In this video, teaching artist Samantha Whelan Kotkas discusses the From Blue to Red project, in which Grade 10 to 12 students participated as story writers, composers, illustrators, documenters, or scientists. Co-produced with Ross McIntyre, this project helped students articulate their ideas and develop a personal relationship to the arts.
This video is part of a four-part series on invoking the imagination through the arts for students of all ages. In this series, Samantha shares different ways music educators can invoke the imagination of others, create an environment that supports the discovery of individual artistic voice, and help people articulate their ideas in and through an art form like music.
Teaching Musician, Music Alive Program Alberta
Samantha Whelan Kotkas
Calgary, Alberta
Samantha Whelan Kotkas is a professional trumpet player, teaching artist, storyteller and award-winning children’s book producer with over 20 years working in the Alberta, Canada and International Arts communities. She performs regularly with the Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra, Rosa Barocca, the Red Deer Symphony, Altius Brass and has authored several works which she has performed with Symphony Orchestras and Canada’s top jazz musicians.
Samantha is currently working on an immersive outdoor musical storytelling experience with original live and recorded music, story and dance called 'Wandering with Wonder'. This project will premiere at the Leighton Art Centre in the fall of 2020.
In conjunction with her active career as a performer, Samantha is the education advisor for Calgary Pro Musica and a teaching artist for the National Arts Centre of Canada (NAC) where she finds the cross-cultural work she does with Walter MacDonald White Bear, as part of the Music Alive Program, very meaningful. She has written outreach and music teaching guides for the NAC, the Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra and the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra. She is also the brass instructor at Central Memorial High School in Calgary, Alberta Canada. For more information about Samantha please visit her website at www.samanthawhelankotkas.com
Music Alive Program Options:
Classical Composers (Possible composers: Vivaldi, Mozart, Beethoven, or R. Murray Schafer)
Cross-Cultural Experience (Possible themes: Music & Nature, Friends & Families, or Listening & Creativity)
Samantha Whelan Kotkas est trompettiste professionnelle, artiste-enseignante, conteuse et productrice de livres pour enfants primée. Elle est active dans le monde des arts, tant en Alberta que sur la scène internationale, depuis une vingtaine d’années. Elle se produit fréquemment avec l’Orchestre philharmonique de Calgary, l’Orchestre symphonique de Red Deer et les ensembles Rosa Barocca et Altius Brass. Elle a interprété plusieurs de ses compositions avec de grands orchestres et musiciens de jazz du Canada.
Samantha se consacre actuellement à Wandering with Wonder, un projet d’expérience musicale et narrative immersive, en plein air, avec musique en direct et enregistrée, contes et danse. La première aura lieu au Centre des arts Leighton à l’automne 2020.
En parallèle à sa carrière d’interprète, Samantha enseigne les instruments de la famille des cuivres à l’école secondaire Central Memorial de Calgary, et est experte-conseil en éducation pour Calgary Pro Musica et artiste-enseignante affiliée au Centre national des Arts du Canada (CNA). Elle prend plaisir à animer des ateliers interculturels avec Walter MacDonald White Bear dans le cadre du Programme Vive la musique du CNA. Elle a de plus rédigé des guides pédagogiques et de médiation culturelle en musique pour le CNA, l’Orchestre philharmonique de Calgary et l’Orchestre symphonique de Winnipeg. Pour tout savoir sur Samantha, veuillez consulter son site Web (en anglais) : www.samanthawhelankotkas.com.
Options programme Vive la musique:
Compositeurs classiques (compositeurs possibles : Vivaldi, Mozart, Beethoven ou R. Murray Schafer)
Expérience interculturelle (thèmes possibles : Musique et nature, Parents et amis, ou Écoute et créativité)
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