Your students can perform together with the Fairfax Symphony!

In partnership with Carnegie Hall, the Fairfax Symphony is pleased to offer our innovative Link Up music learning program, “The Orchestra Swings.” 

"Swing" is many things. It's a distinctive, rhythmic feel; a musical era dominated by big band jazz; a style of dance that grew alongside the music; and that elusive but unmistakable feeling that results when musicians are deeply tuned into each other and playing in "sync" or "in the pocket." Though swing is characteristic of jazz, an orchestra can also swing.

Through the Link Up repertoire, hands on activities, and a culminating, interactive performance with the Fairfax Symphony Orchestra and jazz ensemble, students will explore what happens when jazz and classical music come together — learning concepts of rhythm, form, improvisation, and how they contribute to the magical moment when the orchestra starts to “swing.”

The repertoire includes:

• Tito Puente: "Oye Cómo Va"
• Thomas Cabaniss: "Come To Play"
• John Clayton: "Recorder Mae and the Giant Swing Machine"
• Florence Price: "Juba" from Symphony No. 1
• Duke Ellington: "Duke's Place"
• George Gershwin: "I Got Rhythm"
• Duke Ellington: "It Don't Mean a Thing (If It Ain't Got That Swing)"
• Traditional: "When the Saints Go Marching In"

Teacher and student guides are provided, with customized Lesson Plans for teaching the curriculum. Through active listening, analyzing the music, and a focus on the historical context of jazz, students will put these core capacities to use in a new domain. Link Up is an evidenced-based music learning program developed by the Weill Institute of Carnegie Hall, with curriculum supporting national CORE and Virginia Standards of Learning. The program is ready to implement and flexible, with teachers able to incorporate the Link Up curriculum and engaging lessons into their classroom to support their students' learning goals.

Link Up connects the classroom to the concert hall to enhance student's skills including:

• Literacy
• Math
• Communication
• Collaboration
• Creativity
• Confidence