Arts Ed at The Granada Presents
The Granada Music & Arts Conservatory
Spring Session Still Enrolling!
Students ages 4 through 19 study a well-rounded course of the arts, designed to foster the full growth and creativity of each child. Saturday classes are held at Girls Inc. in Goleta located at 4973 Hollister Avenue. Read more.
For more information or to register your young person, please email Katie Mendenhall or call 714.474.3691.
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New! The Granada and Music Academy of the West
launch Santa Barbara Strings
The Granada and the Music Academy of the West have partnered to launch an innovative educational program designed to train and nurture a new generation of local classical string musicians. More than 100 students are currently participating in Santa Barbara Strings, a comprehensive program that provides a five-tiered, integrated performance education beginning with kindergarten classes and culminating in the advanced, high school level orchestra, Virtuoso Strings. The program is closely affiliated with The Granada Music & Arts Conservatory (GMAC).
“We have created a unique situation for both parent and child,” said Granada Executive Director Peter Frisch. “How gratifying to know as a parent that I can take my 5-year-old with a knack for music and an interest in stringed instruments and place him or her in a progressive, 12-year program, studying under master teachers. The close relationship with GMAC offers these students access to a wide breadth of arts and humanities classes as well. This could easily be a national model."
“The Music Academy is delighted to support Santa Barbara Strings,” said NancyBell Coe, president of the Music Academy of the West. “This program provides a wonderful and significant opportunity for young musicians in our community. Experience and research clearly show that musical instrument instruction can positively influence children’s lives.”
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Young Santa Barbara Strings musicians perform during the new program's inaugural concert Dec. 12 at Hahn Hall.
Did you know?
Santa Barbara Strings offers three levels of String Orchestras - the Sinfonietta, Intermezzo and Virtuoso Strings - training musicians ages 8-19 through repertoire from the Renaissance/Baroque to modern pieces. Tuition is $140 for the season, and some scholarships are available. For more information about the program, please email Linda Burrows or call 805.688.7423. |
Mary Beth Woodruff, who conducts the elementary and junior high level orchestras Sinfonietta and Intermezzo, is co-directing the program with fellow Santa Barbara native Nina Bodnar, artistic director of GMAC and leader of Virtuoso Strings. Ms. Bodnar, winner of the Jacques Thibaud International Violin Competition, was concertmaster of the Santa Barbara Symphony and Chamber Orchestra before becoming concertmaster of the St. Louis Symphony under Leonard Slatkin. Ms. Woodruff, who studied at the New England Conservatory, MIT, and Carnegie Mellon, was a professor of violin/viola and head of chamber music at Biola University in Los Angeles for seven years. She has also served on the faculty at the Interlochen Center for the Arts and now teaches violin and viola privately in Santa Barbara and the Santa Ynez Valley.
Program participants will work systematically through music history from the Renaissance/Baroque periods through the modern era, mastering appropriate repertoire along the way. Some 110 local children are currently involved, more than 70 of them as participants in the Sinfonietta, Intermezzo, and Virtuoso Strings ensembles. Providing the vitally important foundation to the comprehensive program are the preparatory Orff and Prelude ensembles for children ages 4 to 8, led by Conservatory instructors Claude-Lise La Franque and Barbara Coventry respectively.
“What a gift to witness the tremendous enthusiasm of our music students as they partake of this new program,” said Lana Bodnar, founder and director of GMAC, which offers courses in music theory, chamber music, poetry, acting, and art.
“I was thrilled to learn that a new string training program has been developed in Santa Barbara,” said Pulitzer Prize-winning composer John Harbison, member of Santa Barbara Strings Artistic Advisory Board. “This is the way to do it: artist-teachers, Mary Beth Woodruff and Nina Bodnar, who have roots in the city, creating a fine community of young musicians. The entire region will soon be nourished by players raised strong on Bach, Purcell, Mozart, Bartók, and eventually, pieces they write themselves.”
