Grand River Arts Council

Our community’s rich music culture has been affected by severe cuts to school music programs along with lack of access to piano teachers, choir directors and other means to experience and learn music. We aim to change this trajectory by inviting performing artists that are appealing to youth, by listening to young people and helping them record their thoughts through songwriting, using Bandcamp/looping technology to create instrumental music, and using ukuleles as a quick way to learn to play an instrument and perform popular music. Professional musician, Katie Dwyer, will assist in this teaching/learning process. She will perform her work on the Palace Theater stage, public jr/sr high school and the public library after-school program. Venues are accessible and open to the public. She will lead workshops on using technology to record music, assist students in songwriting, and teach basic ukulele chords and simple songs for performance at the nursing home.