WHO WE ARE
Introducing children to music during one of the most
integral phases of growth and development
ABOUT OUR PROGRAM
Did You Know? A child’s brain grows faster from birth to age 5 than at any other time of life (reaching 70% of its adult size by age one and 85% by age three). Creating music, and the human interaction that accompanies music-making, involves multi-sensory activities that foster strong brain growth and healthy interaction between young children and their caregivers.
ChIMES is KeyNote’s early childhood music program that supports this crucial phase of child growth and development. Along with our flagship program that features parent/caregiver and child classes in Balboa Park and Liberty Station throughout the year, ChIMES also offers programs to community-based partners in order to bring early childhood music to as many families as possible.
ABOUT OUR CLASSES
ChIMES offers a welcoming and inclusive community with interactive musical experiences that encourage family bonding, at-home learning, and pave the way for future musical development and school readiness. You and your child will sing and dance, be exposed to a culturally rich array of music and instruments, play your own instruments, and learn about rhythm, tone, and other musical concepts.
Activities with our teachers are playful and interactive, and the classes are personalized to accommodate all children, and encourage musical development and active participation. Our ChIMES curriculum focuses on the child/caregiver shared musical experience. Actively participating in class and interacting with your child is the key to a fun and enriching experience!
ChIMES SESSION SCHEDULE
We run multiple sessions (either 8 weeks or 4 weeks) throughout the year. Most classes are held indoors in our new early childhood music studio in Liberty Station, and we also have outdoor class options in Balboa Park. Classes run Wednesday - Saturday mornings, with options for babies, toddlers, preschoolers, and English/Spanish bilingual classes.
CLASS OPTIONS
Sing, dance, smile, and play with your child!
Babies
Recommended for ages 0 up to 18 months
“Modeling” Phase: Parents/caregivers are the primary models and teachers. Children observe and imitate, and begin to participate as they get older, develop more skills, and become more familiar with the class routine.
What to Expect: Singing, dancing, lap songs and bounces, peek-a-boo games, scarves and movement, basic rhythm activities, guest musicians and instrument show and tell, hands-on play with egg shakers, tambourines, and other instruments!
Preschoolers
Recommended for ages 3 – 5 yrs old
“Creating & Doing” Phase: Children participate more fully and begin to generate their own ideas, sounds and movements. The class has transitioned from parent-led to child-led. Parents and caregivers still actively participate, but the children are more independent and also engage with their peers and teacher.
What to Expect: Building stronger ensemble skills through more advanced singing (including solfege, intervals, two-parts); rhythm activities and movement; improvising and creative expression; new instruments (including chime bars/glockenspiels, drums, wood blocks, triangles, etc); introduction to basic music concepts through age-appropriate games and play.
Toddlers
Recommended for ages 18 months to 3 yrs old
“Exploring” Phase: Children participate in more involved ways as they become familiar with the class routine and become more developmentally able to manipulate their voices, bodies and musical instruments. They begin to interact with others in class and it becomes more of a parent/child experience rather than parent-led.What to Expect: More emphasis on singing and solfege as language skills emerge, introduction to harmony and intervals, dancing and large movement, creative expression, more advanced rhythm activities, instrument play with rhythm sticks, shakers, bells, drums and more!
English/Spanish Bilingual
Recommended for all ages, birth to 5
What to Expect: Our bilingual program provides the opportunity for fun, family music-making with songs and activities that are taught in both English and Spanish. The program includes everyday words and phrases, musical terms, and simple action words such as "jump/saltar" and "dance/bailar," as well as plenty of our typical ChIMES activities: singing, large movement, instrument play-alongs, and building community through music. No previous knowledge of Spanish is needed. Classes include a specially curated music playlist and Spanish rhythm cards.MEET THE ChIMES TEAM
Our creative, experienced team is passionate about helping your child
grow and develop
Mr. Charlie
Mr. Charlie
Teaching Artist
Born and raised in the Rocky Mountains of Wyoming, Charlie Perkes comes from a strong musical family. He was accepted into the United States Army Band as a bassist and while in the Army, he studied at the Department of Defense School of Music.
After completing four years in the Army Band, he joined his wife in the Navy Band, where they completed a four-year tour of duty performing all over Europe and Africa. His next tour to Japan was for four years, performing all over Southeast Asia.
Charlie plays the bass, cello and ukulele, and has been teaching ChIMES classes for several years. He also works as a Strings Teaching Artist for SDYS.
