On December 3rd and 4th, the exotic melodies of Galician bagpiper Cristina Pato rang out for public school students in five Kids to Concerts “Spanish Sojourn” performances.
Over 1,500 children from Memorial, Morningside and Klein Road Elementary Schools in New Braunfels ISD, and 800 children from MH Specht and Timberwood Park Elementary Schools in Comal ISD participated.
Cristina’s natural effervescence created a special atmosphere for the students as they took a fantastic musical journey through Spain. Not only did Cristina and her accompanists, Victor Prieto on accordion and John Hadfield on eastern percussions, play beautiful music, but they infused their performance with facts about Spanish geography, the flag, dance styles and rhythms.
A reviewer of this KtC series said, “It was an excellent balance of music and teaching. How nice it was to see that knowledge and objectives were taught through a sort of entertainment-type environment. It was like the kids were learning without them realizing it.”
A special thanks to our Sponsors for making these Kids to Concerts performances possible:
Central Texas Pain Center and Dr. Eric Miller, Texas Commission on the Arts, San Antonio Office of Cultural Affairs, Kronkosky Charitable Foundation, Valero Energy Corporation, NuStar, Minnie Stevens Piper Foundation, and Elizabeth Huth Coates Foundation.
And kudos to Diana Day, Program Manager of Kids to Concerts at Musical Bridges, for her hard work and dedication to providing San Antonio’s children with the best musical opportunities.
Kids to Concerts is a free educational outreach program that brings the inimitable experience of live performing arts directly to at-risk children around San Antonio in schools that lack funding for arts and music programs — at no charge to the schools visited.
For more information or to donate to this program, Program Manager, or call (210) 464-1534.
Photos by Ken Mahnke.