Welcome Rhonda AbouHana and Damion Wallace!

The Ambrit Music Department is going to have three teachers this year. Rhonda AbouHana will be teaching Early Childhood Music, Grade 1 music classes and team teaching the Grade 1 Choir with Mrs. Short. Rhonda is from Virginia, USA, and has much experience working with music students from Kindergarten to High School. She is a singer, and has had her own voice studio, coaching singers for a variety of music, and has performed both classical and contemporary styles of music, and plays piano. She will also be the conductor of the Middle School Choir. Rhonda loves Italy and is very happy to be at Ambrit.

You might all know Damion Wallace as a primary classroom teacher, but he is also a seasoned musician and has been the director of our Primary Strings Orchestra for several years. Now we are thrilled to have him in the Music Department as Middle School Music teacher. Damion is originally from the musical city of New Orleans, and plays violin. He is also a composer and music arranger. He is looking forward to teaching Middle School students and getting everyone to make music.

If you have a moment when you are at school, please stop by and say "hello"!

Ambrit Dance Festival Now on Vimeo

Hi, Everyone! Check out our Dance Festival on Vimeo! Thank you to Liana Miucci and her colleagues who filmed this!

Junior Choir to Genova

Ambrit Chamber Ensemble and Junior Choir went on a joint tour to Genova this year. We sang at the Anglican Church and the concert was beautiful! These singers and musicians perform music from all periods, sound great,  and look smart! We also toured the Galata Maritime Museum, the Genova Aquarium, walked all the way to the Faro, which is one of the oldest standing structures of its kind in the world, and at the famous Pesto of Genova. All music trips include a heavy schedule or practicing (in the hotel, usually!) seeing the city and sights. We have also been to Milano, Monopoli, Brindisi, Todi, and Florence.
Conductors are Yvonne Fisher and Paige Short. To our Grade 5 singers, good luck next year. We will miss you in Junior Choir! Keep singing!

What's Happening in Karate Recorder/Flutophone?

Congratulations to our first Red Belt in Flutophone Karate at Ambrit, and to the first two Red Belt winners in Karate Recorder! These guys really practice and love to play recorder and flutophone. They practice a lot on their own at home and vacation. Pietu is the only Purple Belt in Grade 3. They are the first Ambrit students to get this far in Karate Recorder and they are only in Grade 4. They not only play recorder, but sing in Junior Choir and play violin and guitar, too. Karate Recorder is fun and, just like Flutophone Karate, you get a different colored belt for each level song you can play on the instrument. By the time you get to black belt, you will be ready for Renaissance music or Jazz! We have a lot of other students on the way to this high level, too, so see you in the Music Room!

Ambrit Treble Choir just came back from a day out. First we sang a concert for the all the students at the Britannia International School in Rome. Then we visited the Museo delle Navi (Ship Museum) in Nemi, which was built to house Caligula's two huge barges. The barges were used for Caligula's extravagant ceremonies, and were beautiful, clad in marble, decorated with columns, and tiled with tin. At the end of WWII someone burned the ships down, and so now, we see only the remnants. It is a place worth seeing, and we made it worth listening to, too, because we sang a a song there. Click on this link to hear us! (the rest of the day was spent swimming in the crater lake, Albano). A good time was had by all!

Ambrit Treble Choir Spontaneous Sing

Ambrit Singers go to MAIS Honor Choir

MAIS Honor Choir was held in Trieste March 28-April 1 and Ambrit was represented by three talented middle school singers: Ashalynn Kuemlangan, Pihla Pekkarinen, and Antoine Veillerette, who was one of the soloists. They sang with singers from Spain, Portugal, Morocco, Tunisia, Italy and France. Rehearsals were long but the choir also went on side trips to see beautiful Venice, Grado, and Trieste. They sang two concerts, both to full houses, and the second one got them a standing ovation! The music came from four different centuries and was sung in English, Xhosa, Latin, Yemeni, and one song, "We Are Bridges", included 27 languages. Congratulations on a fine concert to our Ambrit students, and to Paige Short, director of the choir. 

Composing!

Music students are still composing great works in the music room. Pretty soon you should be able to hear some new music.Yvonne Fisher gives some pointers to Francesco.

Recorder Inspiration

For our Grade 4 and 5 students learning to play recorder, please check out this great performance of Michala Petri, playing the Devil's Trill Sonata by Tartini. Written in 1713, it is still one of the most difficult and beautiful recorder sonatas, even today. Tartini Devil's Sonata for Recorder and Lute. Performers, Michala Petri and Lars Hannibal

New Middle School Music Teacher: Introducing Ms. Tiffany Herring

We are sad to see Ms. Carolina Johnson leave AMBRIT this year, but we know she will be successful in her next adventure. Carolina, thank you for all your hard work and dedication.

The Music Department would like to welcome Ms. Tiffany Herring as the new Middle School Music Teacher. Ms. Herring has many years of experience as an Operatic Vocalist, Music Teacher, and Director. She has performed in many countries including South America, North Africa, and in Europe. She has a Performance Diploma from the Jacobs School of Music in Indiana, and received a Bachelors in Music from the Oberlin Conservatory of Music in Ohio.  The Music Department is thrilled to have Ms. Herring. She is a great addition to AMBRIT and to the Music Department.