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Plan A Student Trip to New York City and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Manhattan Annex

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Rock and Roll History Comes to New York City

In the fall of 2008 New York City became home to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Manhattan Annex; the first physical expansion of the 25 year old, internationally known Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland, Ohio. Located at 6 Mercer Street in SoHo, the Rock and Roll Annex was publicly announced by musician Billy Joel, record producer Clive Davis, Hall of Fame Executive Director Terry Steward and New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg in August 2008.

According to a August 13, 2008 press release written by Damian Ghigliotty, “The 25,000-square-foot space will house Bruce Springsteen’s 1957 Chevy, John Lennon’s Record Plant Piano, and exhibits such as a rock and roll theater, a rotating gallery and an interactive map titled “New York Rocks”, featuring historical music sites throughout the city. “The Annex provides the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame with an established space for traveling exhibits and helps reach new audiences.”

City officials have welcomed the opening of the Manhattan Annex. In an August 2008 statement Mayor Bloomberg was quoted as saying, New York City is well known as a vibrant place for aspiring artists and musicians, and some of the most internationally-celebrated musical performers of this century have had their start right here on our streets. In celebration of American Music History, a percentage of the proceeds generated at the Annex supports the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame’s educational programs, as well as the Library and Archives, which are scheduled to open in the next 18 to 24 months.

What to Expect on a Student Trip to the New York City Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Manhattan Annex

A Unique Music History Experience for Youth and Adults
Individual, group and student Rock and Roll History tours start in the Hall of Fame Gallery. Here each artist inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame over the last 25 years is honored with a wall plaque highlighting personal signatures and greatest hits. Next visitors enjoy the unforgettable experience of an immersive theater featuring never-before-seen footage of some of Rock’s most memorable performances, such as the Beatles in Shea Stadium or Jimi Hendrix at Woodstock. Once ready to explore, a set of Sennheiser wireless, stereo headphones are provided so visitors can comfortably hear audio content while touring the other galleries: Roots and Influences, Moments and Movements and New York Rocks. All galleries are created to teach students, and other visitors, about an important part of music history in America.

Discover Rock and Roll’s Past and Present in the Roots and Influences Gallery
The Roots and Influences Gallery uses technology to help student tour groups understand the connection between music legends and the chart toppers of today. High definition screens and a special soundtrack allow students to map out the musical inspirations of some of music’s most popular modern performers.

A History of Change: The Evolution of Rock and Roll
In the Moments To Movements gallery the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Annex curators acknowledge and celebrate 5 noteworthy turning points in Rock and Roll history. From these periods, music industry revolutions were born that allowed artists like Bob Dylan, Michael Jackson and Madonna to not only achieve momentary success, but also evolve continuously, along with their audiences and an ever-changing music industry. Personal items from a variety of artists are displayed in the gallery.

Take a Student Trip That Celebrates New York City’s Role in Rock History
New York City has and continues to play a huge role in the history of Rock and Roll and of music in general. Historically, New York City has been home to some of Rock and Roll??s most beloved personalities. It has been home to some of Rock and Roll’s greatest triumphs and tragedies. The New York Rocks Gallery is centered around an interactive map that highlights and celebrates significant Rock and Roll sites around the city including the Chelsea Hotel and now closed CBGB Club. Items from the personal collections of famous Rock artists like Billy Joel and John Lennon are also featured in this gallery.

The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Annex in SoHo is a must see when planning a student trip to New York City. Students will do more than listen to Rock and Roll the will learn Rock and Roll’s place in music and American history. Follow this with a dinner at the Hard Rock Cafe for a fun day of excursions in New York City.

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Carnegie Hall: An Unforgettable destination for Educational Student Travel

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Make Music History the Theme of Your Next New York City Student Tour

Opened in 1891, Carnegie Hall has hosted many of the world’s greatest soloists, conductors and ensembles. Premier classical performances, jazz events, historic lectures, educational forums and more have been featured for more than a century. Carnegie Hall actually consists of three separate music halls created specifically for acoustics, audience size and atmosphere. The Isaac Stern Auditorium is the largest hall with seating for 2,804 people. The hall’s design makes the stage the central focal point of five levels of seating and the acoustics are famous across the globe. Isaac Stern, the hall’s current namesake, was once quoted saying, “It has been said that the hall itself is an instrument, it takes what you do and makes it larger than life.” Carnegie Hall is also home to the Joan and Sanford I. Weill Recital Hall, an elegant, intimate space for approximately 268 people, as well as the Judy and Arthur Zankel Hall, which was recently reconstructed and seats 599.

