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Practice Challenge

Time to get practicing! We’re kicking off our Practice Challenge!

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Composer of the Week: Pixinguinha Brazilian Choro

Composer of the Week: Pixinguinha Brazilian Choro composer Pixinguinha was born Alfredo da Rocha Viana Filho on May 5th, 1897 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. In 1912 Pixinguinha began performing at cabarets, and later became the flutist for a live orchestra that performed to silent movies. In 1919 Pixinguinha joined forces with fellow musicians Donga, his brother China, João Pernambuco, as well as others to form the group “Os Oito Batutas”, and together the group performed in the lobby of the Cine Palais movie theater, eventually becoming so popular they were more sought after than the silent films themselves. After a tour of Europe and working in Paris in 1921 the group returned to Brazil, with Pixinguinha newly inspired to incorporate more wind instruments similar to jazz, as well as have the group perform jazz standards and ragtime. In 1939 Pixinguinha joined Benedito Lacerda’s band as a saxophonist, however due to financial struggles at the time many of the pieces Pixinguinha wrote were co-credited to Lacerda, even though the young musician did not contribute to the writing of the piece. As Choro continued to fall out of popular style in the 1950’s Pixinguinha retired from performing and only occasionally performed in public. Notable pieces he wrote during his life include “Carinhoso”, “Lamento”, and “Glória”. Pixinguinha died on February 17, 1973 in Ipanema. What else can you learn about Pixinguinha this week? #ComposerOfTheWeek #CotW #MakeMoreMusic #MusicEducation #MusicEd #MusicHistory #LittleMissionStudio #Pixinguinha

Composer of the Week: Alexandre Desplat French fi

Composer of the Week: Alexandre Desplat French film composer Alexandre Desplat was born August 23rd, 1961 in Paris, France. Desplat first learned to play piano when he was 5, but soon switched to trumpet, followed by the flute when he was 9. Desplat’s earliest musical influences include Maurice Ravel and Claude Debussy, as well as jazz and world music. He gained an appreciation for film score from a young age listening to the soundtracks his parents had brought to France when they moved from the US, with soundtracks such as 1977’s Star Wars soundtrack by John Williams. Desplat studied at the Royal College of Music in London and at the Paris Conservatory with Claude Ballif, as well as a summer workshop with Iannis Xanakis. Desplat began working as a film composer in the 1990’s, with early films such as See How They Fall and Innocent Lies, however his first breakout success came in 2003 with the film Girl with the Pearl Earring. Other notable films Desplat has written the soundtrack for include “Fantastic Mr. Fox”, “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Parts 1 & 2”, and “The Grand Budapest Hotel”, which won Desplat his first Academy award. In addition to his extensive film scores Desplat composed his “Concerto for Flute & Orchestra” in 2013 for French flutist Jean Ferrandis. What else can you learn about Alexandre Desplat this week? #Composeroftheweek #CotW #MakeMoreMusic #MusicEducation #MusicEd #MusicHistory #LittleMissionStudio #AlexandreDesplat

Join us tomorrow evening for our Chamber Music Par

Join us tomorrow evening for our Chamber Music Party, starting at 8pm! We’re super excited to showcase some cool pieces (like this one!) that the students of Little Mission Chamber Ensembles have been preparing in the past few months. Free & no RSVP needed. See you tomorrow! 🎶# #makemoremusic #music #musiceducation #sfmusicschool #sfperformances

Composer of the Week: Vincent Persichetti America

Composer of the Week: Vincent Persichetti American composer and pianist Vincent Persichetti was born June 6th, 1915 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. At the age of 5 he began studying at the Combs College of Music, studying piano, organ, double bass, and later music theory. He was highly accomplished from a young age, with his pieces receiving public performance when he was just 14 years old. Persichetti earned his Bachelor’s of Music from Combs College of Music in 1936, and started teaching at the school shortly afterwards. While teaching at Combs Persichetti also began earning his Master’s of Music from the Philadelphia Conservatory of Music as well as studying conducting at the Curtis Institute of Music, earning his Master’s in 1941, Doctorate of Music in 1945, and a diploma in conducting. In 1947 Persichetti began teaching at the Julliard school where he had many notable students such as Peter Schickele, Philip Glass, and Claire Polin. Persichetti was instrumental in the early development of wind ensemble music with pieces such as “Divertimento for Band” and “Masquerade”. Persichetti composed a large amount of music during his career for a variety of different ensembles and instruments in addition to his wind band music. Other works include the opera “The Sibyl”, a piano concerto “Concerto for Piano, 4 Hands”, and his set of mostly solo instrumental pieces “Parables” which is a collection of works. Persichetti died on August 14th, 1987 while living in Philadelphia. What else can you learn about Vincent Persichetti this week? #Composeroftheweek #CotW #MakeMoreMusic #MusicEducation #MusicEd #MusicHistory #LittleMissionStudio #VincentPersichetti

