TES kids win music prize

QCS Staff

The Orff ensemble, a group of Tucumcari Elementary School music students, won second place in state competition among elementary school music groups, Andrew Kesten, the school’s music teacher, said.

Kesten said he and the the The Orff Ensemble, which plays percussion instruments like xylophones, submitted a video to the New Mexico Music Educators' Association (NMMEA) competition last spring to be considered for state elementary music honors.

Kesten said contest judges told him the competition was very close and judges deliberated for a long time.

“As a brand new program, I am extremely excited that we did so well and look forward to another opportunity to submit a video this year,” Kesten said.

The Orff ensemble, he said, applies the teachings of German composer Carl Orff. In Orff’s method, “The exploration of melody and rhythm is addressed through singing, playing percussion instruments, speech, and movement,” according to the website of the American Orff-Schulwerk Association, which promotes Orff’s teaching methods in schools.