EDEN Colorado turns two!
We are in our second year of bringing music/nature workshops to Colorado schools. This initiative, inspired by Joyce DiDonato’s EDEN Project, offers choral and songwriting education that enriches hundreds of young musicians each year, encouraging the connection between art and the environment.
EDEN Colorado is led by Ars Nova’s teaching artists (and altos) Ellen Moeller and Julia HIlton, who orchestrate flexible K-12 music workshops throughout the year. At New Vista High School, they meet with students weekly from October 22 – December 7 for an advanced clinic, culminating in a showcase of original compositions. This is Ars Nova’s second year partnering with New Vista, helping fill the gap left by the absence of a formal choir program.
This program has grown significantly, now extending to more Title I schools across the state, with an anticipated twelve participating schools and an estimated reach of 500+ students- more than double last year’s 200. Ars Nova Singers will present RubyFIRE: Shared Visions concert on April 26, featuring about 50 student-singer participants from across the Denver Metro Area. Expected upcoming partnerships include Boulder, Eagle, and Lake County schools. Ars Nova will also present this at the CMEA Conference on January 28 at the Broadmoor Hotel in Colorado Springs!
Beyond concerts, Ars Nova’s education programs embody the organization’s core value: a commitment to enriching the next generation of musicians and music lovers. Even for those who may never attend a performance, these programs provide meaningful creative experiences for our community and lasting connections through music.
Created in conjunction with the International Teaching Artist Collaborative (ITAC), and world-renowned opera singer and Grammy Award winner Joyce DiDonato, EDEN is a music and environmental awareness workshop for children in grades K-12; its hopeful and inspiring message is already blooming in Europe. This music workshop inspires empathy with nature by asking the essential question: What if trees could sing? The children respond to this prompt with words and melodies and create their own song, while also learning the EDEN anthem, Seeds of Hope, written by the pilot children’s choir that was created for this project. Joyce says,
“EDEN is a call to action to build a paradise for today: to fertilize, nourish, and protect the pure bliss that the deepest part of us knows and yearns for: the unpolluted perfume of a linden branch; the comforting shade of a towering tree; the breathtaking sanctity of pure love; the generosity of the endless light that breaks open for us every single morning; the dying to the world we have known, only to embrace and live aloud in our heaven, our love, and our song.”
EDEN-Colorado directly activates the power of music in children’s lives, bringing musical expression into action to address the environmental challenges they face, and giving them, quite literally, a voice to help create a new EDEN. The students will participate in singing, choreography, and composing while becoming part of a community (the international Eden choir family). Through music, the children will acknowledge the crisis the climate is in, appreciate the beauty in the world, and encourage everyone, including themselves, to take just one step to help save our world.
Do you have questions? Reach out to us at kimberly@arsnovasingers.org, or directly to EDEN-Colorado coordinator Ellen Moeller at ellenmoeller@gmail.com.