Little Mission Chorus is swinging with excitement

Little Mission Chorus is swinging with excitement to perform their Spring Concert this coming Tuesday, April 8th at 8pm! Free and no RSVP required. See you there! 🧡🎶 #choir #MakeMoreMusic #music #musicschool #musiced #musiceducation #sfmusicians

Composer of the Week: Antonio Lauro Venezuelan g

Composer of the Week: Antonio Lauro Venezuelan guitarist Antonio Lauro was born on August 3rd, 1917 in Ciudad Bolívar, Venezuela. He was first taught to sing and play guitar by his father, however following his father’s death the family moved to Caracas, where Lauro began studies at the Academia de Música y Declamación for piano and composition. In 1932 after attending a concert by Paraguayan guitarist Augustín Barrios the young Lauro decided to switch primary instruments and returned to playing guitar. Lauro was deeply proud of his Venezuelan heritage and toured with a group, Trio Cantores del Trópico from 1935-1943, singing and playing guitar and performing the national musical style of Venezuela. His most notable pieces for guitar repertoire are a set of Venezuelan waltzes, “Tatiana”, “Natalia”, and “Andreína”. In addition to his guitar repertoire Lauro also wrote for orchestra, choir, piano, and voice although many were never published. Lauro died on April 18th, 1986 while living in Caracas. What else can you learn about Antonio Lauro this week? #Composeroftheweek #CotW #MakeMoreMusic #MusicEducation #MusicEd #MusicHistory #LittleMissionStudio #AntonioLauro

Our guitar faculty love new gear! Teacher Brad had

Our guitar faculty love new gear! Teacher Brad had to test out the new amp as soon as we opened it! #Guitar #guitarlessons #music #musiceducation #electricguitar

We’re officially 2 weeks away until our upcoming

We’re officially 2 weeks away until our upcoming Chamber Music Party! Our Little Mission Chamber Ensembles will present works by: Beethoven, Stravinsky, Schumann, Piazzolla, Kanda, and more! Free & no RSVP needed. Hope to see you there! 🎻🎶

Composer of the Week: Patti Smith American singe

Composer of the Week: Patti Smith American singer Patti Smith was born December 30th, 1946 in Chicago, Illinois. From a young age Smith was surrounded by music, her mother a jazz singer, gifted the young Smith with her first music albums including Bob Dylan’s “Another Side of Bob Dylan”, and “Shrimp Boats” by Harry Belafonte. In 1969 she travelled to Paris with her sister and the two travelled around busking and performing in Paris. Smith was highly regarded for her poetry early on in career and by 1973 she had teamed up with a number of musicians including Lenny Kaye, Richard Sohl, Ivan Kral, and Jay Dee Daughtry to form “The Patti Smith Group”. Notable songs Smith has written during her career include “People Have the Power”, “Because the Night”, and “Dancing Barefoot”. Smith was inducted into the Rock ‘N’ Roll Hall of Fame in 2007, dedicating the award to her late husband Fred Smith. Smith was also inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2021 for her album Horses, which was originally the debut album released by Smith in 1975. What else can you learn about Patti Smith this week? #Composeroftheweek #CotW #MakeMoreMusic #MusicEducation #MusicEd #MusicHistory #LittleMissionStudio #PattiSmith

To celebrate Women’s History Month at Little Mis

To celebrate Women’s History Month at Little Mission Studio, we’ve featured some of music’s most inspiring female artists through our ‘Composer of The Week’ curriculum! Do you recognize any of them? #MakeMoreMusic #music #musicschool #musiced #musiceducation #sf #musichistory

