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Altan Study Guide 0910.Indd 2009—2010 Season SchoolTime Study Guide Altan Friday, March 19, 2010 at 11 a.m. Zellerbach Hall, University of California, Berkeley Welcome to SchoolTime! On Friday, March 19, 2010, at 11 am, your class will attend a performance by Altan, the award-winning traditional Irish band. Dubbed “the hottest group in the Celtic realm these days” by the Boston Globe, no Irish band has had a wider impact on music lovers than Altan. With a repertory that ranges from tender and moving Irish folk songs to hard-hitting reels and jigs, Altan delights fans with heartwarming live performances and award-winning recordings. The members of Altan believe that Irish traditional music is a modern music in every sense, and the band’s growing infl uence and popularity have proved them right. Using This Study Guide You can prepare your students for their Cal Performances fi eld trip with the materials in this study guide. Prior to the performance, we encourage you to: • Copy the student resource sheet on pages 2 & 3 and hand it out to your students several days before the performance. • Discuss the information About the Performance & Artists on pages 4-6 with your students. • Read to your students from About the Art Form on page 7 and About Ireland on page 10. • Engage your students in two or more of the activities on pages 14-15. • Refl ect with your students by asking them guiding questions, found on pages 2,4,7 & 10. • Immerse students further into the art form by using the glossary and resource sections on pages pages 14 &17. At the performance: Students can actively participate during the performance by: • LISTENING CAREFULLY to the melodies, harmonies and rhythms • OBSERVING how the musicians and singers work together, sometimes playing in solos, duets, trios and as an ensemble • THINKING ABOUT the culture, history, ideas and emotions expressed through the music • MARVELING at the skill of the musicians • REFLECTING on the sounds and sights experienced at the theater We look forward to seeing you at SchoolTime! Laura Abrams Rica Anderson Director, Education & Community Programs Education Programs Administrator SchoolTime Altan | I Table of Contents 1. Theater Etiquette 1 2. Student Resource Sheet 2 3. About the Performance & Artists 4 4. About the Art Form 7 5. About Ireland 10 6. Glossary 13 7. Learning Activities & Resources 14 8. California State Standards 17 About SchoolTime 18 II | 1 Theater Etiquette Be prepared and arrive early. Ideally you should arrive at the theater 30 to 45 minutes before the show. Allow for travel time and parking, and plan to be in your seats at least 15 minutes before the performance begins. Be aware and remain quiet. The theater is a “live” space—you can hear the performers easily, but they can also hear you, and you can hear other audience members, too! Even the smallest sounds, like rustling papers and whispering, can be heard throughout the theater, so it’s best to stay quiet so that everyone can enjoy the performance without distractions. The international sign for “Quiet Please” is to silently raise your index fi nger to your lips. Show appreciation by applauding. Applause is the best way to show your enthusiasm and appreciation. Performers return their appreciation for your attention by bowing to the audience at the end of the show. It is always appropriate to applaud at the end of a performance, and it is customary to continue clapping until the curtain comes down or the house lights come up. Participate by responding to the action onstage. Sometimes during a performance, you may respond by laughing, crying or sighing. By all means, feel free to do so! Appreciation can be shown in many different ways, depending upon the art form. For instance, an audience attending a string quartet performance will sit very quietly, while the audience at a gospel concert may be inspired to participate by clapping and shouting. Concentrate to help the performers. These artists use concentration to focus their energy while on stage. If the audience is focused while watching the performance, they feel supported and are able to do their best work. They can feel that you are with them! Please note: Backpacks and lunches are not permitted in the theater. Bags are provided for lobby storage in the event that you bring these with you. There is absolutely no food or drink permitted in the seating areas. Recording devices of any kind, including cameras, cannot be used during performances. Please remember to turn off your cell phone. SchoolTime Altan | 1 2 Student Resource Sheet Altan Questi ons to Think About: • What has infl uenced Altan’s music? • Describe some of the events that shaped Irish traditi onal music. • What happened during Ireland’s potato famine? What You’ll See duo (two musicians) to a quintet (fi ve musicians). The Irish