November 13 Concert - Not Just for Kids!

Second Subscription Concert - 61st Season
Not Just for Kids
8 p.m. Nov. 13, 2010 at Jackson Community College



For further information, contact:
Joan Cummings 517-782-3221, 517-782-3268 (Fax), joan.cummings@jacksonsymphony.org

Delight the kids, delight yourself at JSO concert

The second concert in the Jackson Symphony Orchestra’s 61st season could be dubbed a “happening” rather than a symphony concert. The program, Not Just for Kids, features popular classical works written principally for the delight of children but equally enjoyed by adults. Besides the impressive music, there will be projected visuals and the participation of Broadway, Hollywood and TV actor Craig Richard Nelson, a college friend of Maestro Stephen Osmond.

On the program are:

• Sergei Prokofiev’s playful Peter and the Wolf;

• Camille Saint-Saëns’ Carnival of the Animals (written almost as a joke for his friends and performed publicly only after he died in 1921);

• The Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra;

• and selections from John Williams’ movie scores for the Harry Potter series.

Craig Richard Nelson, who starred in Paper Chase and My Body Guard (to name only a couple of films), will be on hand to narrate the story of Peter and the Wolf, inject humor into Carnival of the Animals, a zoological fantasy, and guide the audience through the orchestra during Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra. Pianists Audie Heydenburg and Anita Fobes are guests for Carnival. Assistant JSO conductor David Schultz will conduct Peter and Harry Potter.

“This is not your grandfather’s average symphony orchestra concert,” Osmond said. “I like to think of it more as an event rather than a concert. The music is rather classical, although all the music is written in the 20th Century. There will be visuals and lots of them. Projected images during all the pieces will enhance the experience, especially for the first-time listener.”

”Families with small children, who are worried that their youngsters might get restless, are invited to the Dress Rehearsal at 7:30 p.m. Nov. 12 at JCC’s Music Hall. Because of a sponsorship from Spring Arbor University, there is no charge for this dress rehearsal. The Nov. 13 concert also is sponsored by Spring Arbor University.

“We have never produced an event with such variety and appeal,” Osmond said. “If you are a first-time attendee or wanted to introduce your family to a symphony orchestra and you were to pick one concert to attend in the next 5 years — this is it!”

The 2010-2011 year, A Season for All Ages, continues Feb. 5 and Feb. 6 with Going Baroque, March 19 with Flavors of France and May 7 with Our Own Backyard.

Individual tickets for the Nov. 13 concert are $18, $27, $32. They may be purchased online at www.JacksonSymphony.org; by phone at 517-782-3221; or in person at the JSO Box Office, 215 W. Michigan Ave., downtown Jackson.

All JSO ticket holders are invited to attend a free pre-concert lecture hosted by Dr. Bruce Brown, JSO Composer-in-Residence. This lecture series, titled Backstage Glimpses, takes place at 7 p.m. in the Federer Rooms off the main Floor Lobby in the Potter Center.

NOTE: The Jackson Symphony Orchestra is a community resource providing performances of the classics and popular music, a community music school with private and group instruction and numerous educational programs for students of all ages. The organization owns a 30,000-square-foot facility in the heart of downtown Jackson which not only serves as an administrative, rehearsal, and recital performance space for the orchestra but also is home to the Jackson Youth Symphony, the Jackson Chorale and Children's Choir, the Michigan Shakespeare Festival and JSO Community String Ensemble. The orchestra primarily performs at the world-class Music Hall of the Jackson Community College Potter Center and other venues in town including several churches, the County Fairgrounds and Michigan Theatre.