Connexionarts has successfully assisted a wide range of arts organizations to develop comprehensive education models. We find that the focused connection of artist training, teacher training, and curriculum development results in an improved use of resources, higher visibility for the arts, and greater student impact. Our program design ensures that teachers and artists are empowered to use the skills they have learned to continue their partnerships.
Our Work
More Past and Present Clients
GRAMMY Foundations’s Leonard Bernstein Center for Learning
Connexionarts led the revision of Artful Learning, an arts-integration model inspired by the life and work of composer Leonard Bernstein. This included the development of highly successful professional learning modules for use in schools across America. Connexionarts trained teams of artist educators on-site at the GRAMMY Foundation in Los Angeles and then led trainer teams at school sites.
Delaware Symphony and OperaDelaware
Connexionarts led the development of ArtsAware, a state-wide arts education partnership initiative with Delaware schools, for the Delaware Symphony and OperaDelaware. Connexionarts guided the implementation of the blueprint, providing services in teacher training, artist training, and curriculum development from fourth through seventh grades.
Napa Valley Symphony
Connexionarts designed and implemented arts-infused curriculum for the Napa Valley Symphony's Youth Concert program, a project that expanded to include first, third, and fifth grades across the Napa region. Connexionarts also developed Family Concert Guides, and provided symphony training sessions for Napa teachers, and ongoing development services in curriculum and strategic planning.
PorchLight Entertainment
Connexionarts worked with the Los Angeles-based production company to develop the curriculum for THE MUSIC SERIES, an innovative and engaging television show. The curriculum focused on the musical development of three to five year-olds.
League of American Orchestras
Connexionarts led a seminar on developing education programs for orchestras at the League’s Leadership Institute in New York and a day-long seminar titled Creating Curriculum Materials at a Seattle conference. The practical, hands-on seminar was designed to assist orchestra educators in the development of curriculum materials, both for sequential education programs and for one-time education events.
Canadian Heritage Information Network Virtual Museum of Canada
Connexionarts partnered with the National Arts Centre Orchestra (NACO) to create a set of Learning Collections (educational units) based on Canadian Orchestral Composers for the Virtual Museum of Canada. Drawing from over 60 of NACO’s archival recordings of Canadian composers, units exploring vocal music, social justice, cultural influences, visual art, the Canadian landscape and innovative techniques were created. These engaging and thoughtful lessons were enriched with audio samples, musical scores, graphic images and reproductions of works in the National Art Gallery. The Connexionarts writing team was guided by the invaluable advice of renowned ethnomusicologist Dr. Elaine Keillor.
Canadian Music Educators Association
Connexionarts has led Total Literacy™ workshops in Nova Scotia, Manitoba, Newfoundland, and Ontario. Workshops were offered in conjunction with the provincial chapters of CMEA, the Canadian Music Educators Association.
Gettysburg College’s Leonard Bernstein Center for Learning
Connexionarts helped transition the work of Artful Learning from the GRAMMY Foundation to Gettysburg College, where a leadership institute was formed. The college sponsored a conference “Tension and Resolution: The West Side Story to further introduce the Artful Learning approach to educators across the country.
Corning-Elmira Musical Arts
Connexionarts joined with Corning-Elmira Musical Arts in the implementation of Music Laboratory. This innovative middle-school partnership brought students and professional musicians together to develop and produce a chamber concert for their peers. Connexionarts provided on-going teacher training and curriculum development services for the project.
Pasadena Symphony
Connexionarts led the development of an arts-infused curriculum for the Pasadena Symphony's TEMPO! Program, a partnership involving 12 schools from the Pasadena Unified School District. TEMPO! received a Recognition of Merit from the PUSD. Connexionarts also facilitated the implementation of the curriculum and provided assistance with program revision, teacher training, assessment, and strategic planning. An outgrowth of TEMPO! was the expansion to a middle-school project with PUSD, with Connexionarts designing artist residencies and arts-infused curriculum to explore the science of sound.
IDEAS and Total Literacy™ Institutes
Connexionarts provided consultation services for Dr. Sue Snyder, IDEAS, and Total Literacy™ Institutes. Developed in conjunction with the Connecticut HOT Schools (Higher Order of Thinking), Total Literacy™ is an approach for emergent readers that builds understanding and skills in music, visual art, movement, and language arts. Connexionarts also provided strategic planning and facilitation services for the first train-the-trainer institute.
National Arts Centre
Connexionarts has developed a wide variety of learning resources for the NAC, beginning with teacher and student materials for the Mozart and Vivaldi resource kits. The kits are distributed to every elementary school in Canada, and are made available on the NAC's website. Connexionarts also provided consultation on content, design, and layout, and advised on the development of the innovative Music Bridge project, which connected students in distant communities with NAC conductor Pinchas Zukerman in a stimulating "real time" session.
Ministry of Education and Training
Connexionarts provided contributing writers for the creation of interdisciplinary arts units for the Elementary Unit Project – Phase II, for the Ministry of Education and Training. The units were designed with the Ministry's Curriculum Unit Planner software and are used by teachers across Ontario.
Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra
As education consultant to the internationally renowned Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra, Connexionarts developed education concert repertoire, teacher workshops, and learning resources. They developed the teacher’s guide for Tafelmusik's multicultural Metamorphosis education concert, and contributed lesson plans for The Galileo Project, Water Music Adventure, and Forces of Nature concerts.
