Getting down to Earthworks

Music collective teams up with Red Cedar Elementary students for concert

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When musician Chris Dorman visited students during musicclass at Red Cedar Elementary School in East Lansing, they were excited to havea star in their midst. Melissa Sigh, the school’s music teacher, recalls thechildren questioning Dorman about his fame in terms of how many fans he has. Inorder to reply, Dorman labeled the schoolroom floor as “no fans” and set theceiling equivalent to Beyonce’s fame. He then, humbly, gestured around knee-height.

Dorman,a member of the Michigan-based Earthwork Music collective, visited the schoolin January to begin work on a collaborative concert between the collective andRed Cedar Elementary School students.

The Earthwork Music collective is agroup of folk musicians, and a record label, working together to promote andencourage music primarily in Michigan.

Sigh, who previously worked in theHolt school district, had brought in guest musicians before with success andwanted to try something similar in East Lansing. Sigh contacted Dorman and therest of the collective and set up the concert.

The concert will feature 11 songsof both Earthwork original music and other favorite American folk songs. Thegroup e-mailed Sigh with a list of songs they could perform and with herstudents' abilities in mind she whittled down the list.

Three of the songs being performedduring the concert are from the collective’s new children’s album, Earthwork4 Kids, which will be released andavailable for sale during the concert.

Dorman, who has a 2-year-old son,said his new experience as a father moved him towards the concert. “I’ve growna great appreciation for kiddos,” he said. “[Red Cedar students] are so excitedand creative. It was a perfect fit with us.”

Thestudents will spend the day before the concert with the musicians working inmusic and Earth Day related workshops before heading to the concert later thatnight.

Sighsays Red Cedar’s student population represents 50 different countries and 30different languages with English as a second language for many of the students.The chance to bring together many different cultures also appealed to Dorman.

“Youcan learn a lot on a computer, learn a lot with books, but going to a countryand learning from a different country is such a different experience . . . it’sa whole wide world out there.”

Thestudents, from 10 different classes, will stand behind the 10 Earthworkmusicians on stage. The students will join during choruses and other selectedparts in addition to performing choreography to accompany the music. One songwill feature a percussion solo from a third-grade student.

Sighplans to record the concert as an album and a DVD to possibly replicate butalso use as an example to show other groups she hopes to work with in thefuture. The cost for the performance was underwritten by several grants Sighapplied for and admission to the concert is free.

Theconcert will be held Friday, April 16 at 7 p.m. at the Michigan StateUniversity Community Music School’s auditorium at 841 Timberlane Dr in EastLansing.

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