ST. HELENA — For 16 minutes, a classroom full of St. Helena Elementary School kids did what some parents might find inconceivable: They listened and didn’t make a sound.
It helped that they were listening to George Gershwin’s “Rhapsody in Blue” and using its jazzy rhythms to paint whatever came into their heads, be that a Christmas tree, blocky geometric shapes, or swirls and speckles of color.
The March 28 workshop in teacher Hannah Waters’ third-grade classroom was part of Festival Napa Valley’s “How I See Music” program. The students’ art will be projected onscreen during a live performance of “Rhapsody in Blue” on July 13 at Charles Krug Winery, featuring the pianist Jean-Yves Thibaudet and Festival Orchestra Napa conducted by Filippo Ciabatti.
The workshops are expected to reach 700 students, veterans and seniors from local schools, community centers, senior centers like Rianda House, and the Veterans Home in Yountville.
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Lissa Gibbs, senior director of education and communications for Festival Napa Valley, started the hour-long program by teaching kids about the basics of an orchestra: strings, woodwinds, brass, percussion (one student correctly identified the piano as percussion) and a conductor.
She explained that when Gershwin composed “Rhapsody in Blue” in 1924, most people could only hear music if they went to a live performance or played it themselves. Music — especially an orchestral piece like “Rhapsody in Blue” that requires 75 musicians — was a product of many people gathering together, which made it feel like an event.
Gibbs explained the science of music and the interplay between the concrete (sound waves and electrical impulses in our brains) and the abstract (emotions and thoughts).
She invited the kids to close their eyes, listen to the music — “there’s a difference between hearing and listening,” she said — and express their feelings through painting.
“How you paint is just as important as what you paint,” she said.
Gibbs said she tailors the workshop based on her audience. With older students and adults, she’ll go into more detail about music theory, blue notes, Gershwin’s life, and the context in which he wrote “Rhapsody in Blue.”
“How I See Music” is part of Festival Napa Valley’s Arts for All initiative, which also includes the Novack Concerts for Kids and Meet the Musicians.
As part of the latter program, the Los-Angeles-based Vitamin String Quartet, known for blending classical music with rock and pop, will perform for students at the St. Helena Elementary School auditorium on April 26.