Popular children’s concerts hit appreciative chords
PHILADELPHIA – The Philadelphia Orchestra has announced the 2014-15 season of Family Concerts and Sound All Around, often sell-out performances that are customized for the younger set and offer a fun and engaging introduction to the concert experience with narrators, storytellers, special guest artists, and more.
Both series of concerts reinforce the Philadelphia Orchestra’s commitment to encouraging children’s love and knowledge of music through experiences designed to delight as well as inform. Family Concerts feature some of the stellar artists on the orchestra’s main series concerts while the Sound All Around Concerts, for children 3-5, are interactive programs with members of the orchestra, an orchestra news release said.
Family Concerts offer a lively introduction to the Philadelphia Orchestra and make a great musical start to a day in Center City Philadelphia. Concerts run from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. in Verizon Hall at the Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts. Pre-Concert Adventures are held before each concert at 10 a.m. in Perelman Theater and are free to all Family Concert ticket-holders, the release said.
The Family Concert series will include Halloween Fantastique (Oct. 25): “Spook”-tacular classics and film soundtracks from Berlioz to Batman; Christmas Kids Spectacular (Dec. 13): Come-a-caroling with the Philadelphia Orchestra for a festive celebration; Oh, the Music You’ll Hear! (Feb. 7): Clever music and rhymes will be accompanied by Dr. Seuss’s illustrations projected above the orchestra as well other playful pieces; Make Your Own Musical Adventure (March 28): Beloved by generations of families, host Charlotte Blake Alston takes the audience on an interactive journey of daring drama and scintillating sounds; Peter and the Wolf (April 18): Orchestra collaborator conductor Stéphane Denève leads a program featuring Sergei Prokofiev’s Peter and the Wolf.
Sound All Around Concerts feature members of the Philadelphia Orchestra and storyteller Blake Alston. Children listen to stories with music, sing songs, move to the music, pretend to play an instrument, and examine real instruments up close. Each concert introduces the audience to a member of the string, woodwind, brass, or percussion family and the final concert features all of the musicians from the season playing together in an ensemble. Sound All Around Concerts take place in the Academy of Music Ballroom and are held on Saturdays and Mondays at 10 a.m. and 11:15 a.m., the release said.
The schedule will be Percussion (Oct. 18 and 20) with Angela Zator Nelson, associate principal timpani and percussion; Brass (Dec. 6 and 8,) with Jeffry Kirschen, horn; Strings (Jan. 31 and Feb. 2) with Amy Oshiro-Morales, violin; Woodwinds (Feb. 28 and March 2) with Samuel Caviezel, associate principal clarinet; and Ensemble (May 2 and 4) with the musicians featured earlier in the year who demonstrate how their individual instruments all work together.
Subscriptions for the 2014-15 Family Series and Sound All Around Series, which often sell out, are now on sale. Family Series subscription packages start at $36 and Sound All Around subscriptions are $42.50. A Ticket Philadelphia processing fee of $19 is added to each subscription order. New and renewing subscribers may purchase subscriptions through Ticket Philadelphia by calling 215-893-1955 or visiting www.philorch.org.