band, Altan adds a contemporary Altan has won numerous internati onal awards and fl avor to traditi onal Irish melodies. At the gained gold and plati num status in Ireland with their SchoolTime performance they will perform heart- record sales. sti rring ballads and folk songs and dance-inspired reels and jigs. The ensemble includes Mairéad Ní As Irish cultural ambassadors, Altan has Mhaonaigh, lead fi ddler and singer, Ciarán Tourish accompanied Irish President Mary McAleese on fi ddle and ti n whistles, Dáithí Sproule on guitar, on State visits to Greece, Korea and Japan and Ciarán Curran playing bouzouki (Greek lute) and performed at the White House in the United States. Dermot Byrne on accordion. The Irish government has also honored them with a postage stamp. About Altan Now in its 25th year, Altan is one of the most About Irish Music respected Irish bands on the world stage. Mairéad Most “traditi onal” Irish music is relati vely Ní Mhaonaigh and the late Frankie Kennedy started recent. While under English rule in the mid-17th the band while teaching school in North County century, Ireland’s language, stories, songs, dances Dublin. As children, both learned to play the fi ddle and traditi ons were suppressed by English colonizers from older Irish performers who taught them the who also ordered a mass destructi on of the Irish disti ncti ve music of County Donegal (located in the harp (Ireland’s chief musical instrument). However, Northwest coast of Ireland), which is known for in the 18th century, Irish musicians learned diff erent upholding its Irish culture, language and traditi ons. instruments, musical techniques and performing This legacy shaped Altan’s music as it grew from a styles, breathing new life into Irish music. 2 | Because music was mostly performed at country dances and celebrati ons (get-togethers known as céilis), traditi onal Irish music is made up of dance tunes and song airs like folk music and ballads, which are slower than dance tunes. Dance tunes include: • The Jig: The oldest form of Irish dance music, it is usually played at a fairly quick tempo, but can be sped up or slowed down depending on the mood or type of jig a dancer is performing. • Thought to have originated in Scotland around the mid-18th century, the Reel is a tune in 4/4 ti me (four beats to a measure). • The Hornpipe: Originati ng from England, Photograph by William Manning/CORBIS the hornpipe, like the reel, is in 4/4 ti me, but tends to be slower with a more heavily marked northeast corner. The Republic of Ireland makes rhythm. up the majority of the island. Although Irish is the country’s offi cial language and is taught in schools, Song airs most people speak English. Like most folk-music, Irish songs focus on love Oft en called the “Emerald Isle” because of its and were traditi onally sung in Gaelic (a language lush, green landscape, Ireland was fi rst inhabited by that includes the speech of ancient Ireland and tribes of Europeans, called Celts, in the 6th century, Scotland) or English. Many songs and ballads were B.C. In A.D. 432, St. Patrick began converti ng the brought to Ireland from England and Scotland. Irish to Christi anity, resulti ng eventually in a majority Catholic populati on. English invasions began in the Instruments & Music Revival 12th century and Ireland struggled against English In the 1950s and ‘60s, Sean Ó’Raida, an Irish rule for the next seven centuries. composer and music scholar made it his mission During the 1840s, heavy rains destroyed to revive traditi onal Irish music. His band, Ceoltoiri Ireland’s main food staple, the potato, and millions Chualann, established a model for the types of starved. In the following years many left Ireland for instruments played in a traditi onal band, including the United States and Canada seeking a bett er life. the fi ddle, wood fl ute, ti n whistle (a kind of fl ute with a ti n body), guitar, the uilleann pipe (a small In 1922, twenty-six counti es in which the bagpipe), accordions and ancient instruments, majority of people were Catholic won their including the Irish harp or clàrsah and bodhrán, a independence. This territory later became the hand-held frame drum made of wood and goatskin. Republic of Ireland. Six counti es in Northern Ireland, Today, performers from many diff erent cultures where the majority populati on was Protestant, exchange infl uences with Irish musicians and Irish stayed under Briti sh control. Since then, forces music is played all over the world. for and against uniti ng the island have claimed thousands of lives. In 1998, Ireland gave up its claim About Ireland to Northern Ireland, and in 2006, the Irish and About the size of the state of Indiana, Ireland Briti sh governments built on this agreement with is an island in the North Atlanti c near the United a new peace treaty.
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