational programs for the benefit of students: General Tour Program: a one-time tour of the entire mu- seum lasting approximately one hour and geared to out-of-town schools that might come only once a year. Art Correlation Program for Grades 6,7,8: A series of six talks on specialized aspects of art related to the school curriculum. Music Correlation Program for Grades 3, 4, 5: A series of six demonstrations on music appreciation paralleling the art tours. Judy Hauman Dye became an art docent in 1966 as part of the Junior League program. When Joyce Young became head of the music program, Judy, a professional singer, worked with her to create a performance docent program and to bring the music curriculum into the galleries. Accompanied on the piano by Lois Howard, Judy gave Saturday morning concerts in the old “Little eater”, a space about twice the size of the current Little eater. e children loved it. I loved the idea that the children were enthralled with what we did. People who chose to be music docents had a sense of drama. Sue Karr.
Transcript
Chapter 5The Sound of Music “Music docents creatively involve students as a whole-brain, whole-body way of learning about experiencing the arts. The stu-dents range from preschoolers who probably have their very first museum experience during the March Music Month to the high schoolers. The Libbey’s were very strongly committed to both the visual and performing arts. The Docents’ commitment to music and to art keeps the Libby legacy alive and helps the museum to fulfill its mission -- to ignite the imagination, stimulate thought and provide enjoyment. Thank you for these 30 years and for the future joys of discovery and creativity that the music docents con-tribute to the Toledo Museum of Art. “ Museum director Roger Berkowitz spoke these words in 1999 on the 30th anniversary of the Music Docent program, the first of its kind at an art museum in the country. When the do-cent corps became a volunteer organization as part of the Toledo Museum of Art after 22 years under the Junior League of Toledo, the museum established three educational programs for the benefit of students: General Tour Program: a one-time tour of the entire mu-seum lasting approximately one hour and geared to out-of-town schools that might come only once a year. Art Correlation Program for Grades 6,7,8: A series of six talks on specialized aspects of art related to the school curriculum. Music Correlation Program for Grades 3, 4, 5: A series of six demonstrations on music appreciation paralleling the art tours. Judy Hauman Dye became an art docent in 1966 as part of the Junior League program. When Joyce Young became head of the music program, Judy, a professional singer, worked with her to create a performance docent program and to bring the music curriculum into the galleries. Accompanied on the piano by Lois Howard, Judy gave Saturday morning concerts in the old “Little Theater”, a space about twice the size of the current Little Theater. The children loved it.
I loved the idea that the children were enthralled with what we did. People who chose to be music docents had a sense of drama.
Sue Karr.
In the galleries, Judy introduced the children to the Dutch organ and an old American piano, telling them about family enter-tainment before radio and television. She taught a boy how to waltz to the tune of “After the Ball was over”. They sang “Oh Susannah” and “My Grandfather’s Clock.” In the Peristyle, children learned about an orchestra as well as about operas. Later on, as part of the sixth grade tour program, stu-dents actually performed in an opera on that same stage. Docents Annora Sue Karr and Grey Schmidt created an opera “Something New for King Khufu” about Pharaoh Imhotep. School teachers received the script ahead of time and chose children for the parts, most of which were spoken rather than sung. There were costumes and props. When the class arrived at the Peristyle , docents spoke with them about the story and the music. The opera was performed dozens of times over a period of years. Later there was a medieval opera performed in the Cloister. Music docents also performed for the children and some-times gave mini-concerts. Anne Doerfleur played the organ. Joan Layne sang, ac-companied by Gladys Rudolph. In later years, music docents car-ried tape recorders and played music related to the art work on the tour – American folk songs for the colo-nial period, 17th century music for European paintings. Music tours were not always performances. In the museum classrooms, children were shown various musical instruments, some of them smaller versions of the real instruments. They learned about different sounds and rhythms, from marches to waltzes. Stu-dents loved the “secret room” in the Peristyle that contained some of the organ pipes. With a key, the docent could gain entry to this special place to view the pipes of the Skinner organ. The children learned how the pipes connected with the organ console to create the sound.
I enjoyed the nice perfor-mance and the singing. I thought opera was bad but I was wrong. You acted very good. I thought the accompa-nist was a great piano player.
I really don’t like opera music but you made it come to life and I enjouyed it a lot. In fact, I think I might go to an opera and compare you with the people on the stage.
Comments of 6th grade students from Shoreland School. 1987
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