Oct. 13, 2002 – Musikgarten is beginning on St. Thomas. No, that's not a misprint: Musikgarten is an international early childhood music and movement education company with programs for children from birth to age 9.
Local music teacher Katherine Hintz completed a full, intensive Musikgarten Workshop held in Nova Southeastern University this summer, certifying her to teach "Babies Make Music," "Toddlers Make Music," "Families Make Music" and "God's Children Sing."
Musikgarten classes meet weekly for 30-60 minutes, depending on the curriculum. Musikgarten is not performance-oriented and "does not produce concert pianists or opera singers", says Hintz, "but helps children enjoy music. It promotes freedom of expression while developing the whole child."
"Babies Make Music" is offered on Saturday mornings; "Toddlers Make Music" at 12:30 p.m. Fridays; "Cycle of Seasons" (ages 3-5) on Wednesdays at 1 p.m. and Saturdays at 9 a.m. at Tillett Gardens. "Toddlers Make Music" is also offered at St. John School of the Arts at 9 a.m. Mondays. Special educational orientations are offered to parents and families.
Hintz, founder of the Hintz Academy of Music, is a certified Suzuki violin and piano instructor who also teaches voice. Hintz has been teaching piano since 1994 and started a music program for underprivileged children with support from V.I. Housing Authority. She currently teaches at St. John School of the Arts, V.I. Montessori School and at her academy in Tillett Gardens. Hintz is a member of several professional organizations in the field of music education.
The Musikgarten philosophy
The Musikgarten discipline is highly respected for its passion for excellence in materials and recordings for both teachers and families. The philosophy of Musikgarten founder Lorna Lutz Heyge is based on the belief that every child has a musical talent and the birthright to learn to use it.
"While educational leaders turn to early childhood music because it promotes brain development, they will stay with music because of the joy and stimulation experienced in actual musicmaking. Music learning requires total involvement — that is why it appeals so much to young children," a release from Hintz quotes Heyge.
In a telephone interview, Hintz talks enthusiastically about what she hopes to accomplish with babies, children and parents in her teaching in the Virgin Islands. Music, she believes, creates "a kind heart, a humble heart," and such children will grow up to be good persons.
Musikgarten believes that all babies are musical; but the ability fades away if it's not nurtured in a well-rounded music environment. Age-specific classes do this nurturing, starting with peek-a-boo and bouncing song games with babies, that attend to tonality, rhythm, and styles of music by "developing the ear." Children will echo what they hear, so Musikgarten lets them hear a wide variety of music and sound: percussion with and without music, parents and teachers always singing, sounds of nature, sounds and sound sequences, body awareness exercises, creative movement and dancing, focus listening – the goal is to surround their ears with music.
Parents are trained as well, for the music continues at home. Music is not something that occurs only in the vacuum of a classroom. But parents learn more than first music: They learn how to treat a child, and how a child develops all around, not only musically. They will learn that a parent who starts to sing a child's favorite song may often defuse rambunctious behavior.
Often, children may hear only calypso and reggae at home or on the street. Other children may hear only salsa and merengue. Musikgarten's goal is to expose children to a wide variety of sounds, styles and rhythms.
Musikgarten is not performance-centered, Hintz said, and she admits "ups and downs" in her teaching because it's such a different philosophy. Result-oriented parents often demand a progressing result, a public performance, and aren't satisfied with the philosophy of each child proceeding at his own individual pace and taking part only in small-scale recitals for friends and family.
What about learning to play the piano, the violin, other instruments? The class for 5- to 7-year-olds begins to explore individual instruments and, as the children move to the 8- to 9-year-old group, they move into specific instrumental instruction. Musikgarten, however, with the inclusion of a parent, is a requirement before Hintz will teach individual instruction.
Hintz Academy of Music will begin registration in December for January classes. For registration and more information contact Hintz at (340) 774-1905 or hintzmusic@yahoo.com.
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