Concord International Elementary: Poetry and Song 2019

Concord student records a poem in the studio at Jack Straw, 2019In the 2018-2019 school year, 2nd Graders at Concord International Elementary School worked with Jack Straw teaching artist Vicky Edmonds to write original poems about their feelings, emotions, and “Invisible Beauties.” Jack Straw musicians Abel Rocha and Levi Fuller wrote songs inspired by the students’ poems – Abel working with Ms. Tabor and Ms. Groszhans’s classes, and Levi working with Ms. Adams’s class. Abel and Levi taught the students their songs, and Jack Straw engineers Joel Maddox and Ayesha Ubayatilaka recorded them in the classroom.

Vicky Edmonds also worked with Concord 4th graders in Ms. Schnathorst, Mr. Tobin, and Ms. Goodwin’s classes. She helped them write poems on many topics, including family, personal feelings and emotions, and nature. The students came to Jack Straw’s studios, where vocal coaches Katya Davida Landau and Meg McLynn helped each of them record the best possible performance of their poem. Jack Straw audio engineers Daniel Guenther, Joel Maddox, and Ayesha Ubayatilaka recorded everything, and all of the 2nd and 4th graders received a CD of their work.

Listen to the songs and poems from the CD:

Concord Poetry and Song 2019 was produced by Jack Straw Cultural Center and Concord International Elementary School with the generous support of the Concord PTA, Harvest Foundation, Jubilation Foundation Fund of Tides Foundation, the Washington State Arts Commission, Early Music Seattle, and individual contributors.

Artists

Portrait of Vicky Edmonds, by Katie Jennings

Vicky Edmonds

Vicky Edmonds is a poet and a teacher who uses the written and spoken word to bring the deepest and most authentic parts of ourselves to the page into the…

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Abel Rocha

Abel Rocha

Abel Rocha is a Mexico City-born folklorist, singer and multi-instrumentalist who performs music of Mexico, Venezuela, Peru, Chile and Argentina. He is a foundational member of groups including…

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Antonio Davidson-Gómez

Antonio Davidson-Gómez is an educator and percussionist focused on fostering musical dialogue between cultures. He has studied, performed and recorded in various genres with emphases on Mediterranean, Middle…

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Gus Denhard

August Denhard

As a performer on lute, theorbo and Baroque guitar, August Denhard has appeared with Baroque Northwest, Seattle Baroque, the Concord Ensemble, Chicago Music of the Baroque, the Indianapolis Baroque Orchestra…

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Meg McLynn

Meg McLynn

Meg McLynn is a Seattle-based actor, vocalist, and teaching artist who loves sharing her passion for performance with students of all ages. She is a member of the vocal…

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