Category: Visitors
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Child’s Play India Foundation kids and teachers play Perpetual Motion (Suzuki) 28 Feb 2016
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lSItFKPfkno]
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Volunteers from Oberlin : an update
19 January 2014Hello! We thought we would send another update now that we are more settled in here.The Hamara School is an orphanage that houses, feeds, and educates 80 Indian children. We are teaching fifteen of the kids violin and cello. Many of the children do not know their age, but most are between 3 and 16. We work with each student for fifteen minutes every morning and teach one group class a week. In the afternoons we teach longer private lessons, coach small chamber groups, and give lessons to the violin teacher here. Most of the students do not speak English, so we are learning little bits of Hindi and also the importance of demonstrating and gesturing. The children have an excellent Suzuki foundation and they play very well in tune with a beautiful tone. We are particularly impressed by how motivated the students are to come to their lessons everyday without any oversight. Often they are standing by the door waiting for us each morning and they greet us by saying, “good morning teacher!” It is amazing to see the young children so grateful for the opportunity to play music. Child’s Play has provided a way for the kids to do something that requires patience and dedication. The little students are so supportive of each other and they sit quietly through each other’s lessons, often singing along to the “busy busy stop stop” songs. It is amazing that they practice without any parental encouragement and watching them smile, sing, hum, and help each other is one of the most rewarding experiences we have had as teachers. The opportunity for these children to learn an instrument has profoundly changed their lives. The kids are appreciative and attentive in a way we have not seen in young American music learners.Along with its many rewards, teaching here has proven challenging as well and while the children seem to focus without problems, our own attention spans are being tested! There is never a moment of silence here and the rooms where we teach are flooded with a constant flow of kids coming to listen, ask questions, or get something. Somehow our students don’t seem distracted, but we certainly are! The windows don’t have glass in them, so people peer in and the cars honk every second of the day. Despite this, it is wonderful that music is so present in these kids’ lives. They all know about the stringed instruments and many beg to take lessons. Even in the week that we have been teaching, we have learned so much about music and the power it has to impact kids. We are very lucky to be a part of this project. Another challenge has been learning how to read the facial expressions of the Indian boys and girls. When we ask a question and are looking for a yes or no response, our students wobble their heads in a nondescript sort of way that could mean yes, no, or maybe. Apparently Indians know how to discern the difference, but we are struggling.In our spare time we have been rehearsing chamber and orchestral music. We are playing with the Camerata Child’s Play–a small string ensemble with the most advanced musicians in Goa. On Thursday we gave our first performance at the Goa State Museum. We are also playing string quartets and quintets with Luis (Child’s Play director) and Lee (violist from Canada). We’re putting together a short performance for the children at the Hamara School. In addition to playing and teaching music, we have also had time to explore and are getting more comfortable navigating the streets and the public bus system.It is hard to capture the true spirit of Panjim through pictures. Life seems chaotic, except during the early afternoon when many Indian men take an afternoon siesta. The streets are trash receptacles, and when the rubbish grows into a big enough pile, someone lights it on fire. It is difficult to escape the smell of smoke here. It is strange to observe the differences in lifestyle among the rich and poor. Often a large, well-kept home sits next to a slum that is pieced together with cardboard, metal scraps, and other trash. Some people eat with their hands and some people eat with utensils. There are starving dogs everywhere, beggars, and pushy salesman that try to make us buy tacky souvenirs. We miss clean air and silence, but we have discovered a beautiful beach not too far away that is a wonderful respite from the dust and street noise. That’s all for now, but we’ll write again soon!
Josie, Sophie, and Jaime -
Meet our volunteers from Oberlin Conservatory, USA
We were delighted to hear from three young musicians from Oberlin Conservatory, USA. They wanted to come to Goa to work with Child’s Play and we were happy to have them here with us this January – February. Josie and Sophie Davis (violins) and Jaime Feldman (cello) are spending six weeks with us and they will write occasional updates on their experiences. Here’s the first one. Enjoy!
