RPO’s New orKIDStra Season Adds Up: First Concert = Music + Dance
Rochester, NY – Children’s natural affinity for music, dance, art, and theater will be highlighted in this season’s Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra orKIDStra series, which begins on Sunday, October 5 at 2 p.m. at the Performance Hall at Hochstein with “Intersections: Music + Dance.” Each concert will spotlight the relationship between music and an art form. Pre-concert related activities will take place from 1 to 2 p.m. at Hochstein, featuring dancers from the Hochstein School of Music and Dance and opportunities for kids to be “ping-pong composers.” Although ideal for children of all ages, orKIDStra concerts are designed for families with young children ages 3-9.
Guest conductor Marlene Pauley will be taking children through more than 200 years of music by Pachelbel, Piazzolla, Copland, Gershwin, Bartók, and Stravinsky, either inspired by, or used as a basis for dance. Two groups of dancers from the studio of Diane Lewis at the Hochstein School – a younger and an older group – will assist by interpreting Pachelbel’s beautiful Canon in D onstage, choreographed by Ms. Lewis.
Conductor Marlene Pauley has made a name for herself through the education concerts she has designed and conducted for the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra’s nationally recognized CONNECT Education Program. Created in 1999, the SPCO Family Concerts became the orchestra’s best-selling series by 2002. Pauley’s choice of repertoire, commanding stage presence and excellent rapport with young people have made her a favorite among audiences and musicians alike, as demonstrated in her recent RPO primary concerts at the Eastman Theatre. Pauley has toured with the American Wind Symphony Orchestra as clarinet soloist and assistant conductor, and she established and became conductor of the National Youth Orchestra of Jamaica. In addition to her appearance with the RPO, Ms. Pauley has conducted the Naples (FL) Philharmonic, Grand Teton Music Festival and other orchestras.
General admission tickets are $15 for adults; $10 for kids, available online 24/7 at www.rpo.org, by phone (454-2100) and in person from the RPO Box Office. RPO Box Office Hours are Monday-Saturday, 10 a.m.-5 p.m. (non-concert Saturdays, 10 a.m.-3 p.m.).
The next orKIDStra concert takes place on Sunday, January 25, with Intersections: Music + Theater featuring “Peter and the Wolf.” Jay Stetzer will narrate. The RPO orKIDStra concerts are sponsored by Wendy’s Restaurants of Rochester. RPO performances are made possible in part with grants from the National Endowment for the Arts; the New York State Council on the Arts, a State Agency; the State of New York; Monroe County; and the City of Rochester.
Celebrating its 86th season in 2008-09, the RPO inspires and enriches the community through the art of music, presenting nearly 200 performances each season to a combined audience of an estimated quarter of a million people, including more than 70,000 who experience the RPO’s broad range of educational and community programs. The Orchestra is passionately dedicated to outstanding musical performance at the highest artistic levels, and has a unique tradition of musical versatility, commitment to music education in the broadest sense and a deep and enduring engagement with the community. The RPO has been honored with the New York State Governor’s Arts Award and two recent ASCAP awards for adventurous programming.
