American Classical Orchestra | New York's period instrument orchestra

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ACO Educational Programs

Our dedication to providing educational outreach programs extends from children to adult learners. Pre-concert lectures, symposia and master classes are offered to enlighten adult learners and to pass on the original techniques to a new generation of musicians.

Classical Music for Kids®(CMK) was created by the American Classical Orchestra as an education and out-reach program to introduce children to the pleasures of classical music in an interactive, age-appropriate, entertaining format. Since CMK’s creation in 1999, the Orchestra has reached more than 200,000 students and their families with its in-school and family matinee performances.

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CMK Calendar 2009 “Winter Winds”

Jan. 9th – Fri – Stillmeadow School Stamford, CT – 2 shows
Weston High School Weston, CT

Jan. 12th – Mon – Birch Wathen Lenox School, NY, NY – 2 shows
Greens Farms Elementary School, Westport, CT

Jan. 14th – Wed – AmPark Neighborhood School, Bronx, NY

Jan. 15th – Thurs – Harlem Day Charter School, NY, NY
Harlem Success Academy Charter School, NY, NY

Jan. 16th – Fri - Curtis High School, Staten Island, NY
P.S. 45, Staten Island, NY, NY

Mar. 2nd – Mon – Black Rock Elementary School, Bridgeport, CT

Mar 9th – Mon – P.S. 506, Brooklyn, NY
Center for Family Life After School Program,
Sunset Park, Brooklyn, NY

CMK Calendar 2008 “Winter Winds”
Jan 08 AmPark School, Bronx; Metropolitan Montessori School
Jan 09 Mill Hill Elementary, Fairfield; Black Rock Elementary, Bridgeport
Jan 10 Riverfield Elementary, Fairfield; Holland Hill, Fairfield
Jan 11 Rye Neck NY School; Ridgeway School, White Plains
Jan 14 Convent of the Sacred Heart, Greenwich
Jan 15 P.S. 121, Bronx; George M. Davis Elementary, New Rochelle
Jan 16 P.S. 155; 117th Street, NY; Fieldston Lower School, Riverdale
Jan 17 New Rochelle High School
Jan 18 Kendall Elementary, Norwalk; Waltersville Public School, Bridgeport
Jan 23 Daisy Ingraham Elementary, Westbrook; Lyme Elementary, Old Lyme
Jan 24 Essex, shoreline CT; Chester, shoreline CT
Jan 25 Harrison Avenue School, Westchester
Jan 26 Bush-Holley Historic Site, Greenwich
Jan 28 P.S. 124, Chinatown; P.S. 1, Chinatown
Jan 29 Birch Wathen Lenox, NYC; Geneva School of Manhattan, NYC
Jan 30 Ella Baker School, NYC; Clear View School, Westchester
Jan 31 Great Beginnings, Fairfield; Tomlinson Middle School, Fairfield
Feb 02Bush-Holley Historic Site, Greenwich
Feb 04 Weston Intermediate School, CT
Feb 05 P.S. 183, NY; St. Stephen of Hungary, NY
Feb 06 P.S. 38, 103rd St.; Rye Country Day, Westchester
Feb 07 The Browning School, NYC; Bedford Hills Elementary
Feb 09 Family Concert/Miller Theater, Miller Theater at Columbia University, NY
Feb 10 Family Concert/Staples HS, Westport
Feb 11 Christ Church Day School, NYC
Feb 12 Amistad Academy, New Haven

Thomas Crawford with recorder virtuoso Horacio Franco at Public School 83

Soprano Eileen Clark “Queen of the Night,” Thomas Crawford as Mozart, and 4th grade participants

Trying a violin at ACO Instrument Petting Zoo

American Classical Orchestra was chosen from a national pool of candidates in 2002 to receive the Early Music America’s “Bringing History Alive” award. This award is given to the music organization exemplifying excellence in introducing classical music to primary- and secondary-school students. In 2006, the ACO received the prestigious National Endowment for the Arts award, “Learning in the Arts for Children and Youth.”

The ACO is one of our country’s few orchestras performing on period, or historic instruments; and we are dedicated to fostering and preserving the great music literature of the Baroque, Classical, and early Romantic eras. Under the direction of founder Maestro Thomas Crawford, the ACO has been performing for over 20 years, and we have become a leading orchestra in the New York Metropolitan and Tri-State area.

Classical Music for Kids® consists of two inter-related parts: live public performances intended for a family audience and an education and out-reach program held in school classrooms. The in-school program is part of our coordinated approach of partnering with the schools and their teachers, both to teach the children classical music and to prepare them for the program to be presented to a broader audience in a concert hall.

The participating teacher receives a curriculum guide that complements the repertoire at the public performances. Prior to the concert, the students learn about the music in class and attend an in-school interactive performance, usually led by Maestro Thomas Crawford and guest artists. The students learn how to attend a live performance and are introduced to the period instruments, composers, musicians and music excerpts from the program.

We bring history alive for students by recreating performances similar to those given in the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries. The students learn the differences between the period instruments and their modern counterparts, and they hear the beautiful music as it was intended to be heard.