Classical Music Classrooms

The Symphony's in-class Music Listening Program was started in 2013, and makes it possible for elementary school teachers to introduce classical music to their students on a daily basis. The program targets second through fifth graders. The Santa Cruz County Office of Education collaborates with the Symphony to maximize the number of Classical Music Classrooms throughout the county. Currently, thousands of students experience classical music daily in the county’s public and private elementary schools. Interested teachers and principals are invited to contact the Symphony office at education@santacruzsymphony.org to learn how they may participate.

What is the classical music program?

It’s a program designed for use by classroom teachers, particularly in elementary classrooms. The “Brummitt-Taylor Music Listening Program” is a curated curriculum created in 1985 by two educators in British Columbia — a music teacher and an English teacher.  Growing out of their school’s celebration of Bach's 300th birthday, the program uses a collection of over 130 compositions or movements of classical music composed by dozens of composers. Each musical selection averages about 5 minutes. The teacher reads a brief descriptions of the music and information about the composer and his or her place in time and geography. It explores musical terms and adds layers of information through the daily scripts. Each week has a new musical selection.

The program calls for the classroom teacher to play the same musical selection daily for a week and to read the changing informational scripts of three or four sentences. The underlying concept of daily repetition is that children will become familiar with different composers and styles of classical music and will over time develop an appreciation for a genre of music that many do not hear at home or in the popular media.

Teachers have used the program as a jumping off point for writing assignments, as cultural context for history or geography lessons, and/or for “centering” time after recess.  The program is available digitally via the County Office of Education platform.  Access to the platform is available by signing up to participate. https://sccoe.link/cmcrequest

Participating Schools