Youniversity of Music And Arts - What is Musikgarten?

Youniversity of Music and Arts® located in Bethlehem's new Arts District and only steps away from ArtsQuest and SteelStacks, is introducing a new music series, Musikgarten.




Musikgarten, an internationally taught music program offered to infants through children 9 years of age, is a progressively sequenced, age-appropriate series of classes. Its focus is on a variety of musical concepts, rhythmic patterns, improvisation, playing skills and more. The early childhood classes provide a platform for children who may want to continue their music education through instrumental or voice education.

Registration is now open for the new series, which will launch March 5th, 2012.

According to LuAnn Longenecker, Early Childhood Music Specialist and instructor at the Youniversity, Musikgarten builds “a systematic path to music literacy.”

“Musikgarten is both an extremely enjoyable activity and a powerful tool in nurturing and developing young musicians,” said Longenecker. “These classes are an excellent foundation, as they place a strong emphasis on repetition of sounds and patterns, auditory and sensory skills and how to have fun with music.”

The new series will be offered on Mondays at the school. One parent or caregiver is asked to attend the 30-minute classes for babies/toddlers. The Music Cycle classes, (ages 3-5) are 45 minutes and the Music Makers (ages 4 and up) meet for a full hour.

Longenecker said Musikgarten promotes family involvement and parents are encouraged to enjoy and reinforce the activities at home. The Musikgarten curriculum also emphasizes multi-cultural music diversity and exposes young people to classic performance, Longenecker explained.

“We expose our little ones to musical gems like Peter and the Wolf,” Longenecker said. “We play Aaron Copeland’s “Hoedown” from Rodeo and children as young as 3 will recognize it and pretend to ‘ride their horses’ to it. Children love the diversity and will soak up many musical genres - not just music written for their age group.” she added.

The Youniversity, which opened in mid-2011, offers music classes and private lessons for all ages and levels of ability. Located in Bethlehem's SouthSide Arts District, the school occupies a 15-classroom facility and is staffed by more than 15 music professionals. The Youniversity of Music and Arts is owned jointly by Valentina Jotovic, C.E.O., and her husband, Dr. Antonius Bittmann, an Associate Dean and Professor of Music at Rutgers University.

To register for Musikgarten and for complete information on the Youniversity of Music and Arts, please call 610-849-2130 or visit their website.