CONCERTS FOR KIDS - San Francisco Symphony

Transcription

CONCERTS
FOR
KIDS
San Francisco Symphony
Davies Symphony Hall
STUDY GUIDE
study guide cover 1516.qxp_study guide 1415 9/22/15 4:19 PM Page 2
Children’s Concerts – “Making Music!”
Donato Cabrera, conductor
December 1, 3 and 4, 2015
10am & 11:30am
February 2, 2016
11:30am
Shostakovich Galop from Ballet Suite No. 1
Beethoven Third Movement from Symphony No. 5 (excerpt)
Mendelssohn Scherzo from A Midsummer Night’s Dream (excerpt)
Traditional Are You Sleeping? (sing-along)
Mahler Third Movement from Symphony No. 1 (excerpt)
Fuc̆ík Entrance of the Gladiators
Britten Harp Variation from The Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra
Poulenc Concerto for Organ, Timpani, and Strings (excerpt)
Bizet Finale from Carmen Suite No. 1
Youth Concerts – “Sounds of Music!”
Donato Cabrera, conductor
February 9 and 10, 2016
10:00am
February 8, 9 and 10, 2016
11:30am
Tchaikovsky Trépak from The Nutcracker
Bernstein Times Square from On the Town
Tchaikovsky Scherzo: Pizzicato ostinato from Symphony No. 4 (excerpt)
Britten Woodwind Variations from The Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra
Harrison The Song of Quetzalcoatl (excerpt)
R. Strauss Sunrise from Also sprach Zarathustra
Sousa Liberty Bell March
Saint-Saëns Finale from Organ Symphony (excerpt)
San Francisco Symphony children’s concerts are permanently endowed in honor of Mrs. Walter A. Haas.
Additional support is provided by the Mimi and Peter Haas Fund, the James C. Hormel & Michael P. Nguyen Concerts for Kids Endowment Fund, the Fay and
Ada Tom Family Fund for Concerts for Kids, Tony Trousset & Erin Kelley, and Mrs. Milton Wilson, and the Jam Handy Character Building Foundation, together
with a gift from Mrs. Reuben W. Hills. We are also grateful to the many individual donors who help make this program possible.
San Francisco Symphony music education programs receive generous support from the Hewlett Foundation Fund for Education, the William Randolph Hearst
Endowment Fund, the Agnes Albert Youth Music Education Fund, the William and Gretchen Kimball Education Fund, the Sandy and Paul Otellini Education
Endowment Fund, the Hurlbut-Johnson Fund, The Steinberg Family Education Endowed Fund, the Jon and Linda Gruber Education Fund, and the Howard
Skinner Fund. Additional endowment funds are provided by Maryon Davies Lewis, Ms. Marianne Goldman, Mr. & Mrs. Lawrence J. Stupski, Mr. & Mrs.
Matthew E. Kelly, Grant & Dorrit Saviers, Mrs. Agnes R. Shapiro, Elinor F. Howenstine, Marianne & Richard H. Peterson, and David & Marilyn Pratt.
Institutional support is provided by the Zellerbach Family Foundation and Grants for the Arts/ The San Francisco Hotel Tax Fund.
Our alligator is reproduced from Alligators and Music, copyright 1975 by Donald Elliot and Clinton Arrowood, available through bookstores or from the
Harvard Common Press, 535 Albany Street, Boston, MA 02118.
Schematic of the orchestra and illustrations of the instruments of the orchestra © Tom Swick.
This booklet is printed on recycled paper.
study guide 1516.qxp_study guide 1415 9/22/15 4:20 PM Page 1
Table of Contents
Message from the Director of Education ..........................................................................................................................Page 2
How to Use the Study Guide ............................................................................................................................................Page 4
About The San Francisco Symphony.................................................................................................................................Page 5
Message from the Music Director......................................................................................................................................Page 6
A Short Biography of Donato Cabrera ..............................................................................................................................Page 7
Davies Symphony Hall .....................................................................................................................................................Page 8
Davies Symphony Hall Organ ..........................................................................................................................................Page 9
The Family of Music: Composer, Conductor, Musician, and Audience ...........................................................................Page 10
Pre-Concert Preparation..................................................................................................................................................Page 11
Stage Seating of the San Francisco Symphony .................................................................................................................Page 12
Instruments of the Orchestra ..........................................................................................................................................Page 14
Your Concert CD ...........................................................................................................................................................Page 18
Sounds of Music .............................................................................................................................................................Page 20
Music Notes (Children’s Program: December 1, 3, and 4, 2015 & February 2, 2016).....................................................Page 21
Classroom Activities (Children’s Program) ......................................................................................................................Page 26
Music Notes (Youth Program: February 8, 9 and 10, 2016) ............................................................................................Page 31
Classroom Activities (Youth Program).............................................................................................................................Page 37
Academic Standards ........................................................................................................................................................Page 40
Glossary of Musical Terms ..............................................................................................................................................Page 44
Teacher/Student Bibliography .........................................................................................................................................Page 46
Members of the San Francisco Symphony .......................................................................................................................Page 48
Visual Arts Project.....................................................................................................................................................Back Cover
1
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4
Meet the San Francisco Symphony
• The Orchestra began in 1911, 104 years ago, as the San
Francisco Symphony. The second concert the San Francisco
Symphony ever performed was a concert specifically for
school children on December 12th, 1911.
• Since 1996, MTT and the Orchestra have maintained an
ambitious yearly touring schedule that has taken them to
Europe, Asia, and throughout the United Sates.
• In 2001, the San Francisco Symphony started its own
record label, SFS Media, to release both audio and visual
material. All of the music is recorded live in concert and
engineered at Davies Symphony Hall. Since 2001, Tilson
Thomas and the Orchestra have recorded all nine of Gustav
Mahler’s symphonies and the Adagio from the unfinished
Tenth Symphony, and the composer’s work for voices, chorus,
and Orchestra for SFS Media. These recordings have won
seven Grammy Awards. In total, the San Francisco Symphony
has won fourteen Grammy Awards. Most recently, the recording of local composer John Adams’s Harmonielehre and Short
Ride in a Fast Machine won the 2013 Grammy for “Best Orchestral Performance.” In 2014, SFS Media also released the
first-ever complete concert performances of the score from
Leonard Bernstein’s West Side Story.
• There are 104 men and women who play in the Orchestra
full-time. Sometimes extra musicians are added for special
works, and sometimes not all 104 musicians play, depending
upon what the music requires.
• The musicians have a 52-week season, i.e., they work yearround. Their full-time profession is as musicians, and many
also teach other musicians.
• San Francisco Symphony musicians’ instruments are the best
available. They range in value from $5.50 (a simple percussion
instrument, like a bird call), to over $400,000 for some of the
finest stringed instruments. Most instruments range from
$2,000 to $60,000. Violins, violas, cellos, and basses are often
200 or more years old. Brass, woodwind, and percussion
instruments are usually much more modern, with most being
made in the last 50 years and some being brand new.
• In fall 2006, MTT and the SFS launched the national Keeping
Score PBS television series and multimedia project. Keeping
Score is the San Francisco Symphony’s program designed to
make classical music more accessible to people of all ages and
musical backgrounds. The project is anchored by a national
PBS television series that debuted in 2006, and includes an
innovative website, www.keepingscore.org, to explore and
learn about music; a national radio series; documentary and
live performance DVDs; and an education program for K-12
schools to further teaching through the arts by integrating
classical music into core subjects.
• There are two conductors of the Orchestra: Michael Tilson
Thomas, Music Director; and Donato Cabrera, Resident
Conductor.
• In one year the Orchestra plays more than 220 concerts in
San Francisco and on tour. Over 400,000 people hear the
Orchestra in a year’s time.
• Michael Tilson Thomas (MTT) assumed his post as the
SFS’s eleventh Music Director in September 1995. Together,
he and the San Francisco Symphony have formed a musical
partnership hailed as one of the most inspiring and successful
in the country. MTT celebrates his 21st season as Music
Director in 2015-16. His tenure with the Orchestra has been
praised by critics for outstanding musicianship, innovative
programming, highlighting the works of American
composers, and bringing new audiences to classical music.
5
From the Music Director
Students today face a bewildering array of high-tech
stimuli from a world moving faster than any world
we knew when we were their age. In the years
to come, the speed limit on the information
superhighway will only edge upward. As it
does, the need for balance, for spiritual
nurture, will also increase. That is where
music comes in. Music is the low-tech path
to some of life’s greatest highs. It is uniquely
democratic, challenging, and rewarding
to anyone who takes the time to listen. And it
is as basic a requirement as food, air, or love.
Nietzsche summed it up: “Without music, life
would be a mistake.” I’m thrilled that you will
be bringing your students to the San Francisco
Symphony’s Concerts for Kids.