A NYC Field Trip for Music Lovers
Sanford I. Weill, the Chairman of the Board for Carnegie Hall, once said, “For music lovers worldwide, Carnegie Hall is the ultimate musical destination, an international byword for excellence, and an institution whose rich history chronicles the defining moments of so many of the world’s most admired and beloved artists. For the leadership of this institution, this legacy provides an enjoyable yet formidable challenge, as we work each season to devise strategies that build upon the past in imaginative ways and create essential new pathways for growth.” The brilliance, imagination and talent Carnegie Hall nurtured and inspired over the years has changed the face of music and continues to touch audiences of all ages today.

Make Your Student Tour a Success: The 2008-2009 Season at Carnegie Hall
Carnegie Hall has created an exciting and unforgettable 2008-2009 season featuring over 200 events including:

–Almost 160 orchestral, chamber, and recital performances
–Over 40 pop, jazz, folk, and world music concerts
–Events presented by Carnegie Hall’s Weill Music Institute

The season also features 27 world premieres, 6 US premieres, 20 New York premieres and 2 festivals celebrating American music:
–30 events are part of Bernstein: The Best of All Possible Worlds
–Approximately 20 events will be held as part of Honor! A Celebration of the African American Cultural Legacy

NYC Student Tours Celebrate American Musical Heritage
Bernstein: The Best of All Possible Worlds
Bernstein: The Best of All Possible Worlds brings Michael Tilson Thomas, leading the San Francisco Symphony, and soloists Thomas Hampson, Yo-Yo Ma, and Dawn Upshaw together at Carnegie Hall in an all-Bernstein program. The Bernstein festival is presented in partnership with the New York Philharmonic and celebrates the extraordinary achievements of the late Leonard Bernstein. Bernstein was and still is one of the most important international musicians of the 20th century and was known to be ‘a quintessential New Yorker.’ Student travel and high school musical tours to this festival are encouraged, especially for students studying music.

Honor! A Celebration of the African American Cultural Legacy
Opening in the spring of 2009 and curated by world-renowned soprano Jessye Norman, Carnegie Hall calls Honor! A Celebration of the African American Cultural Legacy a salute to, “the enduring vitality, influence, and creativity of African American music.” This festival explores gospel, jazz, classical, rhythm and blues and spiritual music and pays tribute to music pioneers in venues throughout New York City. Educational and community programs are also part of the festival. The Carnegie Hall National High School Choral Festival will be presented and a curriculum for middle school students teaches about the connections between African American music and U.S. History. Carnegie Hall’s Rose Museum hosts an exhibition about the captivating history of African American artists and socio-political figures that have appeared at Carnegie Hall over the last 118 years.

Additional New York City Student Tour Opportunities
In addition to this season’s festivals, students will have the chance to see a variety of other important performances and attend a multitude of workshops on an NYC educational travel tour to Carnegie Hall. Acclaimed conductor and pianist Daniel Barenboim holds a series of 15 events. Tabla virtuoso Zakir Hussain is showcased in 5 events. Legendary composer Gyorgy Kyrtag visits NYC as part of a two-week celebration of Hungarian music.

If NYC field trips are part of your 2008-2009 school year, see music history first hand on a student tour to Carnegie Hall.

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Performance Tours for Drama Students: Travel to New York City and Toronto

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Drama departments and drama clubs in high school and even junior high are filled with students who could benefit from a unique travel experience to a larger, more urban area, such as Toronto, or New York City. In these two North American cities, the Broadway theater district thrives. An international audience visits Toronto and New York City to see the newest, most popular Broadway plays and musicals.

New York City and Toronto: The Best of Broadway
As a student travel tour consultant, I have specialized in bringing theater groups on performance tours that include pre or post Broadway show workshops to enhance the theater going experience. These unique active learning experiences offer the perfect academic complement to an evening of theater in New York City or Toronto.

A High School Musical Tour to Broadway
Combine a trip to Broadway play or musical with a visit to an authentic Broadway Classroom Basic Workshop. In the past, students have seen such famous plays as Wicked, The Lion King, and Phantom of the Opera on Broadway in New York City or in Toronto. Prior to watching shows, Broadway actors and actresses describe and illustrate their professional, highly visible roles on Broadway and offer education and insight about the professional theater industry and their craft.

Active Learning for Educational Group Travel
Students learn a great deal in the Broadway Classroom Basic Workshops. In many instances, it is Broadway actors themselves teaching classes in Toronto and New York City. Students come to understand that work in professional theater has its rewards as well as challenges and demands. Student travel groups involved in drama departments or drama clubs gain an insider’s viewpoint on the theater community, and its inner workings, in these major cities.

Broadway Classrooms Basic Workshops Offered
for Student Travel Groups
Broadway Classroom offers excellent, hands-on theater workshops for the drama student or drama club participant.

