Music for Children - Carl Orff Canada - Musique pour enfants

Carl Orff Canada is guided by a National Board, which is elected biannually. The members of the National Board are advised by an Advisory Board, made up of educators and musicians around the world who have had a long-standing involvement with the Orff approach.

The National Board works closely with the Presidents and Boards of regional Orff Chapters, and provides a support system to Orff Chapters across Canada.

Carl Orff Canada Aims and Objectives

Music for Children - Carl Orff Canada - Musique pour enfants is a Corporation which operates with the following objectives:

i) To encourage the development throughout Canada of a holistic music education program for children based on the pedagogical philosophy and approach of Carl Orff.
ii) To encourage, promote and fulfill Carl Orff Canada's objectives in all regions of Canada through a national organization and through regional chapters.
iii) To produce and distribute a national journal addressing issues relating to the Orff philosophy of music education.
iv) To organize and administer conferences and workshops focusing on quality music education for children.
v) To cooperate with other music education organizations in order to further the objects of the Corporation.

What is Orff Schulwerk?

Carl Orff (1895-1982) is probably best known as the composer of such works as Carmina Burana and Catulli Carmina, but it is his work with "Music for Children" which has inspired a global movement in music education.

The Orff approach to Music Education is holistic, experiential and process oriented. It is for all children, not just the most musically or intellectually gifted and encompasses aural, visual and kinesthetic learners.

Orff's philosophy is based on solid, pedagogical principles. A structured, sequential development of knowledge and skills encourages joyful participation, creativity, and personal musical growth from all participants. The Orff approach taps the very essence of our beings. Children learn through doing, exploring and improvising. They are active participants in an integrated, guided process, one which allows for differing musical abilities. In the Orff approach, all children are included.

The Orff philosophy combines the elements of speech, rhythm, movement, dance, and song. And at the heart of all this is improvisation - the instinct children have to create their own melodies, to explore their imaginations.

Elemental music is never only music but an integration of movement, dance and language. It is music one creates oneself in which one is involved not as a listener, but as a participant.

The Orff approach is not only for children. In recent years, Orff specialists have experienced its flexibility and adaptability in their work with junior and senior high school students, adults, senior citizens, palliative care patients, and in many individual and group settings from private teaching to classroom to church.