In the pages that follow, we offer suggestions for
preparing the youngsters in your classroom for a trip
to the concert hall.
We hope the time you spend with us will be satisfying
and fun, and that the discoveries you make together
will be among those that eventually will help your
students take hold of the future and fulfill its promise,
and their own.
Michael Tilson Thomas Music Director
6
Tours. From this tour, a critically acclaimed live recording from
the Berlin Philharmonie of Mahler’s Symphony No. 1 is available on SFS Media. Cabrera lead the orchestra in their ninth
tour of Europe in summer 2015, performing celebrated concerts
in Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw, Milan’s Sala Verdi, Prague’s
Smetana Hall, and again in Berlin’s Philharmonie.
At the California Symphony, Cabrera is committed to featuring
music by American composers, supporting young artists in the
early stages of their careers, and commissioning world premieres
from talented resident composers. Cabrera’s first season as Music
Director of the New Hampshire Music Festival in summer 2013
expanded the festival’s orchestral and chamber concerts, and established the Composer Portrait series with recent guests including internationally renowned composers Nathaniel Stookey and
Nico Muhly.
A champion of new music, Donato Cabrera was a co-founder
of the New York based American Contemporary Music
Ensemble (ACME), which is dedicated to the outstanding
performance of masterworks from the 20th and 21st centuries,
primarily the work of American composers. In September 2012
he conducted ACME in the world premiere of the all-live
version of Steve Reich’s WTC 9/11 for three string quartets and
tape at Le Poisson Rouge in New York City. He made his
Carnegie Hall and Cal Performances debuts leading the world
and California premieres, respectively, of Mark Grey’s Atash
Sorushan. In 2010, Cabrera stepped in on short notice for the
acclaimed British composer/conductor/pianist Thomas Adès to
conduct the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra.
A Short Biography
of Donato Cabrera
Donato Cabrera has been the Resident Conductor of the
San Francisco Symphony (SFS) and the Wattis Foundation
Music Director of the San Francisco Symphony Youth Orchestra
(SFSYO) since 2009. In 2014, Cabrera was appointed Music
Director of the Las Vegas Philharmonic Orchestra and has been
Music Director of the California Symphony and the New
Hampshire Music Festival since 2013.
In 2002, Cabrera was a Herbert von Karajan Conducting Fellow
at the Salzburg Festival. He has served as assistant conductor at
the Ravinia, Spoleto (Italy), and Aspen Music Festivals, and as
resident conductor at the Music Academy of the West. Cabrera
has also been an assistant conductor for productions at the
Metropolitan Opera, Lyric Opera of Chicago, and Los Angeles
Philharmonic. From 2005 to 2008, he was Associate Conductor
of the San Francisco Opera and in 2009, he made his debut
with the San Francisco Ballet. In March 2009, Cabrera was
asked to be one of eight participants in the 2009 Bruno Walter
National Conductor Preview, leading the Nashville Symphony
over two days in a variety of works. Cabrera was the rehearsal
and cover conductor for the Metropolitan Opera production
and DVD release of Doctor Atomic, which won the 2012
Grammy Award for Best Opera Recording.
As SFS Resident Conductor, Donato Cabrera works closely
with San Francisco Symphony Music Director Michael Tilson
Thomas, and frequently conducts the San Francisco Symphony
throughout the year, including the SFS’s annual Día de los
Muertos Community Concert, Concerts for Kids, Adventures
in Music, and Music for Families concerts. In 2012, Cabrera
led the San Francisco Symphony Chorus with Paul Jacobs
on organ, in the world premiere of Mason Bates’ Mass Transmission, subsequently conducting it with the Young People’s
Chorus of New York City in Carnegie Hall for the American
Mavericks Festival. Cabrera made his San Francisco Symphony
debut in April 2009 when he conducted the Orchestra with
24 hours’ notice.
In 2010, Donato Cabrera was recognized by the ConsulateGeneral of Mexico in San Francisco as a Luminary of the
Friends of Mexico Honorary Committee, for his contributions
to promoting and developing the presence of the Mexican
community in the Bay Area. He holds degrees from the
University of Nevada and the University of Illinois and has also
pursued graduate studies in conducting at Indiana University
and the Manhattan School of Music.
The 2015-16 season marks Cabrera’s seventh season as Music
Director of the SFSYO. In 2012, he lead the orchestra in their
eighth European tour, which won a 2011-12 ASCAP Award for
Adventurous Programming of American Music on Foreign
7
What Your Students
Might Like to Know
About Louise M. Davies
Symphony Hall
Quick Facts:
The first concert at Davies Symphony Hall:
September 16, 1980
Number of concerts per year: over 230
Number of seats: 2,743
Inside the Hall
History
Davies Symphony Hall is actually two buildings—the concert
hall and the public lobbies, one inside the other. The concert
hall is protected from all outside noises by a system of passageways that separate the lobby area from the music-making.
The hall is so quiet that when a pin is dropped on the stage
of the empty hall, you can hear its sound in the second tier.
Completed in September 1980 after more than two years of
construction, Louise M. Davies Symphony Hall is the home of
the San Francisco Symphony. More than six thousand individuals,
foundations, and corporations gave the money needed to build
the hall. The City of San Francisco donated the land and the
State and Federal governments gave a total of $10 million
toward the $28 million project. The San Francisco Symphony’s
home owes its name to the efforts and perseverance of Mrs.
Louise M. Davies, the largest individual contributor to the
building.
Sound needs space to travel in, surfaces to bounce off of, and soft
material (like plush chairs or human beings) to absorb it. Everything in the hall is designed to allow the best possible sound for
the San Francisco Symphony, from the rectangular shape of the
hall’s main floor to the risers on stage and the “egg-carton”
protrusions on the ceiling.
During the summer of 1992, Davies Symphony Hall underwent
a major renovation, enhancing its acoustics to ensure an even
better musical experience, and making an already stunning
interior more beautiful still. Special care was also taken to
provide improved facilities for the physically disabled.
Different pieces of music make different kinds of sounds. Every
kind of music, from solo piano sonatas to large symphonies,
must sound its best here. To accomplish this, the acoustical
plastic shields over the stage and cloth banners in the ceiling are
designed so that they can be moved to change the way sound
travels.
The hall has:
• 7,000 yards of carpeting
• 14,500 cubic yards of concrete
• 76 miles of reinforced steel
• 4,000 tons of pre-cast concrete
• 42,000 feet of plumbing pipe
• 32 glass panels along the Van Ness Avenue side of the
building. Each glass panel is 1/2” thick, 18’ high,
and 7’ wide. Each glass panel weighs 1,200 pounds.
Fun Fact: Davies Symphony Hall’s roof is copper, and
with time it will turn green!
8
Davies Symphony Hall
Organ
An organ is a keyboard instrument, but the shiny
pipes above the stage are the most striking feature of the
instrument. Each of these pipes is designed to produce
a specific sound when air is blown through them.
8,264
The instrument consists of
pipes, which
range from the size of a ballpoint pen to more than 32
feet tall. The facade you can see from the hall measures
40’ by 40’ and contains 192 pipes, including 61 brass
trumpets placed horizontally at a 7-degree angle from
the ceiling. The remainder of the pipes are housed in a
three-story structure built behind the auditorium wall.
The Facade
The console, which holds the keyboards and the knobs
for the stops, is constructed of African mahogany and
rosewood. The keyboards and stops are connected to
the pipes by means of sophisticated electronic circuitry.
Because it is connected to the pipes electronically, it can
be moved on and off the stage!
The organ was built and installed in 1983-84 by the
Ruffatti Brothers Organ Company of Padua, Italy, at a
cost of $1.2 million.
The organ in Davies Symphony
Hall is the largest concert hall
organ in North America!
The Console
9
The Family of Music
Composer, Conductor, Musician, and Audience
The experience of music is a combination of four creative forces, merging to communicate ideas, thoughts,
and feelings. Those forces are: the composer, the conductor, the musician, and the audience. Each element,
like the links in a chain, is dependent upon the others for success.
Musician
A musician is one skilled in producing
musical sounds with instruments.
There are many, many instruments in
the world, including the human voice.
A musician can play alone or with
many other musicians. In an ensemble (which can be as
few as two or as many as 100 or more musicians), the task
of the musician is to perform successfully as a collective,
which requires practice and skill. Musicians in an ensemble
follow the leadership of the conductor, but also bring their
own skill and expertise to shape the music. Professional
musicians have practiced long hours for many years on
their instruments to become expert musical communicators.
Most professional musicians have been seriously studying
their instruments since they were young, and have put in
many hours of hard work to get to a level of mastery.
Composer
A composer is a writer of music.