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About The Conservatory
In 2007, one of Santa Barbara’s most respected arts organizations, The Santa Barbara
Music & Arts Conservatory, joined with The Granada to create The Granada Music & Arts Conservatory. Originally founded in 1989, this unique program is dedicated to fostering the full growth and creativity in the youth of our community, the pursuit of excellence in a safe environment, and the celebration of artistic tradition as an expression of our humanity.
Every Saturday students ages 4 though 19 engage in a curriculum enriched by mentoring, retreats, workshops, master classes, lectures, guest artists and solo performances. Professionalism, teamwork and discipline are hallmarks of this experience.
Our Curriculum
Experience is the best teacher. By encouraging our students to explore all facets of the creative arts and opening their minds to new ideas and techniques, we hope to challenge
them to use their individual creativity to the fullest.
Mentoring
Our students enjoy opportunities to work closely with seasoned professionals who are dedicated to their growth as artists and human beings. Our teachers provide each student
with an intensive program in every subject: music, theatre, visual arts and creative writing. Conservatory Founder and Co-Director Lana Bodnar works with each student to tailor a program that provides a well-rounded education in all of the arts, with plenty of time to
focus on their passions and talents.
Community Outreach
Student musicians, poets and performers enrich our community by presenting their unique talents, performing for seniors, families and school groups.
Young Soloists Showcase
This annual concert features the young musicians who have auditioned to appear as soloists with a professional orchestra at The Granada. A tradition for 25 years, this opportunity is unique to our community and many soloists have gone on to become professional musicians.
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Saturday Classes
10:00 am – 12:15 pm
Tuition: $240 per semester; some scholarships available
For more information, or to register your young person, please email Katie or call 714.474.3691.
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Junior Program (ages 4-11)
Students select two of the following classes:
Orff Experience
A joyful introduction to music for the very young child, fostering creativity and conveying musical knowledge and skills through game like activities.
Prelude String Ensemble
A fun and creative first step in learning to play with others. Students will learn foundations of good musicianship, developing concentration, sight reading and motor coordination.
Beginning Music Appreciation
Students in Music Appreciation learn what to listen for by exploring the various elements of music and are introduced to a wide spectrum of styles.
Solfège
Training the ear through rhythmic dictation and sight singing to build skills which can be applied to all instruments.
Visual Arts
Students explore a variety of media as we encourage self expression and flight of imagination.
Theatrical Movement
Body awareness, muscle isolation and improvisation are the building blocks of this active and fun class.
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Saturday Classes
10:00 am – 2:15 pm
Tuition: $360 per semester; some scholarships available
For more information, or to register your young person, please email Katie or call 714.474.3691.
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Senior Program (ages 12-19)
Students select four of the following classes:
Theatre Techniques
This class explores acting styles and techniques for the stage including improvisation, character development, genre understanding, historical context and script analysis.
Poetry
Students are introduced to a wide range of master poets and poetry from many ages and cultures to learn not only form and universal poetic techniques, but to explore emotion, language, content and theme. From these weekly lessons, GMAC students explore their own lives and experience for their unique creative expression.
Chamber Music
Students enter the intimate world of chamber music, “the music of friends” and are coached upon great works of master composers by resident faculty and visiting artists. (space is limited; by audition only)
Music History
In this course we follow the history of music with an emphasis on distinction of musical periods via style, composers, performers and instrumentation.
Visual Arts
Advanced skills are taught in all media to support creative exploration. This class includes mask making and scenery design to enhance students’ performing arts experience.
Costume Design
Students discover quick and economical ways to produce striking visuals on stage to support character development.
Theory
Study of scales and chords from basics to twelve tone row, harmony and creation of fugue, transposition and recognition of sonata structure. This class will help students to prepare for the MTAC Certificate of Merit program.
Advanced Solfége
Continuing to develop the fundamental aural skills needed by all instrumentalists.
Credit for independent study is available through all local high schools.
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Tuition: $140; some scholarships available.
