About Music A to Z
Since its inception in 1998, Music A to Z has performed for over 1,500 children primarily in low performing schools as defined by the Texas Accountability System. The majority of these children have limited resources for extracurricular programs. Many of these students have never heard orchestral instruments and have no concept of how they are played. Language barriers are yet another hurdle for these preschoolers.
In 2006, Music A to Z completed a residency program at Erasmo Seguin Community Learning Center that provided an opportunity for two preschool classes to experience music as an integrated part of their weekly curriculum. Twice a week for four consecutive weeks, Tracey Mumford used the violin, guitar, and various folk instruments to support emergent literacy skills in the classroom.
Looking to expand this residency program, Music A to Z would like to train more area professional musicians to be placed with low performing elementary schools. These musicians would then mentor an assigned class of at risk students and guide it from pre-kindergarten through the third grade, exposing the children to higher levels of musical experience each year that will help facilitate their learning to read.
Bios
Music A to Z is:Tracey Mumford
Tracey Mumford is currently a freelance musician with the Dallas Opera Orchestra. She graduated with a degree in violin performance from the Eastman School of Music and has over ten years of experience performing for children on the concert stage as well as in the classroom. Bilingual in French and English, Tracey sings and plays a variety of instruments in an effort to help young children make the connections needed to develop strong language skills. In addition to her work with the Fine Arts Chamber Players' Dream Collectors, she is an artist with North Texas Wolf Trap Early Learning Through the Arts.
Dwight Shambley
Dwight Shambley holds a degree from the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music. He has been a bassist for the Dallas Symphony Orchestra (Bio) since 1972 and is a co-founder of the orchestra's Young Strings program, providing free music lessons and resources for Hispanic and African-American students.
Sho-Mei Pelletier
Sho-Mei Pelletier, violinist, has been a member of the Dallas Symphony Orchestra since 1975. Pelletier studied music and served as a teaching assistant at Indiana University with Josef Gingold. She has performed with the Santa Fe Opera Orchestra and the symphony orchestras of Albuquerque, Phoenix, Evansville, the Colorado Philharmonic and the New World Symphony Orchestra. Pelletier has won concerto competitions and scholarships to many festivals. In 1982, she was selected as an Outstanding Young Woman in the United States and appeared in the "International Who's Who in Music." Pelletier's book, The Simple Dictionary for Classical Musicians, was published in 2000.