Mother of Pearl's school presentation is 50 percent information, 50 percent inspiration, and 100 percent fun for kids of all ages. We provide opportunities for participation appropriate to each learning level thus making our program suitable for students K - 12.

We start the show with our own captivating, CBC award-winning arrangement of the “Hockey Night in Canada Theme” – guaranteed to perk the interest of enquiring young minds who never knew jazz could sound like this!

From there, we take our audience back to the 1920's, the era of the Blues Queens who first created the awareness of jazz and blues music and the intrinsic power it had for its composers and upon its listeners.

So just what is jazz?? To explain and demonstrate the wide range of possibilities for creating jazz, we take a familiar tune and apply to it different jazz treatments or styles – “Spider Man” is a proven favourite of our school audiences, not to mention one or two of the band members!

Yet jazz is not merely a style, but rather an attitude and a commitment to create something honest, personal and expressive. We show this by introducing the concept of improvisation, "making it up as you go along" using a freed imagination and the musical tools at hand.

Mother of Pearl presents music, art and creativity as viable and essential pursuits for girls and for boys. Our message is "Believe in yourself, work hard and you can realize your dreams." For Mother of Pearl, this vision includes highlighting the contributions made by women composing and performing in the blues and jazz tradition. Who better to tell stories of those amazing women and teach the next generation about that music than a dynamic group of talented women musicians?

Please refer to our study guide to get a more in depth description of our concert and the educational value behind each selection of music. Our school performance is 45 to 50 minutes in duration, plus, if desired, a few minutes for questions at the end of the performance. We also provide workshops that can be booked either independent of or as a supplement to the school show.

VIEW STUDY GUIDE

DOWNLOAD STUDY GUIDE
(right click on link and select "save target as")

Booking
To book a show or workshop, contact ARTSTARTS, or you can book directly through us by e-mailing lauristix@hotmail.com

Technical requirements
School concerts can be performed in the gym or on the stage of your school theatre. We supply all of our own equipment including P.A., however we DO require:

1-2 electrical outlets

1 long extension cord

5 regular classroom type chairs

Fee
Fee range is $675-850 in BC. Grants are available: AIE 60%, Musician’s Trust Fund.