For more information about the program, please email Linda Burrows or call 805.688.7423. |
NEW! Santa Barbara Strings
In collaboration with Music Academy of the West and program co-directors Mary Beth Woodruff and Nina Bodnar, we aim to foster music making at the highest level in an atmosphere of joy and creativity. We will delve deeply into the rich repertoire of the string orchestra in order to train, nurture, and inspire young musicians. Students advance progressively through this comprehensive five-level program:
Orff
The Orff approach is based on the belief that the most natural method of communicating music is to encourage the students’ inherent affinities for rhythm and melody and allow these to develop and evolve. No prior musical instruction is needed to participate.
Prelude String Ensemble
In this group, the beginning player learns fundamental musical skills to prepare him/her for the full string orchestra experience. Sight-reading ability is developed in a group setting. Here we lay the foundation of good musicianship and develop concentration and motor coordination. Games and other creative approaches are used to keep things fun while simultaneously
promoting the highest of standards.
Sinfonietta
This third level is designed to give young players a full scale string orchestra experience in which they will learn skills of ensemble playing, further their sightreading abilities and develop a love of working as a musical team. Close attention is paid to posture, technical setup and sound production. We work in sections in addition to working as a group. The level of playing expected in this group roughly correlates with players in Suzuki books 2–4. Players need not be able to shift but are expected to have basic sightreading skills.
Intermezzo Strings
Intermezzo is dedicated to exploring the Baroque Concerti Grosso repertoire and early Classical string works. Players in this ensemble should be proficient sight-readers, playing three octave scales. Those in the Suzuki system have reached book 4 and beyond. As an ensemble, we focus our efforts on developing a sense of phrasing, tone coloration, internalizing ‘pulse’ and clean intonation. We rehearse in sectionals on a regular basis. Discussion of the historical and musical contexts for the pieces being performed begins at this level.
Virtuoso Strings
This is a highly dedicated and advanced ensemble. Students admitted to this group will be chosen based both on commitment level and preparedness. Creative means are employed to help awaken and develop artistry in these young musicians while they play music from the Baroque, Classical and Romantic eras. Students are given the opportunity to solo with the
orchestra as well as to participate in master classes given by visiting artists.
Click here for more information about Santa Barbara Strings.
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Staff & Faculty
Lana Bodnar, Conservatory Founder
Lana Bodnar founded the Music and Arts Conservatory in 1989. She is a graduate of the Musikschule in Munich, Germany, and of the Los Angeles Conservatory of Music. Lana is a member of the Music Teachers’ Association of California, specializing in teacher training. She is an adjudicator for the American College of Musicians and the prestigious U.S. National Open Piano Competition. Lana has been teaching music theory and practice to young people for more years than she can count.
Granada Music & Arts Conservatory
Lana Bodnar, Theory; Misha Bodnar, Chamber Music; Nina Bodnar, Artistic Director, Virtuoso Strings; Barbara Coventry, Prelude String Ensemble; Andrea Di Maggio, Solfege; Sabina Funk, Visual Arts; Duff Kennedy, PhD, Music Appreciation and History; Natalya Klimov, Solfege; Claude Lise La Franque, Orff, Solfege; Perie Longo, S.B. Poet Laureate Emerita, Poetry; Katie Mendenhall, Program Administrator; Linda Nelson, Costume and Set Design; Jami Gina Olsen, Theatre; Kaori Otose, Administrative Assistant and Volunteer Coordinator; Greg Pantages, Operations Manager; Nita Pettigrew, Creative Writing; Chryss Yost, Poetry.
Santa Barbara Strings
Nina Bodnar, Strings Co-Artistic Director; Linda Burrows, Operations; Alexander Chang, Assistant; Shannon McCue, Assistant; Katie Mendenhall, Program Administrator; Mary Beth Woodruff, Strings Co-Artistic Director, Sinfonietta, Intermezzo Strings.
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Administrative Office
1330 State Street, Ste 101
Santa Barbara, CA 93101
805.899.3000
info@granadasb.org
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