Faculty Feature: Greg Sinibaldi & Denali Williams

Greg Sinibaldi

One of the major assets that distinguishes Music Works Northwest from other music schools is our unique and talented faculty.  We are currently 46 faculty members strong, which means 46 highly talented members of our local, national, and global music community teach right under one roof. Each one of them has something exciting on the horizon, and this month, we’d like to give you a teaser of what is coming up for saxophone instructor Greg Sinibaldi and percussion instructor Denali Williams.

Greg Sinibaldi has recently finished scoring a piece for a percussion quartet and it is being premiered October 2, 2010 by the Seattle Percussion Collective.  The concert will be held at the Chapel Performance Space at the Good Shepherd Center in Seattle.

Greg writes in his blog his feelings on composing this piece:

“I’m excited to hear it and really appreciate the opportunity to write it. It’s interesting finishing something like this. I worked countless hours on this and in the end I really don’t have much to show for it. I have a pretty score and parts but its manifestation doesn’t really come till its heard. And even then, its manifest for 10 minutes then gone. An odd thing. Maybe that’s why I like improvisation so much. Its in the now and reflects whats happening in the current space.”

Denali Williams

Honoring Greg with the performance of this piece is Denali Williams, a member of the Seattle Percussion Collective and percussion instructor at Music Works Northwest.

Denali will be performing with the Seattle Percussion Collective on both October 1st and 2nd.  Both nights look to have a promising set list.  The October 1st concert will be held at Gallery 1412 on Capitol Hill and will explore the music of John Cage.  The October 2nd concert as mentioned above will be held at the Chapel performance Space at the Good Shepherd Center in Wallingford and will feature the piece written by Greg Sinibaldi, as well as Mark Applebaum, and other composers from around the US and the world.

These are definitely two concerts that you do not want to miss!

October 1:

Gallery 1412: 1412 18th St, Seattle, WA 98122 (Capitol Hill/Central District neighborhood).  Suggested Donation $5 – $15.

October 2:

Chapel Performance Space at the Good Shepherd Center: 4649 Sunnyside Ave N, 4th Floor, Seattle, WA (Wallingford neighborhood).  Suggested Donation $5 – $15.

Music Therapy Notes

Thanks to all who came to our Open House. “It was a pleasure meeting you and your families.  I’ve been meaning to introduce Kirsten Bennett, our new music therapist, to the blog but I think it’s best if Kirsten introduces herself!  From Kirsten:  I am a graduate of Utah State University and recently completed my six month internship in music therapy at an at-risk youth residential facility close to Philadelphia, PA called Bethany Children’s Home. I loved working with the youth and have greatly expanded my hip-hop repertoire. Before that, I spent a year and a half living in Japan, and have perfected the art of eating with chopsticks. I am so excited to live in the Northwest with so many Japanese restaurants! I enjoy writing, hiking, camping, boating, learning, reading, and spending time with people. I  especially enjoy spending time with my fiance, the love of my life. We will be married this month, and I look forward to all the new adventures that life has to offer. I am so excited to begin getting to know the community at Musicworks, and anxiously await making many new friends.”  Kirsten will start sessions the week of October 18th with a new Social Group through Music beginning October 23rd for 6 – 10 year olds.  The group will be an 8 week class.  Research has shown that social groups are one of the most effective ways to work on communication skills and anyone who has ever played in a music group understands what an ideal medium music is for teaching communication.   But more on that later.  For now, let’s meet Kirsten!

Music Therapy Program Open House

We are very excited to announce that our music therapy program is expanding.  Kirsten Bennett is joining our program which will allow us to offer services six days a week here at Music Works.  Kirsten will be offering individual and group sessions on Saturdays with additional scheduling on Fridays.  This means that families can take advantage of the broadened schedule and not have to try and fit everything into after school times Monday – Thursdays.  It means we can also offer groups that had been difficult to schedule before.  In honor of this expansion, we are having a Music Therapy Program Open House this Saturday, September 18th from 10:00 AM to Noon in Classroom 1.  Come celebrate with us as we have refreshments, musical activities, and door prizes.

In case you thought music therapy was just for children, think again.  We offer music therapy services for all ages.  Please pass on our invitation to the Open House to anyone you think might be interested.  If they can’t make it, we can be reached at 425-644-0988.  See you Saturday!  Patti Catalano, MT-BC, NMT