Miss Kat
Miss Kat
Teaching Artist
Kat Fitzpatrick has a BA in Child Studies and an AS in Early Childhood Development, and over 30 years of early childhood teaching experience. She has taught preschool at both private schools and at CVUSD. Kat also ran her own business teaching music and drama enrichment classes for young children and performing for children all around San Diego.
Her other passion (besides the little ones!) includes musical theater and performance. Kat has won awards for her own original preschool song recordings and also for performing; she has been in many San Diego productions, most recently Sister Act at SDMT and The Addams Family at Lawrence Welk Theater.
Miss Mariana
Miss Mariana
Teaching Artist
Mariana (Mari) Jones began working with SDYS in 2022 as an Opus Program Assistant and ChIMES Teaching Artist, and will be teaching Music Discovery as well, starting in the fall of 2023. Originally from the San Francisco Bay Area, Mari came to San Diego to receive her BA in Theatre Arts and Performance Studies from the University of San Diego, where she pursued a minor in Comprehensive Music, and spent much of her time singing, playing piccolo, dancing baile folklórico, and acting.
Over the last few years, Mari has been working in music education and devoting her time towards connecting with her Mexican heritage, and her passions for applied theatre and border advocacy. She has been studying and practicing theatre of the oppressed and community music applications to connect and work with those affected by the border crisis in Tijuana and San Diego.
Mari has always looked up to her mother, who works in early childhood education, and she is excited to be following in her footsteps and teaching with ChIMES and Music Discovery.
Miss Michelle
Miss Michelle
Teaching Artist
Michelle Caravia began playing the piano at a very early age and has a Bachelor of Music with a major in vocal performance. She has taught private piano and voice lessons as well as improvisational acting and group singing classes. She was a substitute teacher and paraeducator with the Orange County Department of Education for 6 years in the special education classes.
Michelle is passionate about performing and enjoys everything from singing to acting to improv. She has sung with Opera San Luis Obispo, Miami City Ballet and New World Symphony. She has performed in improv festivals around the country and, most recently, performed in an interactive theater production at the Broward Center for the Performing Arts in Florida.
A daughter of Cuban immigrants, Michelle grew up in a Spanish-speaking household and she is excited to give ChIMES families exposure to Spanish language through songs and other musical activities.
Mr. Thiago
Mr. Thiago
Teaching Artist
Thiago Winterstein is a charismatic, family-oriented multi-instrumentalist who performs and teaches in multiple languages and genres. Starting at age 8, he began studying piano and trombone, which would provide a foundation for learning many other instruments. His formal studies included earning a Guitar Performance degree from Musicians Institute in Hollywood, CA, and studying Brazilian percussion, drum set, cavaquinho, arrangement, and 7-string guitar in São Paulo, Brazil.
For the past 17 years, Thiago has been performing, teaching, recording, and writing music in styles ranging from Bossa Nova, Nueva Trova, North American and Latin American Folk, reggae, rock, and blues. For years he performed with Chilean singer Angela Roa. He also helped develop a music program in Los Angeles to promote language development, literacy, and movement with the support of the Hope Street Family Center.
He is currently establishing his musical roots in San Diego, playing capoeira, and helping raise his twin daughters.
MEET THE ChIMES
ADMINISTRATIVE STAFF
Kate Battenfeld
Kate Battenfeld
Early Childhood Program Manager
Sarah Williams
Sarah Williams
Early Childhood Program Coordinator
Dr. Fil Starostka
Dr. Fil Starostka
Early Childhood Program Assistant
MEET CHIMSEY AND MALLEY
Meet the ChIMES Characters
Say “Hello” to our program characters, Chimesy and Malley, who have jumped right out of the ChIMES xylophone logo to join the musical fun!
Chimesy and Malley are here to help families get the most out of the ChIMES experience by appearing throughout the songbooks and curriculum materials with tips of how to support your child’s musical development and ideas of musical activities to do together at home.
MEET THE ChIMES ILLUSTRATOR
Karen Riedler is a San Diego-based illustrator and artist who created the characters Chimesy and Malley in order to enhance the ChIMES curriculum and further our commitment to building an inclusive and welcoming community.
Karen also designed the vast array of colorful ChIMES graphics and illustrations that appear throughout our curriculum materials to help bring each session theme to life.
You can learn more about Karen and her work at karenriedler.com.