“As far as heritage goes, which is kind of the central focus of what we do at Rhapsody, there’s layers to it. The layers are all of the things that end up making you – you.”
Jed Crisologo, Musician
Not Just Teaching to the Middle
Culture and heritage are important aspects of who we are, and they are relevant to every topic that we teach. With that in mind, The Rhapsody Project started in part because they wanted to find a better way to teach music; not just the European model. In order to engage music in a more authentic cultural context TRP developed a better way to educate students about American music.
Reinventing Beethoven
Concerns about the engagement of young learners with culture heritage has been a focus for a number of organizations, and has not been lost on Europeana,.eu . Europeana hosts a website dedicated to the use of digital tools for exploring cultural heritage. They confronted the generally white European model of music education by hosting a celebration of Ludwig van Beethoven’s 250th birthday titled “Reinventing Beethoven”. The goal was to use digital tools as a way to modernize teachings about Beethoven, and classical music. The project winner was an interactive XR exhibition around Beethoven’s life and work and an escape room in Beethoven’s Bonn house. In order to not just teach to the middle, the characters and activities in the exhibit represented a range of ethnicities.
Suggested Resource
The Rhapsody Project provides a number of tools around addressing racism and establishing cultural equity, including a Layers of Heritage workbook . The workbook “offers 8 different layers for you to think about, guiding you through various reflection and research exercises to aid in your exploration”. TRP offers multiple courses for individuals to explore their own cultures and heritage.