Inspired by a musical idea, story,
or feeling, the composer arranges
the various elements of music—
instrumentation, melody, harmony,
rhythm, tone, form, texture, tempo, pitch, and timbre—
to communicate with the listener. In many musical genres,
like jazz, a composer also fills the role of conductor and
musician. In Western classical music performed by an
orchestra like the San Francisco Symphony, composers
use musical notation to communicate their musical ideas
on paper so the conductor and musicians can perform
their pieces.
Conductor
A conductor is the person who leads, or
conducts, the orchestra. Conductors
have a huge role in the performance of a
composer’s piece, both on and off stage.
The job of a conductor starts with the
“score” the composer has created, a document that contains
all of the parts of the music that will be played by an
orchestra or other ensemble. The conductor uses his or her
musical knowledge to interpret the composer’s written
instructions as well as the notes. The conductor will
rehearse with the orchestra to communicate his or her
vision of the piece to the musicians. The conductor does
this both verbally and using arm and facial expressions.
Since the conductor is the person responsible for knowing
how each musician’s part fits into the larger piece, they
stand in the front of the orchestra, facing the musicians,
keeping time, giving cues, and shaping the expression of
the music.
Audience
The role of the
audience in the
creation of music
may seem the most passive, but is in fact the most magical.
Through the inspiration of the composer, the knowledgeable
interpretation of the conductor, and the creative expression
of the musician, the collective hope is for the audience to
receive the composer’s thoughts, ideas, feelings, and moods,
and to have the composer’s intentions convey meaning and
purpose to the listener. In some music, like jazz, salsa, or
rock, the musicians are continually interacting with the
audience through sounds and movement, like clapping or
dancing. In genres like Western classical music, listeners
may close their eyes, allow their imaginations to dance,
feel the power of the music as it sweeps through the room,
wait in anticipation for themes or melodies to recur—these
are all part of the conversation the composer is having with
the audience.
10
Pre-Concert Preparation
Attending a Concerts for Kids performance is very exciting! The purpose of this Study Guide is to provide
information and ideas for you to use in preparing children for this event. When children come to the concert
hall knowing what to look and listen for, the trip becomes a learning experience and not just another day away
from the classroom.
The Audience
Being an audience is an important role. A review of the sequence of events prior to the start of the concert will
enable the class to understand concert behavior better. Certain things to watch for:
4. After the tuning is finished, the conductor will
enter and take his place on the podium. Both the
concertmaster and conductor are greeted by the
audience with applause.
1. Orchestra members assemble on stage.
2. The concertmaster (first violinist) will enter and
begin the tuning. It is most appropriate for the
audience to applaud the entrance of the concertmaster.
5. The conductor begins the concert.
3. Have the children listen and watch carefully as the
concertmaster signals for the oboe to play the note
“A.” The orchestra will make a wonderful sound
as they all tune to this note. This tuning
to the oboe’s “A” happens in orchestras all
over the world!
The Good Listener
Students should be encouraged to suggest some guidelines to observe during a performance. You are encouraged
to make sure the following points are covered:
1. Listen carefully and intently.
2. Watch the conductor.
3. Watch the musicians.
4. Look for favorite instruments.
5. Clap after the music has stopped (wait until the conductor drops both arms to his sides).
Students should be encouraged not to:
1. Talk or make noise, because they might miss an important piece of the music.
2. Chew gum or eat, because this might be distracting to others watching and listening to the performance.
3. Leave their seats, because this is also very distracting to their neighbors.
4. Bring cameras, cell phones, or recording devices to Davies Symphony Hall, because this is distracting to the
musicians.
11
study guide 1415_study guide 1415 9/29/14 3:21 PM Page 12
San Francisco Symphony Seating
A symphony is a large group of musicians that plays instruments
together. A symphony is also just like a big family—there’s a place for
everybody, and everybody’s in their place.
12
study guide 1415_study guide 1415 9/29/14 3:21 PM Page 13
1 Violins
8 English Horn
15 Timpani
2 Violas
9 Bass Clarinet
16 Cymbals
3 Cellos
10 Clarinets
17 Bass Drum
4 Double Basses
11 Bassoons
18 Trumpets
5 Piccolo
12 Contrabassoon
19 Trombones
6 Flutes
13 French Horns
20 Tuba
7 Oboes
14 Harp
21 The Conductor
13
VIOLIN
VIOLA
BOW
HARP
CELLO
DOUBLE BASS
T
String Family
Family
The
he String
String instruments are made of wood. They have strings stretched across
the top. You play the instrument by moving a bow across the strings or by
plucking the string with your finger.
14
FLUTE
PICCOLO
CLARINET
OBOE
BASSOON
BASS CLARINET
ENGLISH HORN
The Woodwind Family
Most woodwind instruments are made of wood, but flutes can be made of
metal. You play the instrument by blowing air into the tube.
15
TROMBONE
TRUMPET
FRENCH
HORN
TUBA
The Brass Family
Brass instruments are made of metal. They are played by buzzing your lips
and blowing air into the tube.
16
CYMBALS
TRIANGLE
SNARE DRUM
TAMBOURINE
BASS DRUM
TIMPANI
The Percussion Family
Percussion instruments can be made of wood, metal, seeds, vegetables, nuts,
and a whole lot more. They are played by using your hands to hit, shake,
scrape, or rub.
17
Your Concert CD
This Study Guide comes with a complimentary CD of the music that students will hear when they attend their
Concerts for Kids performance. The CD is narrated by conductor Donato Cabrera, who introduces each piece
of music. We know students will gain a greater appreciation from the live San Francisco Symphony presentation
if they have heard the music in advance of their concert date. If you find time in the weeks before the concert to
play this CD for your students, they will be rewarded beyond measure and so will you!
What follows is a listing of the music contained on the CD and scheduled to be performed at our Concerts
for Kids program. The listings give the track number on your Concert for Kids CD (narration plus music);
followed by a bracketed track number (music only, without narration); followed by the name of the composer
and the name of the piece the students will hear at Davies Symphony Hall. Track Number 1 on each CD
contains a message from the conductor for your students.
This Study Guide and accompanying CD are produced and provided solely for use by teachers preparing students for
their concert attendance. Duplicating the CD is prohibited.
CD for Children’s Concert (grades kindergarten-3)
PURPLE LABEL
Track 1
Track 2 [music only = track 11]
Welcome by Donato Cabrera
Shostakovich/Galop from Ballet Suite No. 1
Beethoven/Third Movement from Symphony No. 5 (excerpt)
Mendelssohn/Scherzo from A Midsummer Night’s Dream (excerpt)
Traditional/Are You Sleeping? (sing-along)
Mahler/Third Movement from Symphony No. 1 (excerpt)
Fuc̆ík/Entrance of the Gladiators
Britten/Harp Variation from The Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra
Poulenc/Concerto for Organ, Timpani, and Strings (excerpt)
Bizet/Finale from Carmen Suite No. 1
CD for Youth Concert (grades 4 - 9)
TEAL LABEL
Track 1
Welcome by Donato Cabrera
Tchaikovsky/Trépak from The Nutcracker
Bernstein/Times Square from On the Town
Tchaikovsky/Scherzo: Pizzicato ostinato from Symphony No. 4 (excerpt)
Britten/Woodwind Variations from The Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra
Harrison/The Song of Quetzalcoatl (excerpt)
R. Strauss/Sunrise from Also sprach Zarathustra
Sousa/Liberty Bell March
Saint-Saëns/Finale from Organ Symphony (excerpt)
18
Notes
19
Notes
20
Dmitri Shostakovich/
Music Notes
Galop from
Ballet Suite No. 1
b. Saint Petersburg, Russia, 1906
d. Moscow, Russia, 1975
Children’s Concerts
December 1, 3, and 4, 2015
Dmitri Shostakovich was born in
Saint Petersburg in 1906 and died
in Moscow in 1975. Shostakovich
began piano lessons at age nine.
His first teacher was his mother,
who was a professional pianist. While still a boy, Shostakovich’s
father died, and Shostakovich had to help earn money for his
mother and sisters by playing piano at a cinema. As he grew
older he was able to devote more time to piano playing and
to the study of composition. By the time he was twenty-one,
he had established a reputation as a professional pianist and
composer.
(10:00am and 11:30am)
February 2, 2016 (11:30am)
“Making Music!”
The San Francisco Symphony’s Concerts for Kids are designed
to introduce and acquaint students with the exciting sounds of
symphonic music. “Making Music!” is intended for children in
grades K through 3. The program will explore music through its
most fundamental aspects—sound and sound production. All
music is sound—sound that has been harnessed and structured
in certain ways. Music encompasses many different kinds of
sounds from all parts of the world and emanating from every
world culture.
