Welcome & Introduction | Greetings from the Conductor

Welcome & Introduction

As you come into the concert setting today and prepare to hear the Virginia Symphony Orchestra play beautiful music, take a moment and use your imagination to see the orchestra in a different way. Imagine a time when the orchestra was much smaller. There were just a few string instruments, and even fewer woodwind and brass instruments. There were no percussion instruments and wonder of wonders – there was no conductor!

How could this be? How did the orchestra grow to become as large as you see and hear it today? And when did the conductor become part of the orchestra? How does music tell us about history and even geography? What is a musical period? What is a musical style?

Maestro Matthew Kraemer and the Virginia Symphony Orchestra musicians will help to answer these questions and along the way you’ll have some fun learning “How The Orchestra Grew.”

LISTEN! AS THE SOUND GROWS ALL AROUND YOU!

Marsha D. Staples
Director of Education and Community Engagement
Virginia Symphony Orchestra
861 Glenrock Road, Suite 200
Norfolk, VA 23502
(757) 213-1421
mstaples@virginiasymphony.org

Greetings from the Conductor

Hello, Boys and Girls,

Welcome to the Young People’s Concert for the Virginia Symphony Orchestra. This season’s concert will contain many surprises as you discover “How The Orchestra Grew.”

Can you imagine remaining the same size you were when you were first born and being the age that you are now? Would you be able to do any of the things that you like doing now, like playing baseball or soccer or learning more about the world around you?

Well, in order for the orchestra to be heard the way you hear it today, it also had to grow. And although it didn’t grow in the same way that you grew or for the same purpose, like you, it is definitely able to do more and play more music.

There will be fun and some unexpected events as you watch the orchestra grow. Along the way you’ll learn about composers, hear some great music, andlearn more about what goes on when you attend a symphony orchestra concert. You’ll see and hear the families of instruments that make the beautiful music you hear and find out some of the things a conductor has to know in order to lead the orchestra.

I’m so glad that you are here today and want you to know that you’re going to have an awesome time finding out “How The Orchestra Grew.”

Sincerely,