University of Washington
School of Music
I am very excited to share that my business (Common Thread Arts, LLC) has been hired to work on a collaborative project with the UW School of Music!
This project focuses on bringing young kids to the UW School of Music for daytime rehearsals to experience live music, with a custom preparatory lesson that I will share in elementary school classrooms prior to the event. This project will provide opportunities for live-music events as a supplement to an existing music curriculum. This project is funded by UW and free for schools!
I am currently scheduling School visits For The Winter and SPring Quarters!
Winter Quarter: visits will be scheduleD end of February.
Spring Quarter: visits will be scheduled in mid-May.
Rehearsal visits might include Big Band Jazz Ensemble, Modern Band Ensemble, Chamber Singers, Opera Workshop, Percussion Ensemble or Studio classes, depending on timing and availability.
The basic outline is; I will...
Work with UW professors to find a time to attend a rehearsal of their UW ensemble
Visit the UW rehearsal to meet the students and explain the project
Prepare a custom lesson to bring to the elementary classroom about the music that the UW students are working on
Schedule a day to visit the elementary school
Collaborate and assist the teachers on any field trip logistics
Meet the class at UW for the live-music event and lead the kids through the performance experience
Reflect on the experience with the students
Invite the school community to the corresponding evening performance (free tickets provided)
“We visited the percussion ensemble last year with our 5th graders and the Studio Jazz Big Band with our 1st and 2nd graders. Both ensembles did such a good job welcoming our students into their space. Emilia Kister is an expert teacher and it was such a pleasure to work with her on these visits. She visited our music classes to prepare us for our field trips, to teach us about what we would experience and how to be a great audience member. We can’t wait to visit again.”
“We loved collaborating with Emilia to give our students an enriching musical experience. ... It was impactful for students to attend a college-level Percussion Ensemble rehearsal. ... They met the UW Music Professor, asked questions of the diverse student performers, and a few volunteers even got to conduct the percussionists. We highly recommend you take advantage of Emilia Kister’s collaboration with the University of Washington Music Department with this free opportunity!”
“I don’t know who gets more excited, the children or our students. The interactions with the young people is the best part! The questions, their insightful and sometimes hilarious comments—and most of all when they sit with us on stage while we sing. The connection is palpable!”
“Emilia’s lessons are engaging and interactive, and the professors and UW students are knowledgeable and so welcoming! ”
“It was such an endearingly positive experience for us (professor and students) to play for and interact with these bright-eyed, curious, open-minded little people. Whatever Emilia has been doing in prepping the children for the rehearsal sit-ins opened their minds to our aspirations and intentions while facilitating a palpable feeling of meaningful connection between the kids and our students in their exchanges. The beginnings of understanding ideas of why we strive to be artists seemed to have been received. AND they came to our concerts (forcing their parents of open up their minds as well)! The longterm benefits of Emilia’s program is what the we all urgently need, as she plants the seeds for future open-minded, curious audiences who are interested in artistry and the Arts in general.”
“What an inspirational and engaging experience for our students. The aspect of students expressing themselves by drawing while listening and viewing music was a hit. The performers were very receptive to demonstrating and answering questions. What a great way for students to be inspired by the creative world of music. ”