Dmitri Shostakovich lived and worked in the Soviet Union
(now Russia) at a time when the government was very strict
about what people said and did. They controlled everything, including the type of music that was performed. If the government did not like one of his pieces, they could have sent
Shostakovich to prison. Shostakovich had to write music that
would please everyone, like his four Ballet Suites, which were
collections of different types of music inspired by dances. The
galop, from his Ballet Suite No. 1, is a dance that was popular
in the 1800s, and was so fun and fast that it was often the last
dance of the night at parties. The rhythm of the galop may
remind you of a galloping horse. That is how the dance got its
name!
Music is a natural aspect of childhood that can be seen on the
playground when children jump rope to song and clap their
hands to patterns accompanied by song. Music is all around us;
we hear it in cartoons, video games, children’s movies, television,
radio, and in the classroom.
Hearing the music of a symphony orchestra in a symphony hall
is yet another kind of musical experience for a child. Our concert includes a variety of colorful orchestral works to illustrate
the endless sound possibilities of an orchestra. It is our hope that
the Concerts for Kids experience will resonate with your students for years to come.
The notes that follow are provided as part of the pre-concert
preparation for your class. Each note consists of a brief commentary of the cultural and historical context of the piece, followed by a general description of the music. Familiarizing your
students with this background will enhance your students’ concert experience, allowing them to engage their imaginations
more fully, as the San Francisco Symphony goes about the joyous business of “Making Music!”
21
Ludwig van
Felix Mendelssohn/
Beethoven/
Third Movement
from Symphony No. 5
(excerpt)
Scherzo from
A Midsummer
Night’s Dream
[Mendelssohn = MEN-del-sun;
Scherzo = SCARE-tsoh]
b. Bonn, Germany, 1770
d. Vienna, Austria, 1827
b. Hamburg, Germany, 1809
d. Leipzig, Germany, 1847
Beethoven is considered one of the
greatest composers in history, and
his compositions, which include nine symphonies, are admired
by almost everyone. Beethoven is also music history’s best example of someone who found solace from the tragedies of his
life through his art. He had an unhappy childhood, and he always felt awkward and clumsy around children his own
age. The final blow came just after his thirtieth birthday when
he recognized that he was losing his hearing, surely the greatest
tragedy for any musician. Yet he turned these misfortunes into a
dedication to his art, and by the time of his death he was revered
throughout Europe. His Fifth Symphony represents a journey
from stern misfortune to triumph. The opening of the symphony is one of the most famous in all music: da-da-daDAAA. It is recorded that Beethoven described the famous
opening as “fate knocking on the door.” Beethoven defied
“fate,” and even in deafness, went on to compose many more
works before his death.
Felix Mendelssohn was a child
prodigy who began performing public concerts as an accomplished pianist at age ten. By age 13, he had already composed
12 symphonies. One of Mendelssohn’s favorite authors was the
famous English playwright William Shakespeare. When
Mendelssohn was 17, he composed an overture to precede a performance of Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Almost
twenty years after, he wrote 13 more pieces based on Shakespeare’s light-hearted play.
A Midsummer Night’s Dream takes place in Greece. Near the
city of Athens, there is a forest where magic fairies and elves
live. Oberon is the King of the fairies, and Titania is their
Queen. One of Oberon’s servants is a mischievous but friendly
fairy named Puck. One evening the fairies overhear the conversations of four people who have entered the forest. That’s when
the fun begins! Puck wants to make two of these people fall in
love with each other, so he creates some special magic drops.
When the drops are squeezed onto a sleeping person’s eyelids,
that person will fall madly in love with the first creature he or
she sees when awakened. But Puck makes a mistake, squeezes
the drops into the wrong person’s eyes, and creates a big mess!
Many comic incidents occur as the story progresses. In the end,
the fairies manage to undo the magic spells and everyone lives
happily ever after.
Although Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony is one of the most famous pieces of Western classical music, the third movement is
not as well-known as the Symphony’s opening notes. Beethoven
titled the third movement a scherzo, Italian for joke. In music,
scherzo refers to a piece that is lighthearted, whimsical, and
often strongly rhythmic in character. To add excitement,
Beethoven creates very extreme ranges of loud and soft, affecting
the listener’s sense of anticipation. In the first loud section, the
French horns introduce a “short-short-short – long” rhythm,
very similar to the famous da-da-da-DAAA. The other instruments pick up this rhythmic music, and you’ll hear it throughout the piece.
Mendelssohn wrote the delicate, sprightly Scherzo to precede
Act II of Shakespeare’s comedy. Act II opens in the enchanted
forest, and it is here that we first meet the mischievous fairy
Puck. When the curtain goes up, Puck, who serves King
Oberon, greets another fairy who is collecting dewdrops for
Queen Titania. Puck calls out to her and to the many other
tiny, magical creatures darting back and forth, their transparent
wings fluttering in the moonlight. This is the magical, whimsical
world that Mendelssohn wished to capture in his Scherzo.
22
Scherzo is an Italian word that means “joke,” and when the term
is applied to a piece of music, it often denotes a short piece that
is lighthearted, whimsical, and often strongly rhythmic in character. How appropriate that Mendelssohn would write a
sparkling scherzo to introduce Puck and the enchanted fairy
world! The orchestra plays music that is brisk but always
lighter-than-air. The almost constant stream of fast notes reminds us of the little spirit creatures flying back and forth, and
of their miniature, glistening world. The woodwinds of the orchestra are featured here, especially the flutes. Surely
Mendelssohn intended the flute’s fluttering solo at the end as a
musical portrait of Puck!
Gustav Mahler/
Third Movement from
Symphony No. 1
(excerpt)
Gustav Mahler was raised in a
big family. He was the second of
14 children! Early on, his father
spotted musical talent in young
Gustav and he encouraged his son,
providing him with piano
lessons. Gustav gave his first public recital at age ten, and he
went on to win prize after prize for his piano playing and his
compositions. As a teenager, he enrolled at the prestigious
Vienna Conservatory to study composition and conducting.
Are You Sleeping?
Are You Sleeping? is a very popular nursery rhyme. It’s also very
old, created hundreds of years ago! Even so, the song is still
sung by young children today in many parts of the world.
For instance, children in France know the song by its French
title, Frère Jacques. It’s a wonderful song and a lot of fun to sing.
Gustav Mahler wrote nine symphonies. He died leaving his
tenth composition unfinished. Mahler wrote big, long, deep, expansive, restless, complex, and beautiful symphonies demanding
everything and more from orchestras and conductors. His visionary musical powers blended every aspect of existence—life,
death, humor, sadness, joy, despair, celebration, dreams, and desires—almost everything you can imagine.
Do you know it? Here are the words:
Are You Sleeping?
Are you sleeping, are you sleeping,
Brother John? Brother John?
Morning bells are ringing! Morning bells are ringing!
Ding, ding, dong. Ding, ding, dong.
The third movement of Mahler’s First Symphony, written between 1887 and 1888, took its inspiration from the popular
nursery rhyme Are you Sleeping?. Students will hear Mahler’s
very special version of this famous song. Mahler wanted to create a mysterious mood with the music. To do this, he changes
the music ever so slightly, and then he presents it by having the
low sounding instruments of the orchestra play it. You’ll hear
Mahler’s special version of Are You Sleeping? played first by a solo
double bass, followed by a bassoon, cellos, tuba, and other
members of the orchestra.
Are you Sleeping? is a round. A round is a musical composition
for two or more voices (or instruments), in which each voice enters at a different time with the same melody. Each part sings or
plays the same melody, entering one after the other. When they
reach the end, they start again. Row, Row, Row Your Boat and
Three Blind Mice are other classic children’s rounds.
At the Concerts for Kids performance, your students will have
the opportunity to sing Are You Sleeping? along with other
schoolchildren right here at Davies Symphony Hall! They will
also hear the San Francisco Symphony play a special version of
the song, written by the composer Gustav Mahler. (You can read
about Mahler’s version in the note that follows.)
Singing inside of Davies Symphony Hall will be a most exciting
event for your students. To ensure they are fully prepared for this
extraordinary treat, please check that students know the words
to the song Are You Sleeping? printed above. On your enclosed
Concerts for Kids Children’s Concert CD, you will be able to
play the tune so that the students can hear the melody. Our
guest singer on the compact disc is Courtney Lindl, Music
Teacher in the San Francisco Unified School District.
23
Julius Fuc̆ík/
Benjamin Britten/
Entrance of the
Gladiators
Harp Variation from
The Young Person’s
Guide to the Orchestra
b. Prague, Czech Republic, 1872
d. Berlin, Germany, 1916
b. Lowestoft, England, 1913
d. Aldeburgh, England, 1976
Julius Fuc̆ík learned to play several
instruments as a student, including bassoon, violin, and various
percussion instruments. When he
attended the Prague Conservatory,
a special music school for those aspiring to be professional musicians, he continued his studies on bassoon and violin. He also
took lessons in composition. These studies would serve him
well in his musical career: not only did Fuc̆ík become a professional bassoonist, playing in different orchestras and bands, he
also became well known as a composer.
