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- Category: Past Issues
3rd graders
see symphony
in free program
On April 12, third graders from 25 different schools in northeast Connecticut and in Massachusetts were treated to a performance by the New Haven Symphony Orchestra at the Hyde Cultural Center. Celebrating its 36th year, Opera New England of Northeastern CT d/b/a Performing Arts of NE CT continues to present these free educational programs to local schools.
This year’s educational theme, "Big Blue Marble," was presented by the 55-piece orchestra. This was the conclusion of a three-tier program presented by the Performing Arts of NE CT. This exhilarating 55-minute concert is designed for students and is supported by an online curriculum guide with references to the CSDE framework. There is also an in-school tour from a symphony member to prepare them and foster anticipation of the big performance.
From the haunting, eerie songs of the humpback whale to the majesty and power of a 50-piece orchestra portraying a violent storm at sea, Big Blue Marble is a study of the sea, its inhabitants, and related local traditions. Featuring one of the most unusual soloists you’ll ever hear; an unknown family of humpback whales, this music will bring out the romantic dreamer in all of us. Selections by the symphony included: Mendelssohn: The Hebrides, Britten: Four Sea Interludes from the opera Peter Grimes; Rimsky-Korsakov: Scheherazade - The Sea and Sinbad’s Ship; Hovhaness: And God Created Great Whales (1970).
This Gebrauchsmusik, a German term for “utility music”, is for the orchestra, and the taped songs of whales including, humpbacks, bowheads and killer whales join the orchestra. Without the orchestra, would you consider the song of the whales to be music?