By Kim Scroggins
Despite the weather, the New Britain Symphony still had quite the turn out as fifth graders from neighboring towns filed into Welte Auditorium to see this year’s Young People’s Concert performance this past Wednesday.
Every year, the New Britain Symphony and Central host the Young People’s Concert as a way to introduce students to live performances. This year, they reached close to 1,700 fifth graders.
“I want to say 70-80 percent of the students haven’t seen a live performance,” Sue Johnson, co-chair of the N.B. Symphony Education Committee, said. “Teachers receive the programs in advance so the students can study the music.”
Prior to the show, the students became familiar with music by Aaron Copland, John Philip Sousa, Heitor Villa-Lobos, Sergei Prokofiev, Antonin Dvořák, and John Williams. The repertoire was also more kid-friendly, with pieces such as “Peter and the Wolf” and the “Star Wars Theme” on the list.
As part of the program, students were asked to write essays about what music means to them. The finalists and winners were recognized at the opening of the show. A few also made posters for the event and they are currently on display in the New Britain Library. The conductor of the New Britain Symphony, Raphael Luz, also tried to interact with the students as much as he could by picking a volunteer from the audience to come on stage and conduct “Stars and Stripes Forever.”
“This program has been going on for 10 years,” Betty Elia of the Symphony Education Committee stated. “The Enrichment program started when the Symphony started.”
The Enrichment program was established for students to have the opportunity to witness a live performance and their teachers also prepare them for the concert by having them study a booklet made specifically for this event.
“It’s a great program. We have a lot of volunteers,” Barbara Miller, co-chair of the Education Committee, said.
Members of the New Britain Symphony are also familiar faces at CCSU. They include Dr. D’Addio of the Music Department and Thomas Labadorf who is the private clarinet teacher for CCSU music students.