Broadway 101
In this drama workshop, students will be given a fresh overview of the artistic, political, and social significances of Broadway Theater. They will come to understand the special training involved in becoming a Broadway actor or actress. Drama students gain valuable lessons in voice, storytelling, and focus/listening exercises in the Broadway 101 workshop.

Theater in Context
The subjects of Broadway plays and musicals are derived from many different cultures and time periods. Learning about the historic and literary periods that the Broadway show was created within assists a drama student to widen his or her perception of the work when he or she sees it performed.

Stage Combat
This safe, student friendly workshop illustrates the way in which fights and other forms of combat are staged in contemporary theater. Professionals show students how collaboration and spectacle combine to make combat seem real on stage.

Theater Sports
This workshop shows drama students and drama club members how to work as a team to communicate effectively and create great scenes. Students will learn about increasing focus and attention, activating their creativity, and attuning themselves to the sensitivities of others.

Attending a Broadway play or musical is an exciting event, for any student. Yet for a drama student or drama club member, Broadway can actually be a professional goal. By attending the Broadway Classroom workshops, the educator is encouraging student travel groups to attain this lofty goal, and grounding it in some reality. For many students, a real glimpse into behind the scenes of Broadway inspires the dream, and helps shape it for the future. Visit Educational Travel Consultants for more information on the performance tour to New York City or Toronto.

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A New York City Art Tour Designed for Educational Group Travel

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By Howard Clemens

New York City is well known for the number of artists who live and work there, and the quality of the art displayed in museums and galleries. In this article, I will give some details about the highlights of an art tour of New York City designed for students to enhance their curriculum.

The Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Museum of Modern Art are important student tour destinations in New York City. I have written about them elsewhere. Visit the link above, where an article giving more information about these museums is posted.

Educational Benefits of an Art Tour of New York City

The contemplation and analysis of great works of art helps the art student or art history student to better understand the diversity and complexity of art across cultures and time periods. Art students gain insight into technical processes and gather ideas for future work. All students develop an appreciation for high degree of artistry exhibited and housed in museums and galleries in New York City.

Museum of American Illustration

This relatively new museum, opened in 1998, is located at Vernon Court, one of the most famous mansions of the ‘gilded age’ of American architecture. Vernon Court takes up one full block on Bellevue Avenue and the mansion grounds include a garden designed by America’s first landscape architect, Frederick Law Olmstead, and revitalized in his honor. The museum houses the largest collection of illustrative art, which is defined as illustration produced for mass media such as books, magazines, advertisements, and new media. Some notable artists in the collection are Maxfield Parrish, N.C. Wyeth, and Norman Rockwell. Educational student tour groups learn a great deal about art, architecture, and the history of illustration on a visit to this museum in New York – a worthwhile destination for an art tour.

Chinatown and Greenwich Village

For enthusiasts of literature and art, a tour of Greenwich Village in New York City is an absolute must. Jack Kerouac, Bob Dylan, and Emma Thompson all performed here, visited, or lived in the Village. The heart of Greenwich Village is Washington Square Park, which borders New York University, and is always a bustle of performances and activities. Student tour groups will want to see the Centennial Arch, which commemorates the 100th Anniversary of our first president’s inauguration. Educational groups will also want to visit historic homes in Greenwich Village with literary, architectural or historic significance, or maybe take in a meal at one of the Village’s fine restaurants, shop, and most of all: breathe in the air of bohemia.

Whitney Museum of American Art

To give students an overview of 20th Century American Art, the Whitney Museum of American Art is a great place to begin. The Whitney was founded in 1931, and established a name for it based on acquiring the works of new, emerging visual artists. The museum houses over 22,000 works of art in its collection, which is expanding. The Frances Mulhall Achilles Library has more than 37,000 books and exhibition catalogues, and is an excellent place to conduct research on American art. Student travel groups may tour the museum and take in the special exhibits.

Solomon Guggenheim Museum

The Guggenheims are perhaps the best known art collectors and philanthropists in the world. Educational tour groups headed to New York City do not want to miss this world class museum. Teachers will find the Arts Curriculum Online to be a great tool to prepare students for a visit to the Solomon Guggenheim Museum. The Solomon Guggenheim Museum does not highlight an era in art, or an aesthetic. The Guggenheim is a museum which grew out of a sophisticated private collection, and spans many periods and tastes in art worldwide.

Educational tour groups with a focus on art can derive a great deal from an art tour of New York City. Because the options for art in New York are so diverse and rewarding, my company, Educational Travel Consultants, decided to create a tour which focused on just that. For more information on the Art Tour, visit http//: www.educationaltravelconsultants.com or email info@educationaltravelconsultants.com.