McGraw-Hill Education Partners With World-Renowned Philadelphia Orchestra to Bring Visual Musical Experiences Into Classrooms

NEW YORK, Sept. 20 /PRNewswire/ -- Students at all levels can now enjoy a full-sensory music education experience in classrooms this fall. Understanding that musical performance is both an auditory and visual experience, McGraw-Hill Education and The Philadelphia Orchestra have partnered to enhance traditional PreK-16 music instruction with a special video featuring a recent Orchestra performance.  Bringing these media-rich capabilities to music classrooms across the country enables students to both see and hear orchestral music as it's played by world-class musicians, enhancing the way learners experience music and developing their ongoing appreciation for the art.

In May, McGraw-Hill Education and The Philadelphia Orchestra came together to film an 18-minute video of the Orchestra in concert at the Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts in Philadelphia. Created exclusively for use in McGraw-Hill Education's instructional content, the video of Benjamin Britten's "A Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra" launched this fall in college classrooms across the U.S. as part of Connect ™ Music, the musical edition of McGraw-Hill's digital learning platform.

Connect, an all-digital assignment and assessment platform for higher education with more than 1.8 million users across 34 academic disciplines, allows anytime, anywhere access to course content for students and teachers that provides a simple way to assign, customize and track student performance.  In addition to supplying The Philadelphia Orchestra video, Connect Music incorporates interactive listening assignments and quizzes, streaming music examples, video opera and film excerpts, among other features.

"Amazing!" says Professor Carolyn Quinn of Riverside Community College in California. "The performance is superior, of course, but I especially liked seeing the players perform up close. I think my students will go wild for it."

"This is the first time that a publisher and a major symphony orchestra have collaborated on a project like this," says Chris Freitag, publisher, Arts and History at McGraw-Hill Higher Education. "Attaching the two brands—McGraw-Hill, the premier publisher of music education materials at all levels, and The Philadelphia Orchestra, one of the great orchestras in the world—demonstrates the quality and significance of this project."

The Philadelphia Orchestra is the only orchestra in the U.S. with HD video cameras strategically placed on stage to film close-ups of the musicians' hand and foot placement, facial expressions and general body language.  

"We're thrilled that The Philadelphia Orchestra's unique partnership with McGraw-Hill gives over 80,000 students the chance to experience from afar the power and joy of music, through the artistry of the Orchestra," said Philadelphia Orchestra Association President and CEO Allison Vulgamore.  "We hope this will spark fresh excitement about classical music in a new community of listeners, who will be our audiences of the future. We look forward to deepening our relationship with McGraw-Hill and the students they serve."

Benjamin Britten's work was specially selected for this initiative. This piece, a set of variations on a theme by Henry Purcell and originally produced for an educational documentary called The Instruments of the Orchestra, showcases each of the four different sections of the orchestra as a way of demonstrating their unique tone colors and capacities. "We've used recordings of this piece for years," says Richard Kaller, vice president and editorial director of PreK-12 music at McGraw-Hill's School Education Group. "By adding a visual context to a piece of music, younger students can now see what instruments are being played, which is a stronger teaching approach than simply listening to the music by itself."

The video is available now through Connect Music for college classrooms, and will be part of a DVD collection for instructional use for PreK-12 classrooms.

McGraw-Hill has long been the leader in publishing educational materials in music across the elementary, secondary, and higher education curricula, with the best-selling franchise series and titles like "Spotlight on Music" for PreK-8 and Roger Kamien's "Music: An Appreciation" at the college level. This video is another example of an ongoing commitment to stronger music education programs at all levels.

About McGraw-Hill Education

McGraw-Hill Education, a division of The McGraw-Hill Companies (NYSE: MHP), is a leading innovator in the development of teaching and learning solutions for the 21st century. Through a comprehensive range of traditional and digital education content and tools, McGraw-Hill Education empowers and prepares professionals and students of all ages to connect, learn and succeed in the global economy. McGraw-Hill Education has offices in 33 countries and publishes in more than 65 languages. Additional information is available at http://www.mheducation.com.

About the Philadelphia Orchestra:

Founded in 1900, The Philadelphia Orchestra has distinguished itself as one of the leading orchestras in the world through a century of acclaimed performances, historic international tours, best-selling recordings, and its unprecedented record of innovation in recording technologies and outreach. The Orchestra has maintained unity in artistic leadership with only seven music directors throughout its history: Fritz Scheel (1900-07), Carl Pohlig (1907-12), Leopold Stokowski (1912-41), Eugene Ormandy (1936-80), Riccardo Muti (1980-92), Wolfgang Sawallisch (1993-2003), and Christoph Eschenbach (2003-08). This rich tradition is carried on by Chief Conductor Charles Dutoit. During his tenure, Mr. Dutoit will also showcase the music of the Ballets Russes, continuing in the 2009-10 season with performances of Stravinsky's Petrushka and The Rite of Spring. The Philadelphia Orchestra annually touches the lives of more than one million music lovers worldwide through its performances, publications, recordings, and broadcasts. Each year the Orchestra presents a subscription season in Philadelphia, education and community partnership programs, regular appearances at Carnegie Hall and the Kennedy Center, and a three-week tour. Its summer schedule includes performances at Philadelphia's Mann Center for the Performing Arts, free Neighborhood Concerts, and residencies at the Bravo! Vail Valley Music Festival and the Saratoga Performing Arts Center. For more information on The Philadelphia Orchestra, please visit www.philorch.org.

SOURCE McGraw-Hill Education