May 23, 2011

to

May 24, 2011

Celebrate New Hampshire Forests and the Weeks Act

Visiting musicians Deborah Stuart and Will Cabell will offer free family music programs on Monday, May 23, at the Brown School in Berlin and on Tuesday, May 24, in Colebrook. The programs will use songs and active music to involve parents and young children in celebrating the forests and animals of northern New Hampshire. Both programs are free and open to all families and young children. Both programs will be followed by light refreshments.

Deborah and Will will be visiting the Brown School on Monday and Colebrook-area preschools and day care centers during the day Tuesday to present programs and provide teachers and caregivers with professional development and ideas for using music and books in learning and language development. The daytime programs will be followed by the free family evening music programs.

Brown School Concert: 6-7 p.m., Monday, May 23

“Forest Songs and Stories” is a free family concert, featuring the visiting musicians. Songs and music that center on the White Mountain National Forest and the North Country region will be shared. The program will be very participatory with lots of chances to sing along and play small folk instruments. Deborah and Will are spending the day at the Brown School with first graders and their teachers, and students will share a song they have written during their class visit!

Colebrook Concert, 6 p.m., Tuesday, May 24, Ricker’s Kiddie Korner, 68 Parsons Street

The visiting musicians will again offer a family music program, “Forest Songs and Stories,” with lots of songs and active music involving parents and children in celebrating the forests and animals of northern New Hampshire. The program will be followed by a potluck dessert buffet. For more information on the Colebrook program call 237-5810.

The school and preschool visits and family concerts are made possible through the Arts in Early Learning Project, a partnership between the Arts Alliance of Northern New Hampshire and VSA New Hampshire, with funding from VSA, an affiliate of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.

Throughout 2011 the Arts Alliance is working with its members and with partners around the state on collaborative programming celebrating the 100th anniversary of the Weeks Act. This important federal legislation – named after Lancaster native John Wingate Weeks – allowed the Forest Service to purchase private land and turn it into public forest, including the White Mountain National Forest. For more information, call the Arts Alliance at 323-7302.

The Arts Alliance, a nonprofit working to promote, support and sustain cultural life throughout northern New Hampshire, is funded in part by an operating grant from the New Hampshire State Council on the Arts. Find additional information at www.aannh.org