Benjamin Britten began composing simple pieces at age five, and at
11 he started formal composition
lessons with an established composer, Frank Bridge. Throughout
his career, Britten created many different types of music. He
composed symphonies, operas, ballets, vocal music, music depicting patriotic subjects, a work written for the coronation of
Queen Elizabeth II, as well as pieces to be performed by children and adults. Britten wrote his first symphony at age 21, and
he called it Simple Symphony, because he included melodies in
the work that he had composed as a young boy.
Another important part of Fuc̆ík’s career was that of a bandmaster. “Bandmaster” was the name given to the conductor of a
large ensemble made up of mostly wind instruments and percussion. For more than a decade, Fuc̆ík served as Bandmaster and
conducted the 86th Austro-Hungarian Regiment, a famous military band that was supported by the country’s government. It
was during this time that Fuc̆ík composed some of his marches,
the most famous of which is Entrance of the Gladiators.
In 1946, Britten wrote music to accompany a film documentary
entitled Instruments of the Orchestra. The film was intended to
introduce schoolchildren to the four sections and the individual
instruments of a symphony orchestra. Britten composed a single piece of music, highlighting each instrument in turn, as a
soundtrack for the film. The music became so popular that it
immediately took on a life of its own as a concert piece with the
title The Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra.
Imagine a parade of mighty heroes! They’re entering a big sports
arena or stadium. They’re awesome! That is what Fuc̆ík had in
mind when he called this march Entrance of the Gladiators. In
this exciting march, listen for the brass instruments of the orchestra, which help to give this music such a powerful
sound. It’s so much fun to listen to, that this march is often
played at the circus!
Britten begins The Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra with
music played by the entire orchestra. He then introduces each
section of the orchestra, and afterwards, each type of instrument. One by one, each instrument moves into the spotlight to
display its sound and characteristic personality, playing a different version or “variation” of the opening theme. In the Harp
Variation, your students will hear the glittering sounds that are
produced when the harp’s strings are plucked and when the
harpist’s hands move rapidly across the strings to produce a
sweeping succession of notes called a “glissando.”
24
levers (called “stops”), located on either side or above the manuals, are labeled to designate the different qualities of
sound. Many of the ranks produce sounds that imitate those of
instruments in the orchestra, and the corresponding stop may be
labeled as such. For instance, a trumpet stop will imitate the
sound of the orchestral trumpet. When all the ranks of the
organ are engaged, the sound will be as loud as when the full orchestra is playing. For more information on the Davies Symphony Hall organ, please see page 9 of this Concerts for Kids
Study Guide.
Francis Poulenc/
Concerto for Organ,
Strings, and Timpani
(excerpt)
[Poulenc = Pooh-LANK]
b. Paris, France, 1899
d. Paris, France, 1963
Francis Poulenc’s father was a prosperous Parisian businessman. Although he saw that his son was very fond of music and a
talented musician, he did not want him to pursue music as a career. As a result, Francis Poulenc did not receive a formal musical
education as a young man, but he still loved music and continued to follow his dream of becoming a great musician. He
worked hard on his own and learned as much as he could. As
Poulenc gained in maturity, he did study privately, and he did
become a wonderful—and very famous—pianist and composer.
Georges Bizet/
Finale from Carmen
Suite No. 1
[Bizet = bee-Zay]
d. Bougival, France, 1875
Poulenc wrote music of many different moods: happy and sad,
spirited and dreamy, funny and serious, forceful and gentle. In
fact, he often included all of these characteristics in the same
piece, sometimes switching between them quite rapidly. The
Concerto for Organ, Timpani, and Strings, which we have included to highlight the Davies Symphony Hall organ, is a work
that demonstrates how the character or mood of a piece of
music can change. The excerpt begins with the organ and
strings playing very lively music that may remind you of a
merry-go-round. But the merry-go-round seems to go faster
and faster as the music becomes louder, and the music may start
to sound a bit frightening, as though the merry-go-round has
lost control and cannot be stopped. Then, suddenly, the mood
changes as the organ begins to play alone. When the strings join
the organ again, the music becomes slow, sweet, and
gentle. The end of the piece is startlingly loud once more, and
the final note—a tremendous crash played by the organ and the
orchestra—is even louder.
Georges Bizet was surrounded by
music during his childhood. His
parents and many relatives were
performers, so it is no surprise that his musical abilities surfaced
early. He entered the Paris Conservatory at just nine years old,
wrote an excellent symphony at 17, and won the prestigious
Rome Prize at 19. He wrote many different kinds of music,
both instrumental and vocal, and supported himself through
teaching and odd jobs for music publishers. Eventually, he
found himself drawn to opera, and to the challenge of conveying complex dramatic ideas through music.
Bizet’s music for the opera Carmen is an adventure story set in
Spain, which year after year claims title as the most-performed
opera in the world. One of the reasons for Carmen’s popularity
is the way Bizet adapted the beautiful sounds of Spanish folk
music to project a plot of great intensity. There are lots of exciting scenes in the opera, and in one part of the story, Carmen becomes friends with a bullfighter, or toreador! Bizet’s music
depicting the adventures of Carmen and the toreador is fast and
spirited, with lots of energy. You’ll hear all of the instruments of
the orchestra playing together to create a joyous mood of celebration. It’s a great way to end our concert!
The organ is a very old instrument, dating back many
centuries. Like the piano, it is a member of the keyboard family,
and its sound is produced by air that passes through metal and
wooden pipes when keys are pressed. On the modern organ,
the air is generated by a concealed electric blower. An organ has
from one to seven keyboards or “manuals,” arranged in tiers one
above the other to be played with the fingers, and a pedal keyboard to be played with the feet. Each manual is capable of
controlling a number of “ranks,” or sets of pipes. Each of the
different ranks may be capable of playing many of the same
notes as other ranks, but the sound or “color” will differ based
on how the pipes of a particular rank are constructed. An organist knows which tone colors are available because knobs or
25
Music
Suggested Activities
• Have the class discuss why careful listening is important. The
answers should be written on the chalkboard. It is important
to channel the students’ answers to their experience. Careful
listening is important for the enjoyment of music for all the
same reasons listening is important in life. For example,
learning to pronounce the letters of the alphabet, learning the
rules of a new game to be played on the playground, enjoying
a good joke, or listening to the songs of birds.
Children’s Concerts
(Kindergarten-Grade 3)
Provided in the following section are suggestions for classroom
activities designed to enhance students’ understanding of concepts and ideas relating to the Concerts for Kids experience.
This is a general outline of suggestions that you may use as a
point of departure for developing additional activities—ones
that can be tailored to suit your specific classroom situation and
curricular needs. Some of the exercises listed below lend themselves more readily to post-concert follow-up; others may be
more suitable as preparatory studies.
• Review the instruments of the orchestra with your class.
Photocopy the Instruments of the Orchestra (pages 14-17)
and distribute to the class, or show them on a screen using a
projector. Discuss the different instrument families and the
names and shapes of instruments. Scramble names of
instruments on the chalkboard for the class to solve and
match with pictures of instruments. Utilizing crayons, paints,
or colored pencils, have students color in the shapes
of the instruments and instrument families. Then, using
photocopies of the San Francisco Symphony Seating chart
on pages 12-13, have each student go through the orchestra
and identify the family and name of each instrument.
The suggestions below are grouped by subject area to encourage
and facilitate an interdisciplinary approach to music education,
but are by no means a comprehensive list. We urge you to
integrate music activities into your daily subject matter, and to
amplify these Suggested Activities into learning experiences that
will prove most meaningful to your class.
• Timbre (pronounced “TAM-ber”) is the quality, personality,
or color of a sound unique to an instrument or voice. The
quality of sound is determined by the sound source: the
material, shape, size, and means of sound production—in
other words, the way an instrument makes its sound. Students
can learn to describe the sounds they hear by using colors. For
instance, some sounds can be “fiery red,” “cool blue,” or
“sunny yellow.”
All of these suggested activities, as well as any pre-concert preparation or post-concert follow up you do with your students, address California State Standards in Music, as well as the National
Core Arts Anchor Standards. These are provided for reference
on page 40. This year’s concerts are focused on integrating
Music with Science—specifically to sound production. This
subject lends itself well to Next Generation Science Standards
(NGSS) instruction. To further encourage integrating music
into your NGSS lessons, we have cited Next Generation Science
Standards that are relevant to the exercises in the “Science” section. We encourage you to adapt the suggested lesson to fit your
students’ grade level. The Next Generation Science Standards
are also provided for reference on page 43.
• Assemble various kinds of materials including tin foil, plastic
wrap, paper, cardboard, bubble wrap, etc. and experiment
with creating and describing timbres or sound colors for each.
