“U.S. Art Residence” reverberates U.S. culture

Within the framework of the “U.S. Art Residence in Dnipropetrovsk” project the staff of the "Window on America" Center (Dnipropetrovsk, Ukraine) visited the local high school No. 141. The students of this school major in studying foreign languages (with English as a priority language).
The objective of the visit was to introduce the students to the art of George Gershwin as a musical innovator with Ukrainian roots.
A big group of senior students (8-11 years) was invited to the lecture. The WOA Head S. Usenko presented to them the “Window on America” Center and its free resources for studying English. Students were informed about the opportunity to study at an American university, if they have a high level of English language.They were also reminded about the hight student exchange program “Summer Work and Travel USA” and referred to respective Facebook page of the US Embassy in Kyiv.The WOA staff member T. Gavryliuk presented several inter-active slide shows about the background and music of George Gershwin. The students were fascinated by the sounds of blues and musicals by George Gershwin.
But the most striking thing the students have learned from the lecture was the Ukrainian roots of the Gershwin’s “Summertime” tune from his opera “Porgy and Bess”. Ukrainian music scholars prove that Gershwin was inspired to compose his masterpiece after listening to a Ukrainian folk lullaby. To check the comprehension of the complicated material the students were asked to answer the questions of a quiz. They managed to give several correct answers, but they certainly need to learn more   about opera in general.
Participants number – 125 persons.
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