Education | Orchestral Youth Concerts
Original Orchestral Youth Concerts are presented annually in Burlington and tour the state every other year. These high energy presentations feature excerpts from world premieres written for the VSO by Vermont composers; samplings of traditional music and sources of inspiration; and a performance by a guest youth soloist. The tour crisscrosses the state from Newport to Barre, Rutland to Manchester, reaching more than 5,500 enthusiastic school children along the way.
VSO Orchestral Youth Concert: One Green EarthThursday, December 2, 2010
Flynn Center for the Performing Arts, Burlington
9:30 & 11:30 a.m. | 50 minutes
Grades K-7 | $8.50
E-mail Frances Binder to enroll
E-mail Eleanor Long for more information
You probably know that Green Up Day is May 1, and you may know that Green Up Vermont is celebrating its 40th anniversary in 2010, but did you know that the Vermont Symphony Orchestra is joining the campaign to protect our precious environment? On December 2, “One GREEN Earth” will premiere at the Flynn Center in Burlington!
Bill Shontz, CEO of the Children’s Music Hall of Fame and a veteran entertainer and educator, emcees the presentation. A video of photos taken on Green Up Day accompanies Shontz’s rendition of “Green Up.” For “One Earth,” powerful slides from EARTHWATCH have the lyrics super-imposed for an audience singalong. Other Shontz numbers include “The Hole in the Ozone” and “Garbage,” and the orchestra plays works by Verdi, Brahms, Mendelssohn, Strauss, and John Williams. Copland’s Shaker tune “’Tis a Gift to Be Simple” reflects a reverence for the natural world, while Woody Guthrie’s “This Land Is Your Land” inspires us all! Other ingredients of the program are: a song about solar and wind power written and performed by students; a contest for schools to create instruments out of recycled materials; and musicians volunteering their eco-friendly resolutions for 2011.
E-mail Frances Binder to enroll
E-mail Eleanor Long for more information
For schools outside the Burlington area, consider making a day of it in the big city (!) and visiting the ECHO Lake Aquarium and Science Center. They have a number of exhibits specifically relating to ecology, and school groups are always welcome. Call 877-324-6386 for reservations. If travel expense is an issue, we have heard that the Vermont Arts Council will be accepting applications in August for grants in $200 increments to assist schools financially with the cost of transportation. Worth checking into—especially if you are going to ECHO as well!
To broaden the experience of a VSO orchestral youth concert, advance teacher materials are provided to enrich lesson plans and prepare students for what they will learn at each show. Below are pdf documents from some of our past shows. Please feel free to download and use in your classroom (whether or not you are bringing a class to one of our concerts!).
Carnival of the Animals
Go For Baroque
Create!
Team VSO
Go Figure
Play Me a Story
