| Why do symphony orchestra critics bash the efforts | | | | MacMaster step-danced on the Salmon Arm |
| of our fine orchestras? Canada's Rhiannon Schmitt | | | | Community Centre's stage a year ago. Funny; I'm a |
| offers a positive review of British Columbia's | | | | classical violinist who's "first love" was Beethoven, yet |
| Okanagan Symphony and their fun and educational | | | | the shows I've enjoyed most featured a fiddle-diva a |
| school concerts series for young children. | | | | la rock band and several hundred giggling, gyrating kids. |
| Rarely has Mozart's Overture to "The Marriage of | | | | Both events weren't even part of the OSO's main |
| Figaro" roused symphony goers out of their seats for | | | | concert series and were not conducted by Douglas |
| a standing ovation, but it's a surefire bet a conductor's | | | | Sanford. They were just the little nuggets that keep |
| never convinced ticketholders to listen closely for | | | | the OSO afloat between monthly shows, but they |
| fortissimo passages, leaping from their seats at | | | | were the most significant to me. |
| recurring accented three-note motifs. | | | | Which leads me to ponder the symphony conundrum. |
| It's completely unimaginable that the maestro require | | | | Orchestras around the globe are dying out, yet we are |
| his esteemed patrons to startle their neighbour with a | | | | willing to spend more money on entertainment than |
| well-timed "BOO" or neck throttle during the "sneaky | | | | ever before! What's the problem? |
| bits" of Don Giovanni. That was until Okanagan | | | | Symphonies are losing their audiences because they |
| Symphony Guest Conductor Michael Hall took up the | | | | are not catering to the people that pay the bills: their |
| baton for the 2005 Educational School Concert Series. | | | | audience. The days of powdered wigs, pretentious |
| Hall put on by far the most entertaining OSO | | | | ceremony and dry receptions have long since past. |
| performance this music lover has seen in a very long | | | | Like it or not, we've become a people of blue jeans |
| time. I spent a large portion turned around admiring the | | | | and fast food who just want to be entertained. When |
| squealing faces of delight behind me rather than | | | | we want to listen to music, we've got many thousands |
| fixated on the my normal point of attention, the first | | | | of artists, radio and TV stations vying to win our dollar. |
| violins. Hall's rapport with the children was fantastic, his | | | | So why should we settle for uncomfortable protocol |
| enthusiasm for music was catching, and the kids loved | | | | which, for example, demands the audience to remain |
| him for it. | | | | silent between the movements, denying our impulse to |
| He didn't resort to gross potty humour or bad music | | | | show our appreciation after a moving musical |
| puns to win the kids over, nor did he dumb down the | | | | experience, only because it has been done that way |
| genius of Mozart's music. In fact, everyone left the | | | | for centuries? Why should we leave the kids at home |
| concert that day with music terms such as "motif," | | | | because it's been long believed that "kids and |
| "thematic development" and "cadenza" under their | | | | symphonies just don't mix," yet isn't symphonic music |
| belts. Hall taught the children to interact with the | | | | the staple music of Loony Tunes and Disney? |
| orchestra and express themselves in the best ways | | | | How about this: Sell more tickets, but at lower prices. |
| children can: through movement and imagination. | | | | Take a local poll and play the music people want to |
| "Mozart on the Move" featured selections from | | | | hear. Let us clap between the movements. Follow in |
| Mozart's Symphonies 29 & 40, two overtures and | | | | Andre Rieu's footsteps and put the players in bright |
| the notorious "Eine Kleine Nahtmusik." Kelowna teen | | | | colours, making it more visually stimulating. Give |
| prodigy Melissa Wilmot amazed us with her dazzling | | | | projection screens and multimedia presentations a try. |
| virtuoso playing on the Violin Concerto in G and young | | | | Feature more pop acts with symphony backup |
| members of the audience played percussion onstage | | | | (Natalie's show sold out at $40 per person!) Designate |
| during the "Toy Symphony" by Mozart's dad, Leopold. | | | | a seperate family area at the front and schedule |
| At one point my four-year-old took off running down | | | | kid-friendly content before intermission at 1/2 price so |
| the isle and I was mortified. An OSO manager gently | | | | parents aren't out big bucks when they have to leave |
| reminded me it was a kid's concert and that my son | | | | early. |
| was doing what came naturally to him. The concert | | | | And keep bringing in friendly, approachable conductors |
| allowed me to enjoy the world's most lovely music live | | | | like Michael Hall who love the music and are open to |
| and my son to burn off the Timbits he had at lunch. | | | | change. |
| I can't remember having this much fun since Natalie | | | | |