Fourth graders at Northside Elementary in Seneca, South Carolina, discovered the joy of composing music this past Fall semester, thanks to an idea developed by Lauren Crosby, assistant professor of music theory in Clemson University’s Department of Performing Arts. Crosby developed a music-composition project through her participation in the Pearce Center Service-Learning Fellows Program. This year-long faculty development initiative helps Clemson faculty integrate service-learning and community engagement into their teaching, research and public service.
Through the program, Crosby designed an interactive experience for her Music Theory III students. The class included eight performing arts majors, ranging from sophomores to seniors, and representing both instrumental and vocal disciplines. Together, they collaborated with Northside’s fourth-grade general music class, taught by music teacher Britton Bruno, to compose original melodies in the style of Classical composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.
The project provided Clemson performing arts majors with an opportunity to apply classroom concepts in a real-world community setting, while engaging elementary students in hands-on composition and creative exploration. For many, stepping out of the University setting and into an elementary school music classroom was a valuable experience that broadened their perspective and offered a firsthand look at whether K-12 music education might be a potential career path.
“I think we all are in this program for a different reason,” explained Emily Regalado ’28. “I think that we all have our niches in music. Working with the kids was exciting because I love music and I love working with people and helping them get better.”
Bringing Mozart to Northside
Before visiting Northside, Crosby’s students studied the defining traits of Mozart’s compositional style. During their first visit, they led the fourth graders through the process of crafting melodies that reflected those principles. The classroom buzzed with creativity as students and young musicians clapped rhythms, hummed melodies and collaborated to shape their original tunes.
“People have an inherent musicality that they are not necessarily aware of, and it was incredibly rewarding to be a translator for that,” said Cara Cogan ’27.
After the first visit, Clemson students refined and arranged the children’s melodies into short compositions inspired by Mozart’s Classical style. They later returned to Northside to perform the finished pieces for the fourth graders, bringing the collaborative project full circle.
Crosby described the most rewarding part of the experience as seeing the fourth graders’ insight, creativity and openness shine through. Motivated by their enthusiasm, she plans to continue this project in future Music Theory classes, possibly expanding to other levels and exploring the music of prominent composers each semester.
“This project truly embodied the two-fold nature of service-learning,” said Crosby. “It wasn’t just a community service project; it was an opportunity for 4th graders and college students to learn from one another. Seeing this experiential learning in action was an incredibly rewarding experience.”
About Lauren Crosby
Lauren Crosby is an assistant professor of music theory at Clemson University, where she teaches undergraduate music students and graduate students in the newly established Master of Music Education program. She holds a Ph.D. in music theory from Florida State University, an M.M. in music theory from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, and a B.M. in choral and keyboard studies from Liberty University. Her research interests include music and the moving image, transformational and neo-Riemannian analyses, and music theory pedagogy.
Lauren has presented her research at national and international conferences, including the Society for Music Theory, Music Theory Southeast, and Music and the Moving Image. Her article “The Sound of Boba Fett: John Williams’s Legacy in the Expanded Star Wars Universe” and her forthcoming chapter in The Cambridge Companion to John Williams both focus on the new sound of Star Wars in the era of Disney+ streaming television. In addition to her work with music for television, Lauren is currently writing Music Theory Fundamentals: Exploring Classical and Commercial Music—a textbook that weights classical music education and commercial music interests equally by introducing each element of music in both staff and MIDI notations.
