BPO educates local Catholic students about the Erie Canal through music

Students from 14 Catholic schools in the Diocese of Buffalo gathered at Kleinhans Music Hall Tuesday, Feb. 11 for a special concert put on by the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra. The theme was “Erie Canal 200: Low Bridge, Everybody Down,” celebrating the bicentennial of the canal’s completion and opening.

“I think it’s so great to learn more about this area. We talk about one of the tribes that originally lived here, the Haudenosaunee, at the beginning, which may be news to some of the students, which is really exciting,” said Leah Wietig, vocalist and host of the day’s program. “It’s also to learn about how people traveled. We talk a lot about traveling from Albany to Buffalo, or the reverse, Buffalo to Albany.”

After a brief humorous video about Kleinhans Music Hall was played on a large projection screen above the orchestra, Wietig entered the stage joined by Fernanda Lastra, the BPO’s assistant conductor. A second video was soon played, featuring the Seneca Chief, a replica of the longboats which once traversed the Erie Canal, constructed in Buffalo over the past several years at Canalside. Wietig addressed the students, explaining that the rhythm of music was much like the rhythm of the canal. 

The program offered students lessons about music fundamentals, while drawing similarities to elements of the Erie Canal. For example, the orchestra played excerpts from Beethoven to demonstrate intervals of notes, progressing upward or downward, just as the canal’s locks gradually help a vessel rise or lower to match the level of a section of the waterway.

Morton Gould’s “Swing Low, Sweet Chariot” was used to demonstrate harmony, while Modest Mussorgsky’s “Great Gate of Kyiv” was used to demonstrate tension and release.

There were also selections that allowed the children to move a little, including Duke Ellington’s “It Don’t Mean a Thing (If It Ain’t Got That Swing).” 

And, of course, the concert included the playing of “Low Bridge, Everybody Down,” known more casually as the Erie Canal Song. After Wietig sang the lyrics a first time, the kids were encouraged to join in when Lastra and the orchestra repeated the song, with words projected above on the screen. Sure enough, many of the youngsters joined in: “I’ve got an old mule, and her name is Sal …”

It was noted at the start of the concert that this is the 30th year the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra and Diocese of Buffalo Catholic Schools have enjoyed this educational partnership. Catholic schools build upon STEM education (science, technology, engineering, math) by adding religion and art to offer STREAM education. Wietig is a strong advocate of music education in schools.

“I think that exposing students to the arts, especially on this level, and having them see so many instruments at one time in this program, we talk about each instrument family, so they get to learn about the specific instruments in the orchestra,” she said. “I always think about the audience of children. Perhaps the next Yo-Yo Ma is in the audience, but we don’t know until we introduce them to music.  I believe it’s deeply important, and especially in schools, to introduce it in the classroom, more daily than just a field trip.”