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Sound Tracks educational program

Sound Tracks overview

Sound Tracks :: Educational Program overview
 

About Sound Tracks and Sound Tracks Plus

Sound TracksPiloted in 2007, both "Sound Tracks" & 'Sound Tracks PLUS" are in-school educational outreach programs serving students at the Chicago Public Schools with little or no music education. 

"Sound Tracks" is designed to introduce 4th & 5th graders to global cultures through world & new music, geography, arts & architecture.  Each school receives six workshops composed of lectures, video presentations, and live performances.  It is not just a music appreciation program, it provides ideas and tools for the teachers to enhance their schools' existing social studies programs. We evaluate the program each year with pre & post quizzes, written essays by the students, comprehensive rubrics by the teaching artists, and guidance by our Sound Tracks Advisory Board.

"Sound Tracks PLUS" is an advanced, 100% participatory program for the 5th & 6th graders learning to make music using drums, keyboard percussion, traditional dance, and song.  At the end of their five workshops, all the students are required to demonstrate their skills through a final performance together with Fulcrum Point musicians.

Sound Tracks shirts
Support our fundraising efforts for the growth of Sound Tracks!  We thank JNL Design and Jason Pickelman for their generous donation of creating the logo for "Sound Tracks" and the t-shirt. 

Please purchase a t-shirt directly from our website here.

Additional Information about SOUND TRACKS

Sound Tracks ran as a pilot project during the spring of 2007 at Chicago’s South Loop Elementary School, which was selected with the help of the Chicago Public School Fine Arts Department, having a diverse student body and a strong faculty with the willingness to prepare and participate in the project.

Since 2008 Sound Tracks has served close to 800 4th and 5th graders and have established relationships with the following Chicago Public Schools:
  • Bell Elementary
  • Clark Elementary
  • Drake Elementary
  • Fuller Elementary
  • South Loop Elementary
  • McDowell Elementary School
  • Ted Lenart Regional Gifted Center
  • Key Elementary
  • Fiske Elementary School
  • Woodlawn Elementary Community School
  • Wadsworth Elementary
  • Waters Elementary

Sound Tracks Advisory Board

The mission of the Sound Tracks Advisory Board is to provide guidance in shaping the development of the programs via proactive input regarding curriculum, teaching artists, organizational sustainability, and community support.

For more information, and to sign up for the Sound Tracks Project, please contact: Sophia Wong Boccio, Executive Director - Email: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Sound Tracks PLUS "Introductory Visit"


Sound Tracks PLUS - a students participatory musical program taught by Fulcrum Point teaching artists. The video captured the first introductory visit where one classroom of 6th graders learned to choose one of the disciplines: "Keyboard"; "Song/Dance" & "Rhythm" for their future lessons.

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Fulcrum Point rehearsal with the Woodlawn Community Elementary School Band!


Preparing for the Afro-Beats performance at the Harris Theater in Chicago! Fulcrum Point rehearsal with John Knecht, Idy Ciss, Stephen Burns, and the Woodlawn Community Elementary School Band.

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Fulcrum Point with Christina Pawlowski perform "Dot and Line" at Book Sounds

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Fulcrum Point with Christina Pawlowski perform "Joseph Had A Little Overcoat" at Book Sounds

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Sheng player Alan Pang performing at the YUNNAN FOCUS, a special Sound Tracks outreach visit in honor of Vivian Fung's Yunnan Folk Songs, March 2011

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SOUND TRACKS Artists

Asia Visit     
  • Yang Wei (bio) -- Pipa
  • Darlene Drew -- Flutes
  • Ed Moore -- Cello

Africa Visit     

India/Mid-East visit    
  • To be advised

Musica Latina visit     

Supporters

Thanks to our generous funders & donors led by Polk Bros. Foundation, close to 800 students are participating in "Sound Tracks" this year.  Our goal is to inspire and mentor more students each year as we move forward. 

Become an Ambassador for Fulcrum Point New Music Project’s outreach programming. To contribute to meet our financial needs, or to volunteer, please contact:

Sophia Wong Boccio, Executive Director
(312) 726 3846 or This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

This program is supported by part by Polk Bros. Foundation, Swiss Benevolent Society of Chicago, Zuckerman Family Foundation, and individual donors.

Polk Bros Foundation

Swiss Benevolent Society

Kate Neisser, Chair of the Board of Trustees of the Erikson Institute

Info to come

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Nadine Zelle, Educator, Waters Elementary

Info to come

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Tazama Sun, Educator, Woodlawn Elementary

Info to come

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Idy Ciss

Idy Ciss comes to us from Senegal.  He is a former member of the National Ballet. Idy is a full time member of the Muntu Dance Theatre of Chicago offering his expertise as a consultant, choreographer and principal dancer. Idy  teaches West African Dance classes at the Old Town School of Folk Music in Chicago, Lycee Francais de Chicago, Soulistic Studio & Spa and Joel Hall Dance Center.

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Juan Díes

Juan Díes was raised in San Luis Potosi, Mexico where he first developed a passion for music, learning to play the guitar at age six. At age 18, he migrated to the U.S. and explored new musical styles including jazz, folk, reggae and rock.  He majored in Music and Anthropology at Earlham College and received an MA in Folklore/Ethnomusicology from Indiana University. He taught and studied music in Mexico, Spain, and Kenya, served as Director of Community Programs for Chicago’s Old Town School of Folk Music (1993-2005), and co-founded Sones de Mexico with Victor Pichardo in 1994. He performs mostly on bass and acts as the group’s main narrator; he has contributed some of the arrangements and has produced all of the ensemble’s CDs. He also administrates the business and serves as the ensemble’s Executive Director.

