by Mike Telin

As The Cleveland Orchestra makes the final preparations for its second annual Northeast Ohio neighborhood residency from May 17-24 in Lakewood, (a complete listing of dates and times can be found online) extensive educational programs have already been happening since late March.

“One thing that is different about this year’s community residency is the number of educational activities,” Joan Katz Napoli, the Orchestra’s director of education and community programs, said during a conversation. “Each residency is customized to the community, and in Lakewood there is a very high level of music education taking place at every grade level, so this is a great opportunity to engage the musicians with the music teachers.”

Katz Napoli pointed out that meetings with music teachers began last fall when they began the process by posing one question: If you could have musicians from the Cleveland Orchestra come to your school, what would you want them to do? “I am excited, because there were probably twenty teachers around the table and each one had ideas about what would be useful and helpful.” [Read more…]