The Olympia Symphony invites you to our first-ever Family Concert! This delightful, interactive program will take you on a journey through the instruments of the orchestra, exploring sounds and stories along the way, and ends with a dance party “Under the Sea”!
One hour in length (no intermission), and encouraging movement and laughter, this concert is a wonderful first orchestral experience for the young and young-at-heart!
THE PROGRAM:
Gregory Smith: Tempus Fugit
Gregory Smith: The Animated Orchestra
Maurice Ravel: Mother Goose Suite
Alan Menken: The Little Mermaid Orchestral Suite
About the music:
Tempus Fugit quickly introduces the instruments of the orchestra by describing the whimsical modes of transportation they used to travel to the concert.
The Animated Orchestra tells the story of an orchestra that is supposed to perform the score to a cartoon, but the film of the cartoon was sent to the wrong address! To salvage the concert, the narrator describes the scenes and the orchestra plays the music as the audience imagines the missing cartoon. The never seen hero of the cartoon is a playful and curious ferret named Ari. The audience is frequently called upon to provide Ari’s characteristic ferret sound: “dook-dook-dook-dook”. The setting for the cartoon is an instrument repair shop owned and operated by a sleepy, older gentleman who lives above the shop. Ari sneaks into the shop late one night and discovers that an instrument repair shop is a ferret’s paradise, full of interesting instruments to explore. The story moves into the concert hall as the audience, orchestra, and conductor literally act out the cartoon’s climactic scene, including an unforgettable “orchestra wave,” followed by an always popular “audience wave.”
Ravel’s Mother Goose Suite transports listeners into the enchanting world of fairy tales. Composed in 1910, this five-movement suite is a delightful journey through the pages of beloved stories, drawing inspiration from the magical realm of children’s literature.
Music from Disney’s The Little Mermaid closes out the show, bringing the magical underwater world to life through the instruments of the orchestra. It’s a musical dance party you won’t want to miss!
Bruce Walker, guest conductor
Ari the Ferret sketch by Thomas Novotny
