Cliburn in the Classroom is an interactive concert experience designed specifically for elementary audiences. We bring our own Steinway baby grand piano into every school, along with a virtuoso pianist to perform impressive music. A teaching-artist leads students through activities and bridges connections between the music and theme of the program.
With Cliburn in the Classroom, instructional time is enhanced, not lost. Our interdisciplinary themes explore the intersection of music and multiple subjects, including math, reading, language arts, social studies, history, and art. When combined with our curriculum guides, they address state and national standards for STEAM education for students in the second through fourth grades.
We take a student-centered approach to music education. All Cliburn in the Classroom programs are crafted through a Universal Design for Learning (UDL) lens. Our experiences provide multiple, flexible means of engagement to celebrate the variability in all students, and to allow kids the opportunity to participate in ways that are most meaningful and comfortable for them. We cater to multiple learning styles, utilize movement and peer-building activities, and address social-emotional learning competencies. Our performance length and structure is both attention and sensory friendly. We are also able to offer bilingual (Spanish/English) presentations, so that every child can fully participate. Cliburn in the Classroom is provided without cost to schools and districts in North Texas, to remove financial barriers to access.
Cliburn in the Classroom received a 2024 Nonprofit and Corporate Citizenship Award for Innovation in Education from D CEO Magazine.
For more information about Cliburn in the Classroom, please contact Nicole Paglialonga at [email protected] or call 817.738.6536.
Our experience with Cliburn in the Classroom has been nothing short of inspiring. My students weren't just in school anymore—they were instantly transported to a new space that ignited their imagination and awoke their sense of wonder. They were captivated by the artistry of the performer, immersed in the related storytelling, and they eagerly and actively participated. After the show, they couldn't stop talking about it.
America’s 250th birthday is in 2026, and every celebration needs good music! In this program of early American music, we look back in time at the early cultural life of our nation and discover the composers who created a uniquely American sound.
Featured Composers: Ruth Crawford Seeger, Amy Beach, Charles Ives, Florence Price, Louis Gottschalk, William Grant Still, and Ignacy Jan Paderewski
Listen to the featured pieces on Spotify
They say laughter is the best medicine! In a time when kids are under more academic and social pressure than ever before, it’s important to remember to just have FUN! Music, laughter, and teamwork remind us how to be good citizens and friends. This program introduces kids to witty pieces of classical music, engages their imaginations, and shows how even serious composers let loose once in a while.
Featured Composers: P.D.Q Bach, Franz Joseph Haydn, Jean-Philippe Rameau, Hiromi, Keiko Kircher, Francis Poulenc, and Dmitry Kabalevsky.
In On the Spot, kids become the composers! This program connects classical music to the songs kids are listening to everyday. Sing along to your favorite tunes, find the common denominator, and use musical and sentence structure to create an original tune.
Featured Composers: Sergei Prokofiev, Béla Bartók, Johann Pachelbel, George Frederick Handel, Ludwig van Beethoven, and Your Students!
Get ready for a high-energy, interactive concert where music and science soar together! Centered around the theme of flight, this program explores music inspired by birds, bees, bats, and even the wind. Students become creative problem-solving engineers and discover how composers use sound to depict motion, energy, and the natural world.
Featured Composers: Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, Alexander Scriabin, Frederic Chopin, Claude Debussy, Amy Beach, and Johann Strauss II
Music and math combine in this fantasy-football style competition where kids keep the score! Students will learn about new and familiar composers, compare and contrast musical styles, vote for points, and solve math problems to determine the final score…and the winning team!
Featured Composers: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Bela Bartok, Reena Esmail, Frederic Chopin, Gjorgji Ligeti, Dzmitry Shostakovich, Sergei Prokofiev, and Quinn Mason.
Everyone that you know was little once, just like you! In this special program for our friends in kindergarten and 1st grade, we explore two pieces: one written by a boy who lived a long time ago, and another written by a girl that lives today. Seeing the similarities and differences among people of other cultures and times helps us better understand ourselves and our place in the world. This show has a limited availability and is by request only.
Featured Composers: Robert Schumann and Lera Auerbach
Listen to the featured pieces on Spotify
