This week marks the official kickoff of Savannah Music Festival’s third year of Musical Explorers, an innovative music education program developed in partnership with Carnegie Hall’s Weill Music Institute. The 2016-17 curriculum guide, website and CDs are being distributed throughout local K-2 classrooms, and more than 300 teachers throughout greater Savannah are attending workshops with performers and teaching artists this week. Nearly 11,000 local schoolchildren will participate in the program this academic year, attending semester-end concerts at the Lucas Theatre for the Arts.

Musical Explorers introduces students and teachers to the diverse musical community and cultures of the southeastern U.S., in particular those of Coastal Georgia and the South Carolina Lowcountry. This semester’s artists include Savannah’s Mike Daly (brass quintet music), banjo player and singer-songwriter Kaia Kater (old-time music) and Jeffery Broussard from Lafayette, Louisiana playing traditional zydeco. Units 4 through 6, which are taught in the spring semester, include the music of India by singer Falu Shah (a visiting artist from New York City), German art songs with Savannah’s Heidi Bindhammer and Mayi and Eddie Lopez from Atlanta’s Orquesta MaCuba introducing Cuban and Puerto Rican salsa music.

The successful implementation of Musical Explorers in Savannah is evidenced by findings independently collected and analyzed by Data Advantage, LLC. Student test scores and teacher surveys presented the following outcomes resulting from the program:

- A significant increase in math scores for 35% of students whose classroom teachers participated in the professional development workshops offered at the beginning of each semester

- An increase in reading scores for students whose classroom teachers participated in the workshops

- An improvement in classroom conduct

- Noteworthy increases in instructional best practices, especially in math and science, for teachers integrating Musical Explorers into their classrooms up to two hours per week

- A significant increase in job satisfaction for teachers integrating Musical Explorers into their classrooms up to two hours per week

For more information about Musical Explorers, please contact Ryan McMaken at [email protected] or 912.234.3378 x104. Program information and curriculum can be found at www.savannahmusicfestival.org/musicalexplorers.