”
Music education is learning another language, a universal
language. It develops creativity and can keep kids out of trouble.
Music is having a constant companion in your life.
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“Music education is learning another language, a universal language. It develops creativity and can keep kids out of trouble. Music is having a constant companion in your life.”
That was voiced by Devin Ligtelyn, who teaches the Music Together program for the City of Gilroy’s Recreation Department. Music Together is taught in a rich musical, age-appropriate environment where children, up to age 5, participate with their parents.
Parents follow the teacher and children join in at their own developmental level by listening, singing and moving. Folk music from all over the world is explored including major, minor and modal melodies and meters that include five and seven beats. There are nine semesters in the circuit style program. Classes are small, from five to 12 families, and new families can join at any time.
The program was started in Princeton, N.J. in 1987 by a tone deaf, rhythmically challenged man who learned that children pick up tonality and rhythm by being around music. Music Together is now taught throughout the United States and in 40 other countries.
Ligtelyn, a pianist with a bachelor’s degree in ethno-musicology from San Jose State University, heard about the program and thought it sounded interesting. As a mother of young children, she found the possibility of part time work that would keep her in touch with music appealing. She completed the Music Together Certification Program in Santa Cruz and has been teaching Music Together for more than eight years.
The program has sparked my curiosity and although I don’t have a child to enroll, I plan to drop in at the Willey Cultural Center one Tuesday morning at 10 a.m. to see what it’s all about.
See the Gilroy Recreation Department Activity Guide for more about programs for children.
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The art exhibit in the City Hall gallery features paintings by Gilroy artist Nancy Grieves. Titled “People and Places of Gilroy”, the small landscapes and portraits are painted in the pictorial style of American realists. Grieves refers to them as “down to earth, like Gilroy.”
Grieves was born in Detroit, Mich. and after graduation became a nurse. In 1983, she moved to California with her husband, who hoped to find a job in Silicon Valley. They drove across country. When they came over the Sierras, Grieves was struck by the landscape – so different from the green fields of Michigan.
The couple settled in Gilroy in 1987 and Grieves continued her nursing career at Saint Louise Regional Hospital. She took some painting classes at Gavilan College, which were so enjoyable that she went on to San Jose State to earn an master’s degree in pictorial arts.
Grieves stopped nursing in the mid ’90s and now paints every day. She has won top awards at the California State Fair and has had her work displayed in Carmel galleries.
Her mural, Gilroy … Past, Present and Future, on the city-owned building wall just south of Banning Upholstery on the corner of Monterey Street and Hornlein Court, depicts the flavor of Gilroy. Commissioned eight years ago by the City of Gilroy Arts and Culture Commission, Grieves painted the mural in two six-week sessions.
Grieves is constantly developing her talent.
“The more you do it, it becomes less of a struggle, but it’s always a challenge,” she said.
Her Midwestern eye brings a unique perspective and sensibility to her paintings. She can often be seen on the side of a road engrossed in plein air painting. A few years ago a woman pulled her car up to where Grieves was painting and asked her if she would paint her son. Recognizing the name, Grieves said she would need a picture. She was given a picture of young Brayan Trejo, who was killed in an accident five years ago. Grieves completed the portrait as a gift to the grieving mother.
Grieves loves to see her work out in the world. Be sure to stop in at City Hall to view her exhibit being featured until the end of October and visit www.nancygrieves.com for more.
UPCOMING EVENTS
‘Damn Yankees’
At 8 p.m. Oct. 7-8, 14-15, 21-22 28-29 and at 2:30 p.m. Oct. 16 and 23
Morgan Hill Community Playhouse, 17090 Monterey Road, Morgan Hill
www.SVCT.org, (408) 842 SHOW
‘Arsenic and Old Lace’
At 8 p.m. Oct. 27, 28, 29, Nov. 3 and 4 and at 2 p.m. Oct. 30
Gilroy High School Theater
Tickets $10
Gilroy/Christopher High Schools Fall Choir Concert
At 7:30 p.m. Oct. 11 and 13
St. Mary Church, Gilroy
$5 at the door
Poppy Jasper Short Film Festival
Oct. 14-16 in Morgan Hill
www.poppyjasperfilmfest.org or (408) 782-8087
AUDITIONS
‘Charlotte’s Web’
Children in grades 2 – 8
At 6:30 p.m. Oct. 12 and at 9:30 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. Oct. 15
16840 Joleen Way, Bldg. F4, Morgan Hill
Auditionees will be taught brief song and dance and may be asked to read from script
(408) 930 4089 or sv***************@ya***.com
