A janus education program is centered around participation through exploration. It can be tailored to fit students’ level of familiarity and comprehension. Below is a general sketch of our presentations.

Elementary (K-6): In our elementary school programs, we discover stories told within music. We encourage the students to visualize a scene or story as we guide them through several short pieces or excerpts. Incorporated within the program is the children’s story Gwinna (description below) that we first read to the children and then interpret with music. This is followed by a brief question-and-answer period in which we discuss the difference between our instruments, learning how to play music, and careers in music.

Middle and High School: For older students, we discuss the origins of the unusual combination of flute, viola and harp. We also explore the tools composers use to create a new fourth instrument out of the melded sounds of the trio. As we progress through the presentation, we dissect the compositional form of Theme and Variations utilizing several distinctly unique theme and variations pieces from the trio repertoire. Following our performance and discussion is a period for questions.

David Volpe (1983)
Gwinna (2008)
duration: 7:50
Gwinna is based on the children’s story of the same name written by Barbara Helen Berger. In the composer’s words, “The main character, Gwinna, is a girl born with owl wings who is started on a quest to discover her origins and purpose when she begins to hear music on the wind. She follows the melodious tones to the source and ultimately acquires a harp on which she learns to play the very songs that drew her there. Gwinna brings the harp back to her home and discovers the healing powers of the music she creates.
The idea of a flute, viola, and harp trio came from three core elements of the story: the harp of course being Gwinna, the flute being the hooting of the owls (which Berger actually describes as flutes), and the viola being the tree from which Gwinna’s harp is made.” ~ D. Volpe