National Symphony Orchestra: 2010-2011 Season

Back by popular demand! Join two NSO principal musicians--violinist Marissa Regni and harpist Dotian Levalier--as they show how different sounds, melodies, rhythms, and instruments can be used to bring a story to life. Ages 3–5. Come early for "musical playtime." Starting a half hour before each Teddy Bear Concert, enjoy these music and movement activities especially designed for small children.

Spooky Sounds and Scary Tales
Brett Mitchell, conductor
 
What do vampires, werewolves, and mummies do on Halloween? They try to disguise themselves as orchestra members, hiding behind their instruments on the Concert Hall stage. Come early for pre-concert trick-or-treating dressed in your spookiest get-up and enjoy a musical Halloween costume party with this "spirited" Sunday afternoon concert event. Conductor Brett Mitchell and the NSO will be wearing their own trick-or-treat outfits as they perform Dukas's The Sorcerer's Apprentice, John Williams's Hedwig's Theme from Harry Potter, and music from other scary tales. It's guaranteed to be a ghoulish good time! For age 5 and up.
 
Come early for pre-concert trick-or-treating and the Musical Instrument "Petting Zoo." An hour before each NSO Family Concert, young concertgoers can get up close and hands-on with the instruments they'll see played on the stage--from violins, trumpets, and oboes to trombones and percussion--in the Kennedy Center Atrium. A project of the Women's Committee for the NSO.
 
Stay after the 3 p.m. concerts for a Kids' Chat. Following the 3 p.m. concert, young audience members can ask questions and hear engaging stories in an up-close-and-personal talk with the concert artists.

Sometimes it's fun to look fancy, but did you know that you can fancy up music? NSO violinist Marissa Regni plays a one-woman show about how to decorate music in the form of ornamentation and variations. To help "illustrate" this idea, the program is presented alongside graphic artist Marie Cheek, who will put children's imaginings of fancy music into images. Music by Bach, Mozart, and Prokofiev is featured in this program that proves that both teddy bears and musicians love to accessorize. For ages 3 to 5. Come early for "musical playtime." Starting a half hour before each Teddy Bear Concert, enjoy these music and movement activities especially designed for small children.

Endangered species, synapses, neurons, condensation, and precipitation--are these terms from a science course or a music class? In this fast-paced, multimedia performance, students hear and see how a melody can be played on a laundry hose (or a tuba); how instrument makers are responding to the near-extinction of their favorite trees; and whether a violinist can break a world speed record. Featuring NSO musicians Yvonne Caruthers, cello, Natasha Bogachek, violin, and Stephen Dumaine, tuba, it's science with excitement! For age 9 and up.

Don't miss the Kennedy String Quartet in this interactive program for children that explores the connections between the way we feel and act and the way music is composed and performed. The musicians of the Kennedy String Quartet (Holly Hamilton and Jane Bowyer Stewart, violins; James Deighan, viola; David Teie, cello) will lead you through music by Haydn, Bartók, and…you! That's right, the audience will help build (or compose) a piece with the quartet. For age 4 and up. Free musical instrument "Petting Zoo" one hour prior to each performance.

Back by popular demand!

The Trumpet of the Swan
A Novel Symphony
 
Based on the book by E.B. White
Book by Marsha Norman
Music by Jason Robert Brown
Jason Robert Brown, conductor
 
How does a trumpeter swan communicate when he's born without a voice? Louis finds the answer when he learns to play a real brass trumpet he got from his father. Through the friendship of a young boy, Sam, and a determination to pay back his father's debt on the trumpet, Louis overcomes adversity to attain freedom, fame, fortune, and love. An entertaining theatrical adaptation of E.B. White's classic story, The Trumpet of the Swan brings actors together with an onstage orchestra and a trumpet soloist for an experience that the Washington Post calls, "Enchanting! This lushly scored work will send you home with a helpless, contented smile on your face." The production features music by Tony Award winner Jason Robert Brown (Parade) and a script adapted by Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award winner Marsha Norman (The Secret Garden). For age 7 and up.
 
Come early for the Musical Instrument "Petting Zoo." An hour before each NSO Family Concert, young concertgoers can get up close and hands-on with the instruments they'll see played on the stage--from violins, trumpets, and oboes to trombones and percussion--in the Kennedy Center Atrium. A project of the Women's Committee for the NSO.
 
Stay after the 3 p.m. concerts for a Kids' Chat. Following the 3 p.m. concert, young audience members can ask questions and hear engaging stories in an up-close-and-personal talk with the concert artists.

It's a big bear world out there, and every sort of bear has its own look and growl. This Teddy Bear Concert takes a peek at these adorable creatures and the sounds of their homelands--music that is as unique as they are. With NSO musicians Elisabeth Adkins and Paula Akbar, violin, Lewis Lipnick, bassoon, and Joe Connell, percussion, as well as narrator Lynne-Jane Forman, this performance assembles a wild combination of instruments in order to create music from around the world. Children will also be introduced to an out-of-this-world instrument, the Theremin, which is used to create the crazy sounds in a lot of classic films. For ages 3 to 5. Come early for "musical playtime." Starting a half hour before each Teddy Bear Concert, enjoy these music and movement activities especially designed for small children.

Beethoven Lives Upstairs
 
Based on the Original Work by Barbara Nichol
Paul Pement, director and producer
Susan Hammond, creator
Natalie Berg and Thad Avery, actors
David Amado, conductor
 
What to do about the loud neighbor upstairs? When Ludwig van Beethoven moves into his family's Vienna boarding house, young Christoph begins writing letters to his uncle about the "madman" living above him. Through a touching correspondence dramatically underscored with more than twenty-five excerpts from the composer's most beautiful works, Christoph comes to understand the genius of Beethoven, the beauty of his music, and the torment of his deafness. Part history, part drama, all fun, this is an excellent introduction to the master's music, including the Moonlight Sonata, Für Elise, and the great Fifth and Ninth Symphonies. For age 5 and up.
 
Come early for the Musical Instrument "Petting Zoo." An hour before each NSO Family Concert, young concertgoers can get up close and hands-on with the instruments they'll see played on the stage--from violins, trumpets, and oboes to trombones and percussion--in the Kennedy Center Atrium. A project of the Women's Committee for the NSO.
 
Stay after the 3 p.m. concerts for a Kids' Chat. Following the 3 p.m. concert, young audience members can ask questions and hear engaging stories in an up-close-and-personal talk with the concert artists.

Rhythm is everywhere: it flavors our lives and lives within music. Join Glenn Donnellan, Richard Barber, Edward Cabarga, Adel Sanchez, and Joe Connell for vivid selections by Beethoven, Mendelssohn, Rossini, and more. For ages 4 and up. Free musical instrument "Petting Zoo" one hour prior to each performance.