Every year, the North Carolina Symphony and its small ensembles present more than 45 free education performances to elementary and middle school-age students across North Carolina.
The symphony performs two concerts for audiences of eager young students at Keppel Auditorium at Catawba College tomorrow, Thursday, at 10 a.m. and 12:30 p.m.
The series forms the core of the most extensive education programs of any U.S. orchestra.
Resident Conductor William Henry Curry leads the orchestra in the 2011/12 edition of this concert program in Salisbury.
The program features special demonstrations by the symphony’s staff of conductors and musicians. Along the way, students and teachers are asked “What makes music music?” with a rich and engaging musical lineup that highlights the building blocks of the art form: rhythm, dynamics, texture, tempo, form and melody.
This year’s lineup includes selections by Mozart, Haydn and Strauss. Students will recognize one of music’s most famous melodies in Beethoven’s “Ode to Joy” and get a little American flavor in Scott Joplin’s “The Entertainer,” well-known as the theme to the Paul Newman and Robert Redford film “The Sting.”
All of the day’s lessons are brought together in the concert’s finale, Reinhold Gličre most famous work — one of classical music’s most frequently quoted scores and one featured in movies from “The Right Stuff” to “The Hunt for Red October” — the Russian Sailor’s Dance from “The Red Poppy” ballet.
Education concerts are presented free in schools or concert halls for school groups and are closed to the public. They are supported across the state by the North Carolina General Assembly, as well as BB&T, GlaxoSmithKline and Progress Energy. The performances in Salisbury are presented in partnership with the Salisbury Symphony Orchestra.