Lobo School is very fortunate to be one of 40 schools in Orange County to participate in the Freida Belinfante Class Act Program. This is a nationally acclaimed, adopt-a-school orchestra education partnership with the Orange County Philharmonic Orchestra. Each year a composer is chosen by the orchestra for the schools to study. It generally alternates from a modern composer one year to a more classical composer the next year. Examples of composers have been John Williams, Leonard Bernstein, George Gershwin, Leonin Dvorak and Ludwig von Beethoven.  

This program begins with the “Prelude Assembly”, at which time a professional storyteller presents the children with an introduction to the life and music of the composer. Concurrently, the children are introduced to the resident musician from the Philharmonic Orchestra. Over the course of several months, this musician will teach a lesson to every class in the school. The second component of this program is “Family Night”. A quartet or quintet of musicians from the orchestra performs one evening for the parents and students at our school. After the performance, the musicians are available to meet with the audience and answer questions about their education, career or instrument. One highlight of this program occurs when the entire school attends a concert at the Orange County Performing Arts Center. The children are provided with a unique opportunity to experience the excitement of a live symphony featuring our resident musician performing the works of our composer of the year.

Lastly, at the end of the school year, the “Bravo Assembly” is held where the students present information about the composer of the orchestra through skits, artwork or singing. The resident musician is the honored guest at this assembly.   Teacher education workshops and concert tickets are also provided, at a nominal cost, to the schools participating in this program. The Howard F. Ahmanson, Jr. Foundation funds the majority of the cost. Our PTA provides the funding for buses to the concert, and decorations and refreshments at our “Family Night” concert.   

This “Class Act” program is just one more example of Lobo’s commitment to providing opportunities to enrich the education of our children.