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Cook, Gary: Teaching Percussion (w/DVD), 3rd edition. Become a better music teacher with Teaching Percussion with accompanying 2-DVD set! Providing a comprehensive introduction to every aspect of percussion education, technique, and performance, this music text guides you towards a greater musical awareness and improved technique. Illustrations, examples, and exercises acquaint you with the special needs of all percussion instruments. You will gain a greater insight into music learning and performance through the inclusion of up-to-date techniques and numerous exercises.

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El Sistema - Music To Change Life. A film by Paul Smaczny and Maria Stodtmeier. Venezuela's unique system of music education takes children from violent slums and turns some of them into world-class musicians. 'El Sistema' shows how Venezuelan visionary Jose Antonio Abreu has changed the lives of hundreds of thousands of children over the past three decades. This lyrical and moving documentary takes us from the rubbish dumps and barrios of Caracas to the world's finest concert halls. Children from streets dominated by the gun battles of gang warfare are taken into music schools, given access to music, and taught through the model of the symphony orchestra how to build a better society. Paul Smaczny and Maria Stodtmeier's film finds hope and joy in unlikely places. This film came out a few years after "Tocar y Luchar" and, while it is extremely good - longer and somewhat more polished - it doesn't quite capture the magic of El Sistema as much as the original film does.

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Beethoven, Ludwig van: Classical Kids - Beethoven Lives Upstairs (DVD - Includes Bonus Interactive Games!). Based on the award-winning and best-selling Classical Kids compact disc of the same name, Beethoven Lives Upstairs was hailed upon its original release in 1992 as "a video masterpiece" by the Boston Herald and "the best family film to appear in a long time..." by the Ottawa Citizen. The arrival of an eccentric boarder turns a young boy's home upside-down. Ludwig van Beethoven has moved in upstairs! Richly set in 19th century Vienna, Beethoven Lives Upstairs is a touching tale of music, friendship and genius. Based in part on historical fact, Beethoven Lives Upstairs features more than twenty-five beautifully performed excerpts of Beethoven's best-loved works.

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Tennant, Scott: Pumping Nylon: The Classical Guitarist's Technique Handbook (Complete Edition w/CD & DVD). World-class classical guitarist and well-respected educator Scott Tennant presents the most comprehensive technique handbook available for classical guitarists. This complete edition combines all three volumes of Scott's best-selling Pumping Nylon series. In addition to technical information not available elsewhere, it includes classic etudes by Carcassi, Giuliani, Sor, and Tarrega; musical examples by Bach, Turina, and Rodrigo; and original compositions by Andrew York and Brian Head. Learn easy to advanced repertoire pieces that are selected and designed to work with the various techniques addressed, including arpeggios, tremolo, scale velocity, and more. The included DVD features Scott Tennant, and the MP3 CD features the playing of Scott Tennant and Adam del Monte.

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Arvelo, Alberto: Tocar Y Luchar (To Play and To Fight). To Play and To Fight presents the captivating story of the Venezuelan Youth Orchestra System - an incredible network of hundreds of orchestras formed within most of Venezuela’s towns and villages. Once a modest program designed to expose rural children to the wonders of music, the system has become one of the most important and beautiful social phenomena in modern history. The documentary portrays the inspirational stories of world class musicians trained by the Venezuelan system, including the Berlin Philharmonic’s youngest player Edicson Ruiz and world renowned conductor Gustavo Dudamel. With interviews with many of the world’s most celebrated musicians including the great tenor Placido Domingo, Claudio Abbado, Sir Simon Rattle, Guiseppe Sinopoli, and Eduardo Mata, To Play and To Fight is an inspirational story of courage, determination, ambition, and love showing us that only those who dream can achieve the impossible.

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Teaching The Life of Music.

Inspired by a man with a vision and utilising the power of film, Teaching The Life Of Music tells the story of Maestro Jose Antonio Abreu, El Sistema and the impact that a developing coutry like Venezuela is having on a developed country like Canada. We witness El Sistema's ability to transform poverty and violence into healthy living through the passion and discipline inherit in music education. Founded by Maestro Jose Antonio Abreu 36 years agao, El Sistema is a organisation that brings music education and instruments to children living the most deprived areas of Venezuela. The program is known for rescuing young people in extremely impoverished cirumstances and teaching them life of music in place of a life of sbstance abuse and violence. Today, El Sistema has successfully reached over 350,000 children. One of their most famous graduates is Gustavo Dudamel, the celbrated young music director of the L.A. Philharmonic Orchestra. Teaching the Life of Music follows El Sistem's impact outside of Venezuela, following the work of The Leading Note Foundation's OrKidstra program in Ottawa, which is modelled after El Sistema in attracting children from under-served communities.

Teaching the Life of Music is accompanied by a bonus one hour concert film produced by Lenz Entertainment. This concert was the culmination performance for the Glenn Gould Prize Celebration of Music Week and consisted of the 250 young musicians from The Simon Bolivar Youth Orchestra (SBYO) displaying their talents for more than 14,000 students from school across Ontario. A climjactic finale to the Glenn Gould Price celebration, this performance offered students a chance to hear exceptional interpretations of classical master works, as well as witness impressive artistic accomplishments by people their own age. Although these young people share the commonality of youth, the young audience were also aware that the individuals in the orchestra came from a country where 33% of the population live in poverty. Overflowing with youth, vitality, adrenalin and intensity, the SBYO had the students in attendance on their feet, dancing to the music, exhibiting the same magnetism toward the performers as one would find at a rock concert. In true SBYO fashion, members of the orchestra concluded their performance by hurling their signature red, blue and yellow Venezuelan athletic jackets into the crowd of youngsters; who were later found outside awaiting their school buses and clutching their prized souvenirs, brimming with enthusiasm over the power of music and the potential of youth.