Active in the community, Juan has volunteered for the boards of NARAS, Folk Alliance and the CSO, served in various municipal, state and national grant panels, and done independent fieldwork research for the Smithsonian, NEA, Montgomery County Arts Council (MD), and Lowell Folk Festival (MA).

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Jeff Handley

Jeff Handley is a highly sought after percussionist in Chicago.  He is Principal Percussionist and Education/Outreach Program Director with Chicago Sinfonietta, which includes several recordings and tours to Switzerland and the Canary Islands.  Jeff is also a member of Fulcrum Point New Music Project, serving as percussionist, Musician’s Union Contractor, and Education Director. Other ensembles Jeff performs with are: Chicago Opera Theater, Ravinia Festival Orchestra, Lyric Opera, Grant Park Symphony, and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra.  Jeff was recently heard with Andrea Bocelli, Peter Cetera, Dennis DeYoung, Charlotte Church, and productions of “Les Mizerables”, “Spamalot”, “Wicked”, “Color Purple”, and “Mary Poppins” at the Cadillac Palace Theater.  An active clinician and educator, Jeff received his Masters of Music Performance degree in 1988 from DePaul University.

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John Knecht

John Knecht is a professional percussionist who has traveled to over 25 countries to master the art of drumming. He has studied and performed with legends in jazz, rock, funk, classical and African styles, with an emphasis on drum set and African percussion. Knecht instructs children and adults on the theory and performance of hand percussion and drum set. Over the past ten years, his work in the classroom has emphasized age-appropriate aspects of music, geography, social sciences and language.

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Javier Saume-Mazzei

A native of Caracas Venezuela, Javier Saume-Mazzei began his studies in percussion at the age of eight with Edgar Saume the principal percussionist of the Simon Bolivar Orchestra. He was a member of and instructor for the critically acclaimed "Movimiento de Orquestas Juveniles de Venezuela" and holds a B.A. in Music from the Chicago College of Performing Arts of Roosevelt University where he studied classical percussion with Ed Harrison, drum set with Phil Grateau and Paul Wertico, and Latin percussion with Ruben Alvarez.

Javier has performed with Rhonda Richmond, Reginald Veal, Herlin Riley, and Cassandra Wilson, the " Orquesta Sinfonica de Miranda, "Orquesta Sinfonica gran Mariscal de Ayacucho" in Venezuela, and has participated in concerts, master classes, and residencies at the Folk Life Festival for the Smithstonian Institute in Washington D.C in 2006, the International Folk Song Festival held in at the Centre of the performing Arts in Beijing China in 2008 at the Lincoln Center of the performing Arts in 2008-2009 and Carnegie Hall in 2010 in New York with Sones de Mexico Ensemble. Javier has recorded with Middle Eastern jazz artists Omar Al-Musfi and Hi Jazz, and the Mexican folkloric group Sones de Mexico Ensemble, nominated for the Latin Grammy 2007 and Grammy 2008.

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Wagner Campos

Born in Heredia, Costa Rica, Wagner Campos studied at Baylor University with Dr. Richard Shanley and at DePaul University with Larry Combs and John Yeh.  He performs regularly with groups such as the Joffrey Ballet Orchestra, Chicago Sinfonietta, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Chicago Chamber Musicians, CSO MusicNow, The Callisto Ensemble, and the Fulcrum Point Project.

His love for teaching has brought him to the faculties of the Costa Rican Youth Symphony, Colombian Youth Symphony, Chicago Merit Music Program, Lake Forest Academy, and the Sherwood Conservatory. He has given master classes in Bogota, Colombia; San Jose, Costa Rica; and in San Juan, Puerto Rico.

As a guest artist outside Chicago, Wagner has participated in concerts with The Milwaukee, Alabama, and Charleston Symphonies. He has toured with The Chicago Symphony Orchestra in different tours, The New World Symphony, and The Galicia Symphony Orchestra. In 1998, he was invited to join the San Francisco Ballet Orchestra for a full season as Principal Clarinetist.  In addition to his own recording , Romantic Songs for Clarinet and Piano, under the Southport Label, he has also recorded with The San Francisco Ballet Orchestra, The Chicago Symphony Orchestra, and St. Charles Chamber Singers.  Currently Wagner Campos serves as Clarinet and Chamber Music Instructor at DePaul University.

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Yang Wei

Yang Wei studied classical Chinese instruments since age of 6 and chose PIPA as his favorite instrument since age of 13 and has become a master of it with his first soloist performance at age of 18 with the national Shanghai Orchestra.  Now a world-known PIPA musician, he has performed around the world and in the States at the Ravinia Intl Music Festival, the Kimmel Center, the Lincoln Center and the Chicago Symphony Center.  Since 2000, Yang Wei has toured with the Silk Road Project, performing alongside world famous cellist, Yo Yo Ma.  Currently reside in Chicago; Wei strives to share his native musical heritage, exploring the creative possibilities of blending his Eastern background with Western influences of his new home.

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