A Taste of Orff musical workshop to be held at GisInt

The Orff approach: The musical philosophy and teachings of world renowned composer Carl Orff will come to Gisborne on Saturday through the workshop, A Taste of Orff. Picture supplied

Gisborne students will get a taste of world-famous German composer Carl Orff through a special workshop this weekend.

The workshop, titled A Taste of Orff will provide an introduction to the Orff approach with lots of hands-on music-making activities.

The workshops are renowned worldwide and have been popular over the years — and it is no different in Gisborne with all of the spaces for this weekend’s event booked out.

German composer Carl Orff was best known for his cantata Carmina Burana.

The Orff approach to music and movement education was developed by Orff and his associate Gunild Keetman in the early decades of the 20th Century.

Described as “elemental music and movement education” in its place of origin (Germany and Austria), this approach has now been disseminated throughout the world

Orff encouraged the adaptation of his ideas to local contexts taking into account geographical, social and cultural factors.

A key principle of this approach is ‘music for all’.

Therefore, participation happens in a non-competitive environment and takes account of all participants’ skill levels, whether advanced or basic, often in the exploration and involvement in the same piece of music.

The Orff approach, as a ‘unity of speech, music and movement’ (a quote from Orff), begins with activities that come naturally, such as familiar speech patterns, movement sequences, rhymes, stories and songs.

Combining, but not limited to, elemental features such as pentatonic scales and repetitive accompaniments (borduns and ostinati), successful music-making is enabled.

Typically ‘Orff ‘instruments used to facilitate teaching and learning in this approach include found sounds, untuned and tuned percussion (such as, xylophones, marimba, glockenspiels).

Other instruments, appropriate to the local context, may be included to form ensembles for collaborative music-making.

The Gisborne workshop will also be an opportunity to establish a group of music-makers and teachers in Gisborne.

The morning will be broken into two sessions, incorporating movement, music and language in New Zealand contexts for participants.