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PROGRAMS
Music

Girl with violin

What would the world be like without music? MMS students will never need to know! Our early childhood program surrounds children with the sounds of a variety of musical styles. In preschool classes, there are tone bells and musical instruments. Daily singing, both planned and spontaneous, and stories of composers' lives and musical styles provide a solid background as they progress into elementary classes.

First year students start reading music as they learn to play the recorder. Playing together as a group teaches the importance of accurate rhythm. Second and third year juniors may choose to stay with recorder or begin violin, viola, cello, or bass (stringed instruments are available in smaller sizes). Studies show that studying an instrument nurtures the ability to think imaginatively, improves spatial relationship, and develops hand-finger dexterity.

Moving to the intermediate level offers the opportunity to begin a woodwind instrument: flute, clarinet, or saxophone, which-along with string classes-continue through the senior years.

Additionally, weekly half-hour private piano lessons are available at a nominal charge.

As well as learning to play the instrument, these classes also include individual attention, music theory, appreciation, history, listening, composition, and performance. Vocal music classes concentrate on tone-matching and development, repertoire, part-singing, and sight-reading. In addition to the yearly musical, other performances for all students are a December holiday program, May piano recital, and the Celebration of the Arts. Seniors perform individually and in small ensembles for the MMS Solo & Ensemble Festival, and most participate in the Michigan School Band and Orchestra Association's District Festival in Livonia.

For enrichment, the school annually attends Toledo Symphony concerts, and older classes have enjoyed Toledo Opera presentations of "Carmen,""Marriage of Figaro," "Barber of Seville," "Samson and Delilah," and others. Seniors have journeyed to Stratford, Ontario, for stage productions of "Fiddler on the Roof" and "Amadeus."

Other musical activities throughout past years include costumed Renaissance Festivals, our own version of Dickens' "Christmas Carol," providing music for Earth Day programs, ISD graduations, Christmas dinners, and Monroe's holiday parade.