Lomond Sound Music and Dance Presentation

The Soundbone Traditional Arts Foundation is a non-profit organization with a mandate to preserve and promote the folk arts of Newfoundland and Labrador. Our school touring presentations developed out of the Vinland Music Camp – a traditional music and dance workshop organized by the Foundation which has been held annually in Gros Morne National Park since 2001. We employ ten of the province’s most experienced artists/instructors, collectively known as Lomond Sound.  For the School Touring Program members of the group are employed for two week-long school tours – four artists for each tour.

Lomond Sound’s school presentation consists of day-long performances and workshops, beginning with a hour-long concert for all grades (see schedule below). During this period we demonstrate our instruments as well as perform a number of songs and dances, discussing their history and how they relate to our cultural history. Our opening set finishes with a question and answer discussion, followed by a closing set of tunes or song. During the next two periods the students are divided into four separate groups during which we conduct concurrent instrument, singing, songwriting and dance workshops. Students can take part in two different workshops, one for each period slot. (Ideally they can individually choose which workshops they wish to attend, though this is not always practical; music teachers may decide to divide the workshops by grade level instead.) Depending on the musical experience of the students, we usually start with basic technique, then move on to teaching a simple tune, song or dance which they can perform together. During the first period after lunch students return to their workshop classrooms and rehearse the tunes, songs and dances covered in the workshops, splitting the period into two 30-minute sections corresponding to the workshop morning sessions.

Our presentation concludes with a hour-long performance for the entire school involving students and instructors. This an opportunity for students to demonstrate their newly acquired skills to their classmates. It’s always an exciting and rewarding time for everyone.

Younger students (K-3) often have difficulty holding instruments such as the fiddle and guitar so in some smaller elementary schools we accommodate these students by having separate dance workshops just for them. For larger (all-grade) schools we usually confine the workshops to grades 4-8, though all the students are welcome to attend the opening and closing concerts. We limit our classes size to a maximum of 25 students for instrument workshops though dance, singing, percussion and songwriting can involve a larger number of participants (up to 35). 

Although the format described above is the one we use for most of our school tours, we can adapt our program to meet the needs of individual schools. For example, if there is a student folk group at a school we can arrange our schedule to spend some time with them.

At the end of each school visit we often leave copies of sheet music and song lyrics that were taught during the day. We also provide an online Folk Arts Resource Guide so teachers and students can follow up their interest in traditional music and dance.

Sample Daily Schedule (to be adapted to your school’s timetable)

8:50 AM – 9:50 AM – Period 1 – Opening Concert

9:50 AM – 10:05 AM – Recess

10:05 AM – 11:05 AM – Period 2 Workshops I  (4 concurrent workshops)

11:05 AM – 12:05 PM  – Period 3 Workshops II  (4 concurrent workshops)

12:05 AM – 12:55 PM – Lunch

1:00 PM – 2:00 PM – Period 4 – Rehearsals (two half-hour  sessions)

2:00 – 3:00 PM – Period 5 – Closing concert