Eighty years ago in Munich, Germany, Carl Orff founded a schoolthat taught gymnastics and dance and also educated students inmusic.
Based on principles taught at the school then, school childrentoday are learning music in successful ways predicated on rhythm,movement and creativity.
With instruments from mainly the percussion family, such as themetallophone, xylophone and glockenspiel and the woodwind recorder,students make music with quality sounds from the simple instrumentsand build confidence and a musical foundation.
"It's much more creative and exciting than opening a book andsinging a song," said Konnie Saliba, music professor and Orffspecialist.
Teachers from across Memphis came to The University of Memphisto learn and practice the tools from an expert of theOrff-Schulwerk practice who learned the system from Carl Orffhimself. They were also treated to a special performance by KoreanOrff students wearing their traditional Korean dress called theHanbok last Friday.
Jos Wuytack, a native of Belgium, was one of a few disciples tolearn from Orff in Munich and has been coming to The U of M toteach the Orff-Shulwerk program to teachers since 1971.
Memphis and Las Vegas are the only cities in the United Statesthat have large participation in the Orff-Schulwerk Program.
Wuytack's educator, Carl Orff, well known for his popular piecethe "Carmina Burana," created and lost the school where heintroduced his music ideology.
However, after radio broadcasts of his teachings were heard inthe late '40s and early '50s, he and Gunild Keetman wrote fivevolumes of teachings that became music for children as it is knowntoday.
Wuytack has taught in 45 countries and to students in sixlanguages, including English, Flemish, French, German, Portugueseand Spanish. He says the Orff-Schulwerk program has helped studentsmusically and culturally.
"We use the verbal expression as the musical expression and thebody expression," said Wuytack. "We do that with three interestingprinciples: activity, creativity, and community. We do theexperience, and then we learn from the experience to thetheory."
Wuytack said there are psychological and cultural positives thatcome from learning the Orff-Schulwerk program.
"There are so many bad things in the world, and the music canmake children happy," he said.