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Composer of the Week: Pixinguinha Brazilian Choro

Composer of the Week: Pixinguinha Brazilian Choro composer Pixinguinha was born Alfredo da Rocha Viana Filho on May 5th, 1897 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. In 1912 Pixinguinha began performing at cabarets, and later became the flutist for a live orchestra that performed to silent movies. In 1919 Pixinguinha joined forces with fellow musicians Donga, his brother China, João Pernambuco, as well as others to form the group “Os Oito Batutas”, and together the group performed in the lobby of the Cine Palais movie theater, eventually becoming so popular they were more sought after than the silent films themselves. After a tour of Europe and working in Paris in 1921 the group returned to Brazil, with Pixinguinha newly inspired to incorporate more wind instruments similar to jazz, as well as have the group perform jazz standards and ragtime. In 1939 Pixinguinha joined Benedito Lacerda’s band as a saxophonist, however due to financial struggles at the time many of the pieces Pixinguinha wrote were co-credited to Lacerda, even though the young musician did not contribute to the writing of the piece. As Choro continued to fall out of popular style in the 1950’s Pixinguinha retired from performing and only occasionally performed in public. Notable pieces he wrote during his life include “Carinhoso”, “Lamento”, and “Glória”. Pixinguinha died on February 17, 1973 in Ipanema. What else can you learn about Pixinguinha this week? #ComposerOfTheWeek #CotW #MakeMoreMusic #MusicEducation #MusicEd #MusicHistory #LittleMissionStudio #Pixinguinha

Composer of the Week: Alexandre Desplat French fi

Composer of the Week: Alexandre Desplat French film composer Alexandre Desplat was born August 23rd, 1961 in Paris, France. Desplat first learned to play piano when he was 5, but soon switched to trumpet, followed by the flute when he was 9. Desplat’s earliest musical influences include Maurice Ravel and Claude Debussy, as well as jazz and world music. He gained an appreciation for film score from a young age listening to the soundtracks his parents had brought to France when they moved from the US, with soundtracks such as 1977’s Star Wars soundtrack by John Williams. Desplat studied at the Royal College of Music in London and at the Paris Conservatory with Claude Ballif, as well as a summer workshop with Iannis Xanakis. Desplat began working as a film composer in the 1990’s, with early films such as See How They Fall and Innocent Lies, however his first breakout success came in 2003 with the film Girl with the Pearl Earring. Other notable films Desplat has written the soundtrack for include “Fantastic Mr. Fox”, “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Parts 1 & 2”, and “The Grand Budapest Hotel”, which won Desplat his first Academy award. In addition to his extensive film scores Desplat composed his “Concerto for Flute & Orchestra” in 2013 for French flutist Jean Ferrandis. What else can you learn about Alexandre Desplat this week? #Composeroftheweek #CotW #MakeMoreMusic #MusicEducation #MusicEd #MusicHistory #LittleMissionStudio #AlexandreDesplat

Join us tomorrow evening for our Chamber Music Par

Join us tomorrow evening for our Chamber Music Party, starting at 8pm! We’re super excited to showcase some cool pieces (like this one!) that the students of Little Mission Chamber Ensembles have been preparing in the past few months. Free & no RSVP needed. See you tomorrow! 🎶# #makemoremusic #music #musiceducation #sfmusicschool #sfperformances

Composer of the Week: Vincent Persichetti America

Composer of the Week: Vincent Persichetti American composer and pianist Vincent Persichetti was born June 6th, 1915 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. At the age of 5 he began studying at the Combs College of Music, studying piano, organ, double bass, and later music theory. He was highly accomplished from a young age, with his pieces receiving public performance when he was just 14 years old. Persichetti earned his Bachelor’s of Music from Combs College of Music in 1936, and started teaching at the school shortly afterwards. While teaching at Combs Persichetti also began earning his Master’s of Music from the Philadelphia Conservatory of Music as well as studying conducting at the Curtis Institute of Music, earning his Master’s in 1941, Doctorate of Music in 1945, and a diploma in conducting. In 1947 Persichetti began teaching at the Julliard school where he had many notable students such as Peter Schickele, Philip Glass, and Claire Polin. Persichetti was instrumental in the early development of wind ensemble music with pieces such as “Divertimento for Band” and “Masquerade”. Persichetti composed a large amount of music during his career for a variety of different ensembles and instruments in addition to his wind band music. Other works include the opera “The Sibyl”, a piano concerto “Concerto for Piano, 4 Hands”, and his set of mostly solo instrumental pieces “Parables” which is a collection of works. Persichetti died on August 14th, 1987 while living in Philadelphia. What else can you learn about Vincent Persichetti this week? #Composeroftheweek #CotW #MakeMoreMusic #MusicEducation #MusicEd #MusicHistory #LittleMissionStudio #VincentPersichetti

