16 Family programs + 1 gregarious, energetic Conductor =
Fun for the whole family!
Presented by an award-winning conductor and educator, each of the following programs serves multiple goals:
1) Present the best orchestral music in a fun and authentic way
2) Develop active listening skills in audiences of all ages
3) Have FUN! Each concert is presented in a different costume that is a surprise to the audience and the orchestra. These costumes, conductor interaction and a general sense of fun engage young audiences and create a bridge to the world of classical music.
Presenting exciting, interactive concerts is part of the process. Engaging the community is equally as important. Each one of these programs focuses on different groups and talents from throughout the community joining forces with your orchestra. Young poets, artists, singers and actors are all a vital part of the success of family programming. Empowering young people, entertaining them and developing their minds all lead to the best family programming available.
Star Wars “Name that Tune” – two tables of 3 young people each compete to determine who can identify the greatest number of Star Wars themes connected to characters, places and events. Short excerpts are played, clues are given and then entire movements of some of the greatest Star Wars music are played for the audience. (Note: This program works equally as well with music from Harry Potter)
Baseball - Casey at the Bat with narrator, The National Game March and a standard overture feature the four teams of instruments in the orchestra accentuates the similarities between this beloved sport and the musical athletes on stage.
Carnival of the Animals - This program features the great music of Saint-Saens. Elementary school poets write poems for each movement. One of each movement is then chosen to be read at the concert before the playing of the attached movement. These can be read by young students or a local celebrity. Additionally, we celebrate the great unsung hero of the animal world, the chicken, be performing works by Mussorgsky, Kechley, Anderson and Fucik.
Wizard of Oz – Featuring Benjamin Britten’s Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra, this concert gives a new twist on an old favorite. The twist…each family of instruments is narrated by one of the four characters from the Wizard of Oz. Dorothy introduces the strings, the scarecrow the woodwinds, the Cowardly Lion the brass and the Tin Man the percussion. Each character is introduced to the audience by the music of Arlen, Mossolov, Anderson and Brahms. The concert concludes with a medley of music from The Wizard of Oz.
(Note: This program can be narrated by four superheroes turning this into a Superheroes Concert)
Princes and Princesses – Featuring ballet music by Prokofiev and Tchaikovsky, this program provides the perfect platform to partner with your local ballet company, or their ballet school. Featuring music from Cinderella, Swan Lake and/or Sleeping Beauty. This is a great way to introduce audiences to story ballets.
Green Eggs and Ham: Featuring works by Robert Kapilow, this re-telling of the Dr. Suess favorite highlights a local soprano and one of her top students. This 18-minute opera can be paired with a lesser-known, but equally as captivating Kapilow/Suess creation, Gertrude McFuzz.
Pirates: Exploring your audiences seafaring side, this program features works by Wagner, Tchaikovsky, Khachaturian, John Williams and music from the Pirates of the Caribbean. Discover the necessary elements to become a pirate: cannons, planks, and swords and even involve your top local high school wind ensemble performing from the hall and providing the battery of cannons needed for a proper ending of the 1812 Overture.
Dinosaurs: Morton Gould’s The Jogger and the Dinosaur provides a great jumping off point for this program that features music from Jurassic Park as well as a performance of the dinosaur-like Montagues and the Capulets form Prokofiev’s Romeo and Juliet. Gould’s fun, high energy work is broken into sections and interspersed throughout the concert.
Wild, Wild West: Featuring works by Copland, Grofe and Rossini this program provides a terrific opportunity to collaborate with dancers and/or a local high school show-choir singing music from Oklahoma and Annie Get Your Gun.
*The following concerts feature Suites for Chorus and Orchestra of Disney favorites. Local High School choirs can join your orchestra and audiences are delighted to hear music from the movies they love.
Under the Sea – This concert features a suite from The Little Mermaid plus water pieces by composers such as by Handel, Wagner, Britten, Offenbach and Sousa.
(Note: The Little Mermaid can also be featured in a program called “What Dreams are Made of.” This program asks audiences what they want to be when they grow up and presents music that correlates with their dreams)
Aladdin – The suite from Disney’s Aladdin as wells as bite sized chunks of Rimsky-Korsakov’s Scheherazade transports your audience to the 1001 nights of ancient Persia.
Beauty and the Beast – Disney’s story of change is paired with Tubby the Tuba. It turns out that things aren’t always as they appear as young people are introduced to the expressive qualities of your tubist. Music from Elgar’s Wand of youth Suite also appears on this program.
Lion King – This expansive suite is paired with the iconic Prokofiev score, Peter and the Wolf.