Northeast natives Dan McCain and John Polanco are part of POPS in Schools@Home, a new, free virtual music education program from the Philly Pops.
Each week, they release a new music video of themselves performing a song that is part of the Pops curriculum.
The School District of Philadelphia has incorporated POPS in Schools@Home content to its Google Classroom.
McCain and Polanco are both 2018 Arts Academy at Benjamin Rush grads. They participated in the POPS in Schools program as high school students, and are now University of the Arts students. They were co-op students in the Philly Pops office until the COVID-19 shutdown and have now transitioned into video performances. McCain plays bass, and Polanco plays trumpet.
The virtual project continues the work of POPS in Schools that is normally presented throughout the school year at four elementary schools and 11 high schools.
Each week, new videos, activities and instructional content – in English and Spanish – will be posted online. All video content is provided by the musicians, teaching artists and staff of the Philly Pops.
The content is divided into three categories: Learn, Hear and Notes.
In the Hear category, videos feature the sounds of student musicians who have participated in POPS in Schools to see how far they’ve come. McCain and Polanco are part of a trio with pianist Lonell Johnson, also a University of the Arts student.
The program can be viewed at https://www.phillypops.org/pops-schoolshome. ••
