Live Music in School - Stories and music to the young audience

Children from the third and fourth grades in Kolding were taken on a musical tour through the asphalt jungle of New York - right into the innermost backrooms after closing time.

Casper Mikkelsens dejlige Jazzband (Casper Mikkelsens Lovely Jazz Band( presented by 'Live Music in Schools,' invited the intermediate stage from schools including Eltang and Åløkkeskolen to a fanjazztic theater concert at the Godset on Thursday, February 20. It unfolded with epic mood pictures drawn directly from New Orleans, Chicago, and New York City.

The stage is illuminated in authentic shades of red and green. The saxophonist's brass snout is almost larger than himself, as are the drumsticks held up in the air by Mikkelsen in an almost ritualistic movement, ready to pound on the skins. Fortunately, he has a smaller set of sticks ready - but the children are on, and they point to the music poets who begin a musical narrative about their individual journey into soundscapes from the other side of the Atlantic.

It's all about Jungle Jazz and swing music, accompanied by the frontman's anecdotes about escapades committed on the polished floors in front - but especially behind the stage curtain. The delivery is at child height, and the purpose is to introduce future audiences to "hand-played" quality music. It certainly succeeded from the children's perspective. The young audience seems enchanted. Soon we are drawn through the side streets of Harlem, a jungle where anything can happen, and soon we enter a dark cellar with cobwebs hanging from low rafters. We are fleeing from law enforcement after closing time, so everyone must be completely silent and whisper to avoid being discovered:
"Out by the back door, there's a secret gate to the harbor. We can just catch the last ferry before the morning light breaks. Do you want a ticket?"

It is with this hat on that Casper Mikkelsens dejlige Jazzband enchants the children, who have had a cultural experience beyond the ordinary. Audience development is an important milestone in Godset's vision, where they aim to reach out to a broader audience of citizens. A cross-section of the municipality's schoolchildren will be continuously invited into the rustic confines of the building, while most events take place at schools when LMS (Live Music in School) kicks off with several exciting artists on the agenda throughout 2024.