Orchestra gives elementary students a concert to remember

PHOTO: Angelo Moreno leads the Davis High Symphony orchestra through their outreach concert.

By Christopher Kim

BlueDevilHUB.com Staff–

Hundreds of elementary school students packed the seats of Brunelle Hall on Feb. 8 and 9 in anticipation of Davis High Symphony Orchestra’s annual Kids Family Concert. Many of them returned with their parents and other curious adults that Saturday, Feb. 10.

Across five different performances, the orchestra presented an orchestral and visual retelling of the musical story “Peter and the Wolf ” to over 2,500 people.

Telling the story of a young Peter going outside despite his grandfather’s warnings and facing a hungry wolf with his animal friends, this classic piece by Sergei Prokofiev personifies each character with a different instrument, serving as an introduction to these sounds for children. 

“Hearing and seeing the instruments for the first time and learning their names is the first step to finding that one instrument that tickles your interest and draws you into its magical allure,” orchestra director Angelo Moreno said. 

In a similar educational fashion, the Davis High Symphony students opened the concert by teaching the audience the fundamentals of playing in an orchestra and the different roles within it.

“I have all of my principal players in the symphony line (up on) the front of the stage with their instruments and talk to the kids, play for them, and show them all the cool aspects of their instruments,” Moreno said. 

The concert’s story was enhanced with narration by Community member Ann Moss and puppetry by the Puppet Art Theater Company “I thought it was just going to be the music but the puppets made a really cool thing for the adults and the kids” audience member Eddie Lang said.

Senior bassist Noah Bruening said that the DHS Symphony Orchestra had been practicing the music in class daily since the beginning of January along with three late night weekend rehearsals with the band section in the weeks leading up to the concert. 

The students recognize how much they are impacting future musicians through these concerts.

“I attended this concert four years ago when I was in seventh-grade and it just had a great impact on me because it’s what inspired me to keep working on my instruments and join this orchestra,” Junior Wooyoung Jung said. “Finally being able to be here and give back to the community in a way that impacted me personally was just really amazing.” 

Over the years, the Symphony outreach concerts have grown to become important events within the Davis community. 

“I think it’s especially good how elementary schools are brought over for this sort of thing. Having these sorts of events brings the community together and gives a sense of connectedness in Davis,” Bruening said. “Even if no one joined the orchestra program after this it’s still just as important for self improvement and art for art’s sake.”

These concerts have established themselves as recurring field trips for many elementary students over the years. 

“Each fall I send out information about the concert reservation process and immediately I see the concerts booking up 500 seats per concert. I will get emails throughout the year from teachers asking me: ‘Mr. Moreno, what are next year’s kid concert dates and theme?I want to make sure I get seats for my class!’” Moreno said. 

Being personally inspired to pursue music by Peter and the Wolf as a child, Moreno is glad to have created this tradition of outreach for the Symphony Orchestra. “The experience of learning an instrument can be incredibly challenging and a roller coaster of emotions for young kids but once we harness our musical spirit and learn to control it we are able to encounter some of the most beautiful life experiences through our music making.”