Each student should suggest a sound quality (timbre) for each
sound that is produced (i.e., “crinkly,” “sizzling,” “bright,”
“dark,” etc.). Ask students to identify their favorite kinds of
timbre and describe them in detail. (What are they? Why are
they your favorite? What colors do they suggest? etc.)
• To reinforce students’ ability to identify instruments aurally,
play a recording of Britten’s The Young Person’s Guide to the
Orchestra. (Be sure to use the version with narration.) Have
students suggest what objects or animals different instruments
might be used to portray. What instruments could effectively
portray an elephant? (Bass, tuba, or contrabassoon.) This
activity can be further enhanced by listening to narrated
recordings of Prokofiev’s Peter and the Wolf and Saint-Saëns’
Carnival of the Animals.
26
• Rhythm is the pulse that is present in all music. Rhythm is
also present in our everyday lives. Some rhythms are loose and
free (a casual walk down the street), and some are very tightly
structured (a marching band, the ticking of a clock, etc.).
Share with students that they all carry a rhythm inside of their
bodies (heartbeat, breathing, pulse, etc.). Have students
answer the question, “What activities do they do to the
pulse of rhythm?” Answer: dancing, jumping rope, running,
sports, etc. Utilizing your Concerts for Kids CD, play
different works from the program. Have students make a
circle and walk around the room to the rhythm or beat of
the music. Also have students sit in a circle and try to feel the
pulse of the music, clapping their hands in unison to the
musical pulse.
• Have students write a poem answering the question “What is
music?” in their Concerts for Kids notebook. It’s amazing
how hard it is to answer that question! For younger students,
ask them to complete the sentence “Music is…” and then
share the answer with their neighbor. For older students, have
them write a full poem. Feel free to play the music from the
Concerts for Kids CD while the students work.
(CCSS.ELA-Literacy.CCRA.W.3)
• Sound is all around us. Students can create a sound/symbol
Pictionary to document their own system of sounds.
a) Tell students to listen carefully to the sounds they hear on
the way to and from school. Have them make a list of
these sounds in their “special” Concerts for Kids
notebook. Students should categorize the sounds by those
they liked and didn’t like.
Language Arts
• Have students create a special notebook or “journal” to record
their responses to these Concerts for Kids Suggested Activities.
b) Next, have students create a symbol for each sound.
Encourage students to utilize the elements of color, shape,
form, texture, line, and size.
(CCSS.ELA-Literacy.CCRA.W.4 & 5)
• Have students write a letter to the conductor and musicians
telling them what they thought of the concert. (Letters may
be sent to: San Francisco Symphony, Education Department,
Davies Symphony Hall, San Francisco, CA 94102.)
Examples:
Some prompts could be: “My favorite part of my field trip to
the Davies Symphony Hall was…”
“My favorite piece was _____ because_____.”
“My favorite instrument was ______ because_______.”
“When the Symphony played ______, it made me feel
________.”
Sounds I Liked
birds chirping
ocean
laughing voices
My Symbol
smiling face
color blue
warm blanket
Sounds I Didn’t Like
car horn blowing
siren
screeching car brakes
My Symbol
jagged line
color red
big eyes
c) To extend the lesson, have students do this exercise three
days in a row and encourage them to think deeper about
what kinds of sounds they like or don’t like, and to express
the reasons why.
“The music sounded like ______.”
Feel free to have them include a drawing!
(CCSS.ELA-Literacy.CCRA.SL.2)
• Play a piece from the Concerts for Kids CD, telling your students to close their eyes and think about what the music
sounds like or what they imagine. Then, reminding them
there are no right or wrong answers, ask them to share what
they thought. To enhance the discussion, ask them why the
music made them think of those words and ideas. Have them
write their ideas in their Concerts for Kids journal.
(CCSS.ELA-Literacy.CCRA.R.7)
27
Fine Arts
Multicultural Studies
• To promote active listening, ask students to practice being
very quiet for one minute. Before the minute of silence, tell
students they will be listening for any sounds they hear. (The
sounds might include a truck, birds, kids laughing, the ticking
of the classroom clock, school bell, etc.) After the minute of
silence is over, ask students to draw a picture of the things
they heard. Ask for a show of hands, and select students to
share what they heard during the minute of silence.
• Many composers wrote pieces inspired by folk tales. Read your
students a folktale from a distinct culture, then have a discussion
about the setting, characters, and story. Then, play them a piece
written about that folktale. Some examples are:
The Firebird (Russia) – Igor Stravinsky
Hansel and Gretel (Germany) – Engelbert Humperdinck
Tom Thumb (part of Mother Goose) (England) – Maurice Ravel
Uirapurú (Brazil) – Hector Villa-Lobos
• Have students draw pictures to illustrate different pieces of
music from the program. You should consider submitting
entries to the San Francisco Symphony’s Visual Arts Project.
Information is on the back cover of this Study Guide.
• The instruments in the Symphony aren’t the only ones out there!
First, ask your students if they can think of any that they already
know. Then, show your students pictures of instruments from
around the world and see if they know their names and where
they come from. Some examples can be:
• Review with students the instruments of the orchestra, and
the characteristics of each instrument family. Keeping these
concepts in mind, students should draw a picture of an
original, made-up instrument. Students should be allowed to
use their full imaginations in the creation of their instrument.
It can be a “new” string, wind, brass, or percussion instrument. The only restriction is that it must be clear in the
drawing how the instrument is to be played.
Maracas from Mexico
Harmonica from the United States
Drums from Africa
Congas from Cuba
Castanets from Spain
Pan flute from Peru
Bagpipes from Scotland
Erhu from China
Gamelan from Java
• As a class project, have students produce a poster promoting
their upcoming trip to Davies Symphony Hall to hear the
San Francisco Symphony. Remind students to include the
name of the orchestra, the date and time of their concert,
location, etc. The poster should be as colorful as your
classroom resources will allow, and should also include lots
of adjectives.
• Pronounce the word potaje (po-TAH-hay) for students.
This is a Spanish word that means “stew” or a mixture of
ingredients. Have students pronounce the word after you.
Tell students the Bay Area is like a big stew—a potaje—and
it is what makes the Bay Area so great! Lead students in a
discussion of the richness that exists right in their classroom—
classmates born in different places, who may speak more than
one language, who eat different kinds of foods, who listen to
different types of music—and that this richness can be shared
with each other!
28
• Music is the special organization of sound that is constructed
by using special musical tools. Sounds are made by vibrating
objects. Students can feel sound vibrations by performing the
following experiments. Having them exaggerate the sounds
will make them easier to feel:
Students should feel their pulse again while at recess or before
returning to the classroom to experience the change in their
internal percussion instrument. You might want to lead students in a short discussion on the differences between their
pulse while sitting quietly in class and their pulse while they
were at play.
1) Have students place the forefinger lightly on the lips and
say “mmm”
NGSS LS1: From Molecules to Organisms: Structures and
Processes
2) Have students place the forefinger of each hand on each
side of the nose and say “nnn”
• Percussion instruments are the most accessible instruments of
all for students. Build some percussion instruments from
everyday materials found around the house that can be used
in your classroom:
Science
3) Have students place a hand on the chest and say “ahh”
4) Have students place a hand on the back of the neck and
say “ing”
COFFEE CAN DRUM:
Get a large coffee can that has a plastic lid. Use a wooden
beater, like a pencil. Also have students play it with fingers like
a bongo drum.
NGSS LS1: From Molecules to Organisms: Structures and
Processes
MARGARINE TUB MARACAS:
Place dried beans, pebbles, or seeds inside a plastic margarine
tub, and tape the lid on tightly. Students can produce sound
by shaking rhythmically.
• Explore different sounds that can be produced in the classroom.
For example, students clapping their hands, marching in
place, hitting two chalkboard erasers together, or tapping
pencils on desks can produce percussion sounds. Whistling
produces wind sounds, and don’t forget about the human
voice. Have students compare and contrast the characteristics
of the sounds. Ask students what kind of sounds soft materials
make versus hard materials.
JELLY JAR BELLS:
Assemble a number of jelly jars or glasses of the same size.
Fill them with different levels of water. Tap jars with a wooden
pencil. Allow students to experience the different sounds
produced when tapping the glasses. More water creates a
deeper bell sound; less water creates a higher bell sound.
Students will also be able to visually experience vibration, as
they observe the water moving from the tapping of the pencil
on the jar.
NGSS PS1: Matter and its interaction
• The heart is the body’s percussion instrument. For a classroom
participation activity, have students place their hands on their
hearts and count silently while you time them for 30 seconds.
Now help students identify that they have other percussion
spots on their bodies— places where they can feel their pulse.
