Music Workshop: Performance, Composition, and Culture

This day-long workshop gives students with prior experience playing music an opportunity to learn the tunes, playing techniques, and cultural context of the tin whistle. Students will learn new tunes and will compose original music in a traditional style under the guidance of an experienced musician. Recommended for students 10 years and older. Space is limited.

Skills Acquired:

In this workshop, students will:

1. acquire new skills for playing the tin whistle,

2. gain experience composing new melodies in a traditional style, and

3. enhance cultural literacy.

Materials:

This workshop comes with a free Resource Packet for use in the workshop and for continued learning at home. Students should come prepared with blank paper and a pen or pencil. Students will also need a ‘D’ tin whistle. Students can bring their own, or order one through online registration. An audio recording device is optional, but recommended. Students are responsible for their own lunch.

Registration Cost:

Limited scholarships are available.

About the Instructor:

Dr. Eliot Grasso is a Tutor in the arts at Gutenberg College, and is a recipient of an Individual Arts Fellowship from the Oregon Arts Commission for his work in music composition. He holds a M.A. in ethnomusicology from the Irish World Academy of Music and Dance at the University of Limerick and a Ph.D. in musicology from the University of Oregon. He has performed for the National Endowment for the Arts Awards, the National Heritage Awards, Glasgow’s International Piping Festival, Piping Live!, Armagh’s William Kennedy Piping Festival in the United Kingdom, and the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.

Eliot and his wife, Kate, have three children whom they homeschool in Springfield, Oregon.