Four local Brantford-Brant children are being celebrated for their recent wins in the Music for Young Children International Composition Festival.
With over 3,900 students (ages of three to ten) participating from five countries, including Canada, USA, Malaysia, Vietnam and Singapore, MYC (Music for Young Children) Brantford had 23 children place in this year’s competition including: Dylan Chittenden, Selina Smith, Taylor Mann, James Simpson, Seth Hewage, Vienna Memmott, Zayda Jones, Sophia Dickson, Caleb Fox, Avelyn Heikoop, Catherine Dickson, Oliver Memmott, Abigail Styles, Olivia Luton, Ren Calagos, Dyosa Castro, Nifemi Banji-Ajayi, Aroha Varghese, Cooper Mann, Hayden Husack, Scarlett Bouchard, Jhalal Jones, and Lilly Claudi-Hamilton
Heather Corbett-Tuttle, a music specialist with MYC Brantford, entered 45 of her students into the annual festival and in the end, 23 of them placed in either first, second, third and fourth, or received an honourable mention in the Eastern Canada division (ON, QU, NS, PEI, and NL).
This year, local youngsters Dylan Chittenden, three-and-a-half, Seth Hewage, five, Avelyn Heikoop, seven, and Sophia Dickson, seven, were the four students who placed first in their respective levels at regionals before moving on to the international competition.
Chittenden, who competed against 341 other students in the Sunshine 1 level, won first place for his song “Trains,” and Hewage, who competed against 531 students in the Sunbeams 1 level, won first place for his song “Seth’s Song.”
Dickson, competed in the Sunbeams 2 level against 585 students, placing second for her song “Raindrops,” while Heikoop competed against 448 students in the Sunbeams 3 level, and won second place for her song “Butterflies.”
Corbett-Tuttle said that while many parents or guardians may decide to wait to put their children in music lessons later in life, there are plenty of benefits to starting them young.
“There are quite a few benefits to children starting at a young age because they’re really like little sponges. There’s a reason people say that music helps to make you smarter, it’s because it’s the one activity that utilizes both sides of your brain at the same time,” she said. “So, if you’re learning math skills, your brain uses one side and then if you’re doing language skills, it uses the other side of your brain, but with music, it taps into both and the brain is being utilized to its full potential. You’re exercising those parts of your brain and you’re able to learn better in other areas.”
She said that the MYC programming is a unique experience that helps children understand the elements of music in a small group setting.
“MYC is a music program that entails piano, singing, rhythm ensemble, theory, ear training, Solfège and also composition, so it really encompasses a little bit of everything and it’s kind of like the Sesame Street approach to learning music,” explained Corbett-Tuttle. “The programs are very well balanced, and we work with all of the learning styles so whether you’re an auditory learner, a visual learner or a kinesthetic learner, we really cater to all of that. I think another thing that is unique in our programs, is that the parents come in with the kids and so there’s a great bonding experience there, but not only that, we get to facilitate those parents on how to help the kids at home and so it’s really great.”
Corbett-Tuttle said that the reason why composition is such an important part of the curriculum, especially for children so young, is because it helps the youngsters learn to express their creativity.
“We’re trying to teach the solid foundation of music education here, but we’re also teaching and sharing tools and skills for the students so that they can feel comfortable exploring how to express themselves creatively and in their own way,” she said. “That’s what composition does, and each child really approaches it differently. In class, they’ve already been learning all the tools and skills that they need and they know what is supposed to be in a song like, time signatures, rhythm, key signatures, notes and all that kind of stuff, so the composition is a fun process that really combines and apply both the structure and the creativity.”
The teacher said that, as a composer herself, she loves being able to pass on her knowledge.
“I’ve been teaching for 41 years and personally, I love the approach to how we teach children with MYC because it’s tailor made just for them,” said Corbett-Tuttle. “I have a passion for composing and writing music for myself and so to pass on those little nuggets of knowledge to my students, and to see them be excited about their songs, it’s a humbling experience for me.”