Assist students in finding their pulse on either the left or right
wrist. Tell students that this throbbing—or steady constant
beat—also comes from the pumping of the heart. Identifying
the pulse may be a new experience for the students; do allow
them to revel in the recognition of it. Because the pulse, like
the heart, produces a steady beat, students can use many
rhythm patterns to count it. Lead students in counting each
pulse: 1,2,1,2, or 1,2,3,4, etc. Before students go out for recess, remind them to feel for their pulse while on the playground. During or after a lot of physical activity such as
running, skipping, or jumping, the heart beats faster. It will
still produce a steady rhythm, but the beat will be faster.
If you create several of these instruments described above
for your students, you’ll have the makings of a classroom
percussion band!
NGSS PS4: Wave and their applications in technologies
for information transfer
29
Notes
30
Peter Tchaikovsky/
Music Notes
Trépak from
The Nutcracker
Youth Concerts
[Tchaikovsky = ch-eye-KOV-skee;
Trépak = TRAY-pack]
February 8, 2016 (11:30am)
February 9 & 10, 2016 (10:00am and 11:30am)
b. Votkinsk, Russia, 1840
d. Saint Petersburg, Russia, 1891
Peter Tchaikovsky is one of the
most admired composers in Russian culture. Although deeply moved by music as a child, he did
not begin to study music seriously until he was 21. His parents
wanted him to become a lawyer, so Tchaikovsky completed his
studies in law. Afterwards, however, he realized that he really
wanted to become a composer, and he enrolled as a student at
the newly founded Saint Petersburg Conservatory. He went on
to compose many different kinds of music, including music for
three popular ballets—Swan Lake, Sleeping Beauty, and The
Nutcracker.
“Sounds of Music!”
The San Francisco Symphony’s Concerts for Kids are designed
to acquaint students with the exciting sounds of symphonic
music. “Sounds of Music!” is intended for students in grades 4
through 9, and the program will focus on the various instruments and sections of the orchestra. While students are attuned
to a myriad of sounds in their everyday environments, the
sounds of the orchestra may be new to their ears. The modern
symphony orchestra provides a rich opportunity to explore the
different ways various composers have used different sounds to
create wonderful pieces of music. A knowledge of the types of
“sounds” that a symphony orchestra can produce can enrich a
student’s aesthetic and humanistic education.
The Nutcracker, based on a German fairy tale, is performed by
many ballet companies during the holidays, and it is especially
beloved by children. The story is about a young girl named
Clara, who receives as a Christmas present a wooden nutcracker
shaped like a toy soldier. It is night, and Clara’s family has gone
to bed. Clara goes to the Christmas tree and discovers that the
toys, including her wooden nutcracker, have begun to come to
life. Her nutcracker turns into a handsome Prince, and he and
the other toys wage a battle against an army of mice, who are led
by the Mouse King. The Prince is very brave, and when he and
the other toys have won the battle, he takes Clara on a journey
to his magical kingdom—the Land of Sweets. The enchanted
beings who live in the Land of Sweets entertain Clara and the
Prince in a delightful suite of dances, which include those of a
Sugar-Plum Fairy, Snowflakes, Flowers, Chinese Tea, Arabian
Coffee, and Spanish Chocolates. The most athletic of the dances
is performed by a group of men who join in a boisterous Russian dance called the trépak.
The notes that follow are provided as part of the pre-concert
preparation for your class. Each note consists of a brief commentary of the cultural and historical context of the piece, followed by a general description of the music. Familiarizing your
students with this background will enhance your students’ concert experience by ensuring that your young concertgoers arrive
at Davies Symphony Hall in a state of anticipation, receptiveness, and readiness to explore the many “Sounds of Music!”
Like the dance, the music is full of energy and has a strong,
quick rhythmic pulse. To dance the trépak, Russian Cossacks
(adventurers) assume a squatting position and kick their legs
out, left-right-left-right. The arms are folded and held out from
the chest. Sometimes the kicking alternates with a hopping motion, still in the squatting position. Try it—it is hard! The orchestra is very busy in this exciting music, making sure the
tempo never slows down. A tambourine adds spice to the orchestra’s sounds. Towards the end of this short piece, the music
speeds up little by little, spurring the dancers on to even more
high-spirited and athletic dancing.
31
Bernstein’s piece Times Square captures the mood of the sailors’
celebrations by using the symphony orchestra as though it were
a jazz band. Since orchestras and jazz bands share many of the
same instruments, and since many orchestral musicians play jazz
as well as symphonic music, it was a natural role for the orchestra to assume. You will hear many of the trademarks of jazz:
snappy rhythms that make you want to move your body, instrumental solos that sound improvised (that is, they sound as
though they were made up on the spot), squealing trumpets,
sliding trombones, and the sound of jazz traps—a grouping of
drums and cymbals performed by a single player.
Leonard Bernstein/
Times Square
from On the Town
Leonard Bernstein was a
conductor, as well as a composer. He is an important
figure in our country’s musical heritage because he was
one of the first Americans to
become internationally famous as a conductor. Bernstein’s father, who was born in Russia,
moved to the United States at age 16 and worked in a fish market. Bernstein’s mother worked in a mill. Leonard, nicknamed
“Lenny”, was their first child. He became interested in music at
an early age. At age ten, he began to take piano lessons, practicing on a piano that had been lent to the household by an aunt.
As a young adult, he studied conducting and composition. In
1943, he was appointed Assistant Conductor of the New York
Philharmonic Orchestra. He became Music Director of that orchestra in 1958, and as part of his duties, he conducted many
concerts for children. For fifteen years, these concerts were
broadcast on national television. Bernstein’s “Young People’s
Concerts” have been reissued on DVD and are available online.
Bernstein visited San Francisco many times, and he conducted
the San Francisco Symphony on several occasions. On one visit
in February 1946, Bernstein and the San Francisco Symphony
presented the first performances of a work called Three Dance
Episodes from On the Town, the last section of which is the piece
Times Square.
Tchaikovksy/Scherzo: Pizzicato ostinato
from Symphony No. 4 (excerpt)
Scherzo is an Italian word that means “joke,” and when the term
is applied to a piece of music, it often denotes a short piece that
is lighthearted, whimsical, and often strongly rhythmic in character. Tchaikovsky’s humorous Scherzo from his Symphony No.
4 has a further title—“Pizzicato ostinato”—which gives us a clue
as to the way the music will sound. The string musicians of the
orchestra (violin, viola, cello, and double bass) can play their instruments in two ways, either by drawing a bow across the
strings, or by plucking the strings with their fingers. When the
strings are plucked, the sound they create is called “pizzicato.”
The next word in the title is “ostinato,” meaning “stubborn.”
Together, these words mean that Tchaikovsky’s Scherzo is music
that is “stubbornly pizzicato.” In other words, it’s music in
which the string players will play pizzicato the entire time, without using their bows at all!
Bernstein was interested in all kinds of music. He wrote jazz,
Broadway musicals, symphonies, operas, and ballets. On the
Town is one of Bernstein’s four Broadway musicals. The plot
concerns three sailors—Ozzie, Chip, and Gabey—who dock in
New York City for a short vacation of only twenty-four hours.
Because there is no time to lose, the three sailors try to cram as
many adventures as they can into the course of one day and one
night. They board the subway to visit the famous sights and the
fun begins: there is a wild taxi ride, they are chased by cops, they
look at the skyscrapers, and they visit a wonderful amusement
park called Coney Island. They also visit Times Square, located
in the heart of the city and well known for its exciting nightlife.
Many jazz clubs were located in Times Square, and the sailors
visit three of the most exciting: Diamond Eddie’s Nightclub, the
Congacabana, and the Slam Bang Club.
32
Benjamin Britten/
Lou Harrison/
Woodwind Variations
from The Young
Person’s Guide
to the Orchestra
Song of Quetzalcoatl
(excerpt)
b. Portland, Oregon, 1917
d. Lafayette, Indiana, 2003
b. Lowestoft, England, 1913
d. Aldeburgh, England, 1976
When Lou Harrison died in 2003,
the Bay Area lost one of its most
beloved musical figures, and
America lost one of its most original musical voices. Harrison was
nine when his family moved from Portland, Oregon to San
Francisco, and he began to immerse himself immediately in the
many kinds of music he encountered here. He attended performances of Chinese opera, studied ancient church music at
Mission Dolores, and listened to Japanese music, banjo playing,
piano, and violin. His family moved to the Peninsula during
Harrison’s high school years, and he graduated from Burlingame
High School. He soon returned to San Francisco and took
classes at the University of California at San Francisco. Harrison
would go on to make significant contributions to the musical
life of San Francisco, as a composer, a performer, an instrument
maker, a concert producer, and a writer about music. He was an
honored guest of the San Francisco Symphony on many occasions, whenever the Symphony was performing one of his compositions.
