Avon Elementary School fifth-graders have created 25 illustrations inspired by J.S. Bach's Goldberg Variations. They will be shown as the music is performed Sunday.



Sunday concert combines classical piano sounds with projected abstract art of Avon fifth-graders.

The Goldberg Variations Performance Project comes to St. John's University via assistant professor Amy Grinsteiner, who is collaborating with professor Ed Turley to perform the music. Grinsteiner's husband, Corey Harmon, teaches the Avon Elementary School class that created the art to go with the J.S. Bach music.

Grinsteiner and Harmon did the project previously, when both worked in Washington state. This is the first time they've tried it in Minnesota.

There's more to it than pretty music and cute art. The project exposes students to music they might not hear otherwise.

It teaches them to hear musical elements such as dynamics, pitch tempo, tone color and articulation.

It asks them to interpret the music and express feelings using abstract art concepts.

It shows their families and college mentors that they can be attentive during a 45-minute performance.

It connects the community to the college.

And it leaves students with a sense of pride when they walk on stage in their best outfit to take a bow at the end.

There is a handy numerical connection between the Goldberg Variations and the size of a typical classroom. The music begins and ends with an aria. Sandwiched in between are 30 variations that each last one to three minutes. That means each of Harmon's 25 students was able to create art to go with one of the variations. (The pianos will play the first five variations without art.)

Grinsteiner and Turley will use separate pianos and take turns playing the variations. One will play the opening aria; the other will play the closing. The Goldberg Variations are not a piece of music that every pianist performs, so Grinsteiner was pleased when she learned that they are in Turley's repertoire and even more pleased when he enthusiastically agreed to be part of the project.

She and Turley recorded each variation so students had access to the music while they created the art. "It's quite a journey to get them to think of how music makes them feel."

The abstract art complements the Bach composition that is described as "absolute music."

"It wasn't designed with pictures in mind," Grinsteiner said.

The students have been working on their part of the program on and off throughout the school year. Grinsteiner and Turley visited their classroom when it was time for the lesson on musical elements. On Sunday, each student will be sitting with an assigned college student helper at the concert when they see their art projected along with their name.

"The college students get a lot out of it because they see kids being attentive to art and performance and music." Grinsteiner said. "It allows them to see what kids can do."

Additional art by the fifth-graders will be on display in hallways outside the theater.

Grinsteiner did the Goldberg project three times in Washington, always with second-graders and once with an audience of 200. She sees it as one way classroom teachers can incorporate art and music lessons, especially in schools that don't have the dedicated art and music teachers like those found in Avon Elementary.

Teacher and professor collaborations are important to the project, but students are at the center of it.

"It can't be done without the kids," Grinsteiner said. "Otherwise, it's just Bach."

If you go ...

What: The Goldberg Variations Performance Project.

When: 4 p.m. Sunday.

Where: Stephen B. Humphrey Theater, St. John's University.

Cost: Free.

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