Teacher Resources (Video)

Jazz has been hailed as "America's original art form," and the annual Jazz Camp at UC San Diego is a five-day immersive summer program designed for intermediate to advanced level jazz musicians, ages 14–adult. Students work directly with internationally renowned jazz artists, exploring styles ranging from classic bebop to contemporary open-form. The Camp culminates in a finale concert performed by eight student ensembles, each under the direction of a faculty member. This program showcases an ensemble mentored by saxophonist David Borgo. Series: "UC San Diego Jazz Camp" [Arts and Music] [Show ID: 33922]

A critic once commented that Schoenberg's "Five Pieces for Orchestra" requires "an orchestra of soloists," Schoenberg himself said that his aim was the development of "the emancipation of dissonance," in which no single note or key would be dominant over others. To this end melodies are fragmentary while the emphasis is on ever-shifting instrumental colors.; thus each of the five brief movements acquires a distinctive atmosphere. Series: "La Jolla Symphony & Chorus" [Arts and Music] [Show ID: 33850]

Franz Liszt composed twelve “symphonic poems,” of which “Les Préludes” has proven to be the most popular. Its structure is deceptively simple, based loosely on sonata form but differing from the classical sonata in its development of a few basic themes, rather than contrasting very different thematic material in distinct movements. The attractiveness of the piece lies in Liszt’s ingenious transitions and transformations as the music moves from episode to episode, by turns turbulent and serene, until the various strands finally come together in the dramatic finale. Explaining the title “Les Préludes,” Liszt posed the question, “What else is life but a series of preludes to that unknown hymn, the first and solemn note of which is intoned by Death?” Series: "La Jolla Symphony & Chorus" [Arts and Music] [Show ID: 33849]

UC San Diego's Geisel Library hosts an annual Paper Theater Festival, celebrating an art form with roots in Victorian Era Europe. Paper theaters (also known as toy theaters) were used to promote productions. They were printed on paperboard sheets and sold as kits at the concession stand of an opera house, playhouse, or vaudeville theater. The kits were then assembled at home and plays performed for family members and guests, sometimes with live musical accompaniment. The theaters gradually declined in popularity during the late 19th and early 20th centuries, but have enjoyed a resurgence in interest in recent years among many puppeteers, filmmakers, theater historians, and hobbyists. Presently there are numerous international paper theater festivals throughout the Americas and Europe, as well as several museums. Series: "Library Channel" [Humanities] [Arts and Music] [Show ID: 33264]

Emmanuel Jal, an internationally recognized hip-hop musician, former child soldier turned activist and entrepreneur, shares his story and music. Jal was born into the life of a child solider in the early 1980s in the war-torn region of Southern Sudan. He calls upon all of us to engage with our world and become global citizens through scholarship, leadership and service. [Humanities] [Arts and Music] [Show ID: 33490]

Author and legendary athlete Kareem Abdul-Jabbar highlights remarkable African-American contributions to American society. Series: "Writer's Symposium By The Sea" [Public Affairs] [Humanities] [Education] [Show ID: 33606]

An American in Paris has always been one of Gershwin's most popular scores, and deservedly so. It offers great tunes, a breezy charm that evokes both the City of Light and the Jazz Age, and Gershwin's obvious affection for the French capital. Gershwin argued that this piece is structured in sonata form and is not just a series of episodes & impressions strung together with great skill; perhaps so, but no matter. Above all else, this is fun music. Series: "La Jolla Symphony & Chorus" [Arts and Music] [Show ID: 33379]

Composer Francis Poulenc maintained that one need not be solemn to praise God, and that belief is echoed is his "Gloria." Indeed, listeners not otherwise informed may not guess it's the setting of a sacred text (in this case, the second part of the Roman Catholic Mass liturgy). Poulenc's score is by turns melodic, rhythmic, serene, piquant, high-spirited, slightly dissonant, subdued, or strident, but is never less than charming. Series: "La Jolla Symphony & Chorus" [Arts and Music] [Show ID: 33377]

Aaron Copland originally composed "Quiet City" in 1939 for the play of the same name. The play failed, but Copland's piece went on to become one of his best-loved & most frequently performed works. "Quiet City" is essentially an urban nocturne, the aural equivalent of Edward Hopper's "Nighthawks," and is built around two themes: an evocative trumpet call, and a dotted figure for the strings. To round out the piece Copland added haunting interludes performed either by an English horn or an oboe (in this case an oboe). Series: "La Jolla Symphony & Chorus" [Arts and Music] [Show ID: 33383]

As was the practice in a time (14th Century) before the delineation between poet and composer was as sharply drawn as today, Guillaume de Machaut set his own texts to music. "Je vivroie liement" for solo soprano, solo violin, and chamber orchestra is an homage to courtly love set to a lively fiddle dance tune that evokes both Celtic & Gypsy styles. Series: "La Jolla Symphony & Chorus" [Arts and Music] [Show ID: 33374]