The Portsmouth Symphony Orchestra is preparing for the annual children’s concert scheduled Feb. 22 at the Vern Riffe Center for the Arts. This year’s theme is “Young Talent Showcase,” and will feature local pianist David Pettit, above, as well the orchestra, right, under the direction of Carl Daehler, performing children’s favorites and classical selections.
During the show some of Portsmouth’s youngest rising music stars will perform.
Featured will be Portsmouth High School junior David Pettit, who won the 2008 Chopin competition sponsored locally by the Portsmouth Kiwanis Club.
David will perform the “Elvira Madigan” movement from Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 21 in C Major, most recently popularized when it was playing on Lex Luthor’s boat in the blockbuster movie “Superman Returns.”
“With the Children’s Concert (the PSO) has been trying to get younger players featured in the performance. David Pettit will be the featured performer this year. In this concert we will also try to play music geared toward younger kids,” Vanya Perez, PSO spokesperson, said.
“The PSO likes to use its winter children’s concert to recognize up-and-coming young talented musicians and give them the opportunity to perform with a full orchestra,” Carl Daehler, conductor and music director for the PSO, said.
“The PSO already welcomes to its ranks talented high school musicians, and annually we like to showcase some of the most accomplished soloists in the area.”
He said the PSO concert is filled with light classical music to encourage families to attend together and discover classical music is more familiar than they may think – from movies, TV shows, cartoons, commercials and more.
The concert will feature music from American composer Leroy Anderson, whose seasonal favorite, “Sleigh Ride,” was part of the PSO’s recent holiday concert. “Seventy-Six Trombones” is the signature song from the 1957 musical, “The Music Man” by Meredith Wilson. It is one of the most popular marches of all time and imagines the children of River City, Iowa, playing in an enormous fantasy marching band.
One of the most famous and familiar Baroque tunes is Canon in D Major by Pachelbel. Also planned is Hector Berlioz’s “Fantastic Symphony,” which portrays “An Episode in the Life of the Artist.”
The concert concludes with the charming musical tale of a boy defending his animal friends in Sergei Prokofiev’s “Peter and the Wolf.” The score with narration was a special commission to introduce young listeners to the different sounds of the orchestra, each representing a different animal.
“Our Sunday afternoon concert is a favorite for families who want to share their love of music with their children and young friends,” Tim Scheurer, PSO President, said. “The repertoire is selected to enchant our young audience members with the majesty and magic of the moment when the theater goes dark and they hear music and sounds they might not have heard before. Many a fan and future musician has been born in such an instant.”
“The children’s concert is an attempt on our part to be educational, and also to go after an audience when they are younger. This is also a way for us to help build a younger audience,” Perez said. “We want kids of the area to be exposed to this kind of music. They do not get a lot of that in their music programs in school any more.”
Tickets are available at the McKinley Box Office or by calling 351-3600, or through www.ticketmaster.com and Ohio Kroger stores.
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