Regi Worles and Michael Merola, two members of the band Dogtags, a soul band from the Denver area, worked with students to prepare for an upcoming concert planned by Education Through Music, an organization with a mission to promote musical education to all students.
“They do a music festival every year and they pick a different artist each year for the students to work with,” said Capstone Music Teacher Becca Duncan. “We have students performing vocals and on instruments. It’s an all-day event with about 10 other schools. It will be a new experience for our students.”
Another one of Duncan’s students won the organization’s logo contest, so her submission will appear on all the T-shirts for the festival.
“I think 150 to 200 kids will be wearing it, so that’s pretty cool for her, too. We're in our first year at Capstone, so I’m really proud of all these things that add up to make it such a great place.”
Students were not initially familiar with Dogtags’ music, so Duncan played them some samples. When she finally told them the band would be coming to school for a rehearsal, the students were ecstatic.
“They were listening to all their music just really excited and said ‘You mean the people that wrote these songs are coming here?’ They were just really awe struck and really excited.”
Duncan said the rehearsal seemed to go fast and students had a flurry of questions for the artists. Among the popular questions were about their artistic process and where they got the inspiration to write their songs.
She was also impressed by her students’ interactions with the band members and was happy to see how easily they related to them through music.
“To have kids see people that make a living out of music and loving and enjoying it is just awesome. It was very inspirational for the band members, too. They were humble enough to come hang out with kids and sit next to them and sing along with them, So, I think that's just a beautiful thing. We're transcending age barriers.”
Duncan learned new things about some of her students as well. One is a very talented keyboard player, another plays violin with a local mariachi band, another plays trumpet. Her daughter will join those students, along with several others playing recorders, with the band on stage during the festival.
“The students are just really excited. There's been a lot of excited energy, and it has really fueled their practice and performances. They’re really excited about what's to come.”
Students will perform with the band during the All Together Now Festival on May 12 at the Newman Center for the Performing Arts in Denver.
Great work promoting musical education, Mrs. Duncan!
About Capstone Academy
Capstone Academy is a tuition-free, public charter school in Commerce City, Colorado, serving students in kindergarten through sixth grade. It is part of the National Heritage Academies (NHA®) network, which includes more than 100 tuition-free, public charter schools serving more than 65,000 students in kindergarten through high school across nine states. For more information, visit nhaschools.com.
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