Fleisher: The Journey of the Banjo

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The Journey of the Banjo: From Africa to Appalachia (4th Grade)

Developed in collaboration with composer/musician Rodney Whittenberg and a team of artists, this 10-week interdisciplinary project engaged fourth grade students at Jackson and E. M. Stanton Elementary Schools in creating a video narrative on the history of America's only homegrown instrument, the banjo, tracing its roots from an African gourd instrument. In the process, they made their own gourd banjos, drew vignettes depicting the history of the banjo, composed musical pieces for their instrument, and recorded their pieces in a professional recording studio. A CD-ROM, incorporating their video narrative, drawings and performances of their compositions was given to each participating student at the end of the project. Both fourth grade classes fulfilled their School District multi-disciplinary project requirement with the Banjo Project. Artists: Rodney Whittenberg, Mbali Imoja, Beth Mead & her band "Fred's Mobile Homes", Susan Beam, John Giordano, Paris Stancell and Jean Galliano

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