Archives :: Bird School of Music

Welcome to our back pages. We've worked on some fun and fabulous projects over the years here at Bird. Here's a sampling of what we've done:

A.C.T. Collaboration: Across the Universe
June 2006
Our first collaboration with American Conservatory Theater's Young Conservatory program, Across the Universe reimagines the musical legacy of The Beatles as experienced by a group of American teenagers during the turbulent 1960s. A band of Bird students backed the singers in this original production.

A.C.T. Collaboration: Fields of Gold
June 2007
Our second A.C.T. collaboration featured Sting's music – from his days as the leader of Police to his greatest solo offerings - woven into original story about the American heartland.

A.C.T. Collaboration: I'm Still Standing
May 2008
Our third A.C.T. collaboration explored the journey of growing up in word and song, using Elton John's music as the fabric of the storytelling.

Bird Bad 70s Summer Camp
Summer 2008
Our third year of summer camps featured songs from the 70s so bad they're good, like "Kung Fu Fighting," "Rhinestone Cowboy" and "Muskrat Love."

Piano & Harmony Clinic
November 2008
Bird instructor Nick Culp put together a fascinating lecture on what Bach has to do with jazz, how Renaissance music led to the Blues and the mysteriously-named "harmony smuggling."

GarageBand Clinic
November-December 2008
This 6-week class covered Apple's GarageBand software, from hardware needs and recording a basic song to mixing, mastering and creating a podcast.

Chord & Sax Clinic
December 2008
Bird instructor Tony Peebles explained how to understand, write out and perform every chord symbol you'll ever see in jazz, rock or R&B sheet music.