January 12th, 2014Greetings from India!It has only been 48 hours since we arrived in Goa and we have: woven through the slums of Mumbai in a tiny taxi, been swimming in the Arabian Sea, attended a 3 hour class at the university spanning the history of classical music from gregorian chants through John Cage, ridden on and experienced the chaos of local busses, rick-shaws (which are quite rickety), and motorcycles, enjoyed the most delicious Indian and Portuguese food, participated in a round table discussion about the importance of music in the lives of disadvantaged children, learned what it really feels like to be jet-lagged, attended a lecture about the merit of Suzuki education, pursued a beautiful craft fair featuring the work of artists from all over India, discovered exotic fruits at the biggest indoor market we have ever seen, and we have met the most welcoming, colorful, and warm people.Panjim is incredible – an explosion of so many senses at once. The door to our balcony is wide open and the sounds of crows, cars, and traffic come in with the sea breeze. There are dogs, chickens, cats, cows, goats, pigs, people, cars, bikes, motorcycles, taxis, and rickshaws everywhere honking and swerving, but within all of this colorful bustle, there is a sense of life, friendship and gratitude. It is strange to be in a place where we are a minority. There are very few white people here, and no blonde white Americans. We never realized what it feels like to be so conscious of skin color. It is an eye opening experience in so many ways.Tomorrow we begin teaching lessons at the Hamara School (an orphanage not far from where we are staying) and will rehearse with our string quartet and the Camerata Childsplay, a small orchestra which we will play with while we are here.We are having an incredible time and are so grateful for and humbled by the support we have received for our project. We look forward to sharing more of our adventures with you soon.Love and hugs from the other side of the world,Josie, Jaime, and Sophie -
A seasoned Suzuki teacher volunteers with us
We have had a steady spate of international volunteers recently and we were really delighted to include Clare Raybould, a seasoned Suzuki teacher from London, to the list.
Clare spent a few weeks over Christmas and the New Year with Child’s Play. She worked with our children at Hamara School and Aldona, gave several masterclasses and ‘Train the Teacher’ workshops for our teachers and also played several concerts with Camerata Child’s Play India! She also gave a talk on ‘The Suzuki Method – Dispelling the Myths’ It was a busy few weeks for Clare and we are grateful for all her time and effort.
Clare takes a class for a bunch of young children at Hamara School 
The children at Hamara School 
Clare giving a talk on ‘The Suzuki Method: Dispelling the Myths” 
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Meet the Viola da Gamba
When unusual instruments come to town, we like to celebrate it. Filipa Menses, pianist and proponent of the viola da gamba was recently in Goa to perform at a concert with Hugo Reis, Portuguese guitar.
In advance of the concert, Child’s Play was delighted to host a ‘Meet the Viola da Gamba’ at Casa da Moeda. Filipa took time out from rehearsing to show off her lovely instrument, play a couple of solos and also duets with local musicians Ashley Rego, Dr. Luis Dias and Susan Badiyari. The event certainly whetted the appetite of the audience for more.
An attentive audience listens to Filipa rehearsing with Susan Badiyari
Ashley Rego, Dr. Luis Dias and Filipa Meneses perform to a full house.
Filipa talks about the Viola da Gamba, how she fell in love with it and what her career has been like.
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Press: Herald, 6 August 2013
Some of our Spanish volunteers made it to Page 3, as part of a report on our Dream Catcher concert – a combined effort by Camerata Child’s Play India and the musicians from the University of Seville. You can read a review here.
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Goodbye, Friends from Spain!
They’ve been with us for several weeks, making music, braving our monsoon. Some of them have begun heading back home now, some moving on to travel a little more of India before going back to Spain. We’d like to say a BIG Thank You to all these lovely musicians who came to work with Child’s Play (India) Foundation this summer. We hope you had a lovely time here!
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Press: Herald, July 2013
This July-August, we are delighted to have ten musicians from the University of Seville, Spain, coming to Goa to work with Child’s Play. These musicians have also been taken under the wing of Goa University and their newly-launched Visiting Professorship Scheme. Professor Santiago Lusardi Girelli will be the first Anthony Gonsalves Chair for Western Music at the University. Here is an interview with him. He is pictured (below) working with some of the children from Child’s Play.
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Camerta Child’s Play – the first concert
Child’s Play was thrilled to present the first concert by Camerta Child’s Play, conducted by Prof. Santiago Lusardi of the University of Seville, Spain on 14 April 2013.
The ensemble is made up of children of Child’s Play and local musicians. This first concert happened at short notice and after a few intensive rehearsals, a full-house of music lovers were treated to a lovely programme of works by Gershwin, Dvorak, Ravel, Fuchs and Beethoven.
