From renowned Orff music teacher Alice Brass – classroom projects in music, movement and poetry for elementary school teachers

Orff Day by Day
Classroom Projects in Music and Movement

Alice Brass’s approach to Orff music stressed improvisation and creativity. Teachers seeing the lively and inventive presentations of her groups often asked, “How did you develop such a complex and interesting production?” The answer was always, “Step by step and day by day.”

In helping teachers with Orff projects, ­Alice Brass realized there was a need for a guide that answered such practical questions as where to begin, how much to expect to cover in a class and how to encourage children to develop their own ideas.

Orff Day by Day outlines nine projects, taking the teacher step by step through a process designed to teach basic music, improvisation and creative movement. It will be valuable and inspiring to all who teach music to young children.


Orff Explorations
Classroom Projects in Music, Movement and Poetry

Alice Brass’s sequel to Orff Day by Day helps teachers integrate the arts and Orff and answers such questions as how to work with word rhythms, how to put together a piece with many parts and how to use poetry.

Orff Explorations outlines ten projects, taking the teacher class by class through a process designed to teach the basic skills and to combine them with the children’s creativity. It will be valuable to teachers interested in integrating the arts and literacy with music.

Alice Brass started teaching the Orff program at Claude Watson School for the Arts, Toronto, in 1982, and remained more than 20 years until she died in 2003. She conducted many workshops, and the performances of the CWSA Orff group were widely admired. She was also music director of Canadian Dance Tapestry, a group of young Canadian dancers and musicians who performed traditional Canadian dances at festivals in Canada, the U.S.A., France, Italy and the Netherlands.