Educational Background/Training

All staff are Da Capo certified instructors, having completed a rigorous training process focused on providing excellence music and arts and experiences for students with special needs in a meaningful and purposeful inclusion setting.

All staff are degreed professionals (music, education, special education)

About the Artist/Ensemble

Da Capo VA is a non-profit organization dedicated to creating broad participation in educational, arts, and music performance by people of diverse backgrounds, abilities, and interests. Da Capo VA’s vision is to offer community-based opportunities to develop and train leaders in music and the arts. Da Capo VA’s mission is to provide transforming musical experiences that inspire and capture passion; equip through exceptional, dynamic instruction; and share music’s profound effect. This mission condenses to Da Capo VA’s motto: “Love it, Learn it, Live it.” Da Capo VA offers choirs, classes, and concerts for students of all ability levels. The organization’s model of inclusive excellence offers participants a next-level experience through a collaborative learning and performing environment. The model is participatory, inclusive, and performance driven. Guiding Principles:

• Develop whole people
• Achieve excellence
• Create community
• Appreciate arts
• Provide opportunities
• Outfit individuals

The Da Capo Way is a unique experience-based approach and framework including passion, discipline, and application as the foundation for all learning and performance opportunities.

Educational Program Description

The Vivo program serves students with special needs, ages 5-22, in the public schools through music, the arts, academics, and social emotional learning. Our weekly classes culminate in what has been lauded as “the highlight of the school year”…the Vivo Collaborative Concert, where the Vivo classrooms combine purposefully and effectively with their typical peers to present a full inclusion concert, full of singing, dancing, sign language, artistry, and creativity. Since 2015, thousands of students, teachers, administrators, family members, community and audience members have been transformed through the Vivo experience. Our students with special needs gain immense skills through participation in the Vivo program. They have stronger academic skills, improved social skills and awareness, increased confidence, a desire and ability to collaborate, increased empathy, a solid ability to focus and concentration, and strengthened physical capabilities. Those students who collaborate with Vivo as neurotypical peers gain tremendous ability to work as part of a team, develop empathy, compassion, and kindness, and learn the value and importance of acceptance. Special education teachers and paraprofessionals witness firsthand their students performing and leading, with artistry, confidence, poise, excellence, and pride. And parents and caregivers see, feel, and live the benefits of having their child participate in Vivo. They are engaged in conversations, make good eye contact, their verbal ability is increased, they smile, and they make connections. 

The neurodiverse population served includes students with ADD, ADHD, Down Syndrome, Autism, Cognitive and Developmental Delays and Disabilities, Emotional Disturbances, Trauma, Hearing Impairments, Vision Impairments, Severe Physical Disabilities, and foster care system/displaced students.

Vivo is offered on a semester basis. Classes meet once per week for an hour, for 10 weeks.  Classes culminate in a large scale Collaborative Concert that features the collaborative efforts of Vivo and representative school choirs, bands, theatre department, and visual arts department classes. The Vivo experience provides unique services that support the disability population through inclusive, arts-based education and performance, transforming communities one student, school, and family at a time.

Through constant and consistent targeted and differentiated arts instruction and experiences, the school population will continue to excel, in the arts, in their academics, in their relationship building skills, and in community. Our partnering classroom special education teachers, Vivo parents, administrators, community members continually share their students’ success stories because of participation in the Vivo program. Participation further expands and accelerates each student’s growth, independence, capability, and sense of belonging. Witnessing students being conversational, making eye contact, having improved posture, reading music, understanding sequence of events, strengthened confidence, learning to cheer on your friends. The end result is a transformed student, who gains capability, contentment, passion, and excellence.

 

Fees

Vivo per classroom:  $2500 plus travel expenses

Preferable 3 or more classrooms to achieve maximum collaborative concert impact.