Little Mission Chorus is swinging with excitement

Little Mission Chorus is swinging with excitement to perform their Spring Concert this coming Tuesday, April 8th at 8pm! Free and no RSVP required. See you there! 🧡🎶 #choir #MakeMoreMusic #music #musicschool #musiced #musiceducation #sfmusicians

Composer of the Week: Antonio Lauro Venezuelan g

Composer of the Week: Antonio Lauro Venezuelan guitarist Antonio Lauro was born on August 3rd, 1917 in Ciudad Bolívar, Venezuela. He was first taught to sing and play guitar by his father, however following his father’s death the family moved to Caracas, where Lauro began studies at the Academia de Música y Declamación for piano and composition. In 1932 after attending a concert by Paraguayan guitarist Augustín Barrios the young Lauro decided to switch primary instruments and returned to playing guitar. Lauro was deeply proud of his Venezuelan heritage and toured with a group, Trio Cantores del Trópico from 1935-1943, singing and playing guitar and performing the national musical style of Venezuela. His most notable pieces for guitar repertoire are a set of Venezuelan waltzes, “Tatiana”, “Natalia”, and “Andreína”. In addition to his guitar repertoire Lauro also wrote for orchestra, choir, piano, and voice although many were never published. Lauro died on April 18th, 1986 while living in Caracas. What else can you learn about Antonio Lauro this week? #Composeroftheweek #CotW #MakeMoreMusic #MusicEducation #MusicEd #MusicHistory #LittleMissionStudio #AntonioLauro

Our guitar faculty love new gear! Teacher Brad had

Our guitar faculty love new gear! Teacher Brad had to test out the new amp as soon as we opened it! #Guitar #guitarlessons #music #musiceducation #electricguitar

We’re officially 2 weeks away until our upcoming

We’re officially 2 weeks away until our upcoming Chamber Music Party! Our Little Mission Chamber Ensembles will present works by: Beethoven, Stravinsky, Schumann, Piazzolla, Kanda, and more! Free & no RSVP needed. Hope to see you there! 🎻🎶

Composer of the Week: Patti Smith American singe

Composer of the Week: Patti Smith American singer Patti Smith was born December 30th, 1946 in Chicago, Illinois. From a young age Smith was surrounded by music, her mother a jazz singer, gifted the young Smith with her first music albums including Bob Dylan’s “Another Side of Bob Dylan”, and “Shrimp Boats” by Harry Belafonte. In 1969 she travelled to Paris with her sister and the two travelled around busking and performing in Paris. Smith was highly regarded for her poetry early on in career and by 1973 she had teamed up with a number of musicians including Lenny Kaye, Richard Sohl, Ivan Kral, and Jay Dee Daughtry to form “The Patti Smith Group”. Notable songs Smith has written during her career include “People Have the Power”, “Because the Night”, and “Dancing Barefoot”. Smith was inducted into the Rock ‘N’ Roll Hall of Fame in 2007, dedicating the award to her late husband Fred Smith. Smith was also inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2021 for her album Horses, which was originally the debut album released by Smith in 1975. What else can you learn about Patti Smith this week? #Composeroftheweek #CotW #MakeMoreMusic #MusicEducation #MusicEd #MusicHistory #LittleMissionStudio #PattiSmith

To celebrate Women’s History Month at Little Mis

To celebrate Women’s History Month at Little Mission Studio, we’ve featured some of music’s most inspiring female artists through our ‘Composer of The Week’ curriculum! Do you recognize any of them? #MakeMoreMusic #music #musicschool #musiced #musiceducation #sf #musichistory

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