Renowned vocal, instrumental and music educator, Eve Zanni will launch a new youth orchestra this spring at Greenwich House Music School, the venerable 100 year old West Village institution. The Global Groove Youth Orchestra will combine the highest level of classical music learning with the innovation of Rhythm First Jazz and World Music whole-body learning. It will also fill a recent void for youth group ensembles in the Village.
Zanni, a lifelong music educator, has a favorite African proverb: “If you can talk, you can sing. If you can walk, you can dance.” For the past ten years Zanni has been the music teacher at local Greenwich Village school PS 41. When she arrived at PS 41 in 2005 there was absolutely no music program. Undeterred, she spent the last ten years developing the school’s music program including a full choral program and not one, but three school bands. PS 41 clearly had a lot of talkers and walkers.
Despite its popularity, Zanni’s music education program was a casualty of the most recent round of Department of Education budget cuts. However, realizing a clear need in the community, Greenwich House Music School’s director, Rachel Black has partnered with Zanni to continue to provide local youth ensemble opportunities, with a Greenwich Village twist.
According to Ms. Black, “Greenwich House’s Global Groove Orchestra will celebrate the unique history of the Village and inspire and educate our youngest neighborhood musicians—middle and high school aged kids.” The repertoire will span genres, from Beethoven to Bob Dylan, jazz to John Lennon, folk songs to Broadway hits, music from the Gilded Age to the Civil Rights movement. The Orchestra’s instruments will be equally broad, from traditional string instruments, pianos and drums to marimbas, vibraphones, congas and djembes.
Continuing the principles Zanni developed and refined at PS 41, the Global Groove Orchestra will teach children how to identify melody, harmony and rhythm. They will be encouraged to improvise, compose, arrange and conduct music and will also have the chance to debut compositions commissioned by guest composers.
The Global Groove Orchestra is open to all children from ages 8-16 years old. Both current Greenwich House Music School students and non-students are encouraged to apply, no matter where they go to school. For more information, visit greenwichhouse.org/orchestra, call 212-242-4770 or email cryan@greenwichhouse.org.