Benjamin Britten began composing simple pieces at age five, and at
11 he started formal composition lessons with an established
composer, Frank Bridge. Throughout his career, Britten created
many different types of music—symphonies, operas, ballets,
vocal music, music depicting patriotic subjects (including a
work written for the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II), as well
as pieces to be performed by children and adults. Britten wrote
his first symphony at age 21, and he called it Simple Symphony,
because he included melodies in the work that he had composed
as a young boy.
In 1946, Britten wrote music to accompany a film documentary
entitled Instruments of the Orchestra. The film was intended to
introduce schoolchildren to the four sections and the individual
instruments of a symphony orchestra. Britten composed a single
piece of music, highlighting each instrument in turn, as a
soundtrack for the film. The music became so popular that it
immediately took on a life of its own as a concert piece with the
title The Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra.
One of Harrison’s most important early experiences in music
came when he moved to San Francisco in 1934 and enrolled in
a class on “Music of the Peoples of the World,” taught by the
composer Henry Cowell. Exposure to a full range of folk music
from regions around the world influenced him deeply, and he
drew from these musical vocabularies in his own work. Harrison
was especially interested in music from Pacific culture, that is, all
of the countries that border the Pacific Ocean. He studied the
music of different cultures and absorbed some of the sounds and
techniques into his own compositions. By doing so, Harrison
was attempting to create music that would reflect the many Pacific cultures that we find here in the Bay Area.
Britten begins The Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra with
music played by the entire orchestra. He then introduces each
section of the orchestra, and afterwards, each type of instrument. One by one, each instrument moves into the spotlight to
display its sound and characteristic personality, playing a different version or “variation” of the opening theme. In the Woodwind Variations, your students will hear all the woodwind
instruments play together—that’s the flutes, oboes, clarinets,
and bassoons. Then, each of these instrument groups will take a
turn demonstrating some of the wonderful sounds and moods
that can be made when they play by themselves. You’ll hear
them in the order listed above: the flutes, then the oboes, followed by the clarinets, and lastly, the bassoons.
Another interest of Harrison’s was percussion. In 1941 Harrison
helped to establish a series of percussion concerts in San Francisco and assembled a diverse collection of instruments from
around the world for use at the performances. He even invented
some new percussion instruments, such as iron pipes, metal
tanks, washtubs, and clay flower pots. Harrison wrote the percussion piece Song of Quetzalcoatl in 1962, inspired by the legend of the Feathered Serpent god of ancient Mexico, thus fusing
his interests in cultures and percussion sounds.
You will hear many instruments in Song of Quetzalcoatl. In fact,
the music presents a stately procession of different percussion
33
sounds, including bells, snare drum, bass drum, and small
drums called tom-toms, woodblocks, rattles, gongs, a guiro (a
ridged gourd that is scraped with a stick), cowbells, and even
brake drums taken from the underside of cars which, surprisingly, make a delicate bell-like sound when struck.
John Philip Sousa/
Liberty Bell March
b. Washington, D.C., 1854
d. Reading, PA, 1932
“There is probably no composer in
the world with a popularity equal
to that of Sousa,” wrote one critic
in 1900. That was more than 100
years ago, but the music of John
Philip Sousa is still popular today.
In his 50-year career, Sousa led the United States Marine Band
and Navy Band, as well as his own ensemble. He composed 140
marches, earning him the nickname “The March King.”
Richard Strauss/
Sunrise from
Also sprach Zarathustra
b. Munich, Germany, 1864
d. Garmisch, Germany, 1949
Strauss’s father was one of Germany’s leading horn players, and
he started teaching his son about
music when he was a very little
boy. The young Strauss picked up ideas very quickly; in fact, he
was already composing when he was six years old! At 17, he had
his first symphony performed in Munich; at 18, he had a concerto performed in Vienna; and, by the ripe old age of 20, his
work had sailed across the Atlantic into the concert houses of
New York. Soon after, he made his conducting debut and was
hired as a junior conductor at the Munich opera. He would go
on to become internationally famous both as a composer and as
a conductor.
Sousa was inspired by his patriotism and love of our country. He
proudly called himself “a truly American composer.” His most
famous march, The Stars and Stripes Forever, honors the American flag. The Liberty Bell March, which Sousa wrote in 1893,
pays homage to America’s Liberty Bell, the great national symbol
of freedom which today hangs in Independence Hall in
Philadelphia. According to one account, Sousa was attending a
theatrical pageant which included a spectacular painted backdrop of the Liberty Bell. At about the same time, his son
marched in a parade in Philadelphia celebrating the return of
the famous bell, which had been on a tour across the country to
San Francisco. The coincidence of these two events led to the
naming of his latest march.
Strauss is best known for his operas, songs, and symphonic
poems. Symphonic poems—or tone poems—are orchestral
pieces that are based on a poem or story. Tone poems do not have
any words; it is the music that tells the whole story. To do this, a
composer needs to be able to translate all sorts of sounds into
music. Strauss knew how good he was. He once told a colleague
that he could even describe an everyday act like moving silverware from one side of the plate to the other through his music!
The Liberty Bell’s tour across the country took place 100 years
ago. Do you know why? It’s because the famous Liberty Bell
made a special visit to San Francisco to be one of the main attractions at the 1915 Pan Pacific International Exposition. The
bell traveled here by a special train, making stops throughout the
country on the route from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to San
Francisco. The 1915 Pan Pacific International Exposition was a
special “World’s Fair” to show off what a wonderful city San
Francisco had become. People from all over the world attended
the exposition, and the Liberty Bell—proudly on display right
here in San Francisco—was one of the stars of the show!
In the 1896 composition Also Sprach Zarathustra, which translates as “Thus Spoke Zarathustra”, Strauss wanted to communicate some of the ideas of the German philosopher Friedrich
Nietzsche. Also sprach Zarathustra was the title of a book Nietzsche wrote that tells the story of a very wise man, Zarathustra,
who lived in the sixth-century B.C. In the story, Zarathustra has
spent ten years all alone on the top of a mountain, communing
with nature. While on the mountain, he has received special
powers and has gained great knowledge and wisdom. Watching
a simple sunrise one morning, he is overcome by its magnificence, and he makes a monumental decision to return to society,
where he will use his new wisdom and power to help make the
world better. Strauss uses rising notes in the trumpet to portray
the sun coming up and the power of the new day’s light. The
sun glows with energy, becoming more and more brilliant and
fiery. This musical sunrise is truly thrilling!
We might think of Sousa’s Liberty Bell March as “music for the
feet.” Can you imagine marching to it? The march is popular
with many bands and orchestras, both here in America and in
England. In England, it has been used for the famous Changing
of the Guard at Buckingham Palace, and later as the theme song
for the British television comedy Monty Python’s Flying Circus.
34
Many of the ranks produce sounds that imitate those of instruments in the orchestra, and the corresponding stop may be labeled as such. For instance, a trumpet stop will imitate the
sound of the orchestral trumpet. When all the ranks of the
organ are engaged, the sound will be as loud as when the full orchestra is playing.
Camille Saint-Saëns/
Finale from Organ
Symphony
[Saint-Saëns = sass-SAWNS]
d. Algiers, 1921
You will be able to hear this magnificent sound because the portion of the Organ Symphony being presented begins with the
organ playing alone. The orchestra enters almost immediately,
and the music subsequently builds, gets softer, and builds again
to a grand, triumphant close. Throughout the piece, the inspired
combination of the orchestra and the organ creates music of indescribable majesty.
When Camille Saint-Saëns was
only a few months old, his father
died, so he was raised by his
mother and by a great-aunt who
also taught him to play the piano.
At age five, young Camille was already playing for audiences. Two years later, he began playing
the organ and studying composition. He was admitted to the
Paris Conservatory at age thirteen. As an adult, he became a famous pianist and organist, and during his long life—he lived to
be almost 90—he composed a great many works with rapidity
and ease, including operas, symphonies, chamber music, and
songs. His music always showed imagination and wit. One historian described the multi-talented Saint-Saëns as follows:
“He studied astronomy, physics, and natural history. He
wrote books on philosophy, literature, painting, and the
theater. He produced poetry and a play. He wrote critical
essays. He had a gift for drawing cartoons. He read classical literature omnivorously, mastered several languages,
and revealed a vigorous curiosity for archaeology.”
Saint-Saëns’ Symphony No. 3 has a nickname—the Organ Symphony. Since Saint-Saëns was himself a famous organist, it is not
surprising that he would write a part for the organ in one of his
symphonies, even though it is unusual for symphonies to have
organ parts. The San Francisco Symphony is able to perform
this exhilarating piece for you, because Davies Symphony Hall
houses a large pipe organ. (See page 9.)
The organ is a very old instrument, dating back many centuries.
Like the piano, it is a member of the keyboard family (like the
piano), and its sound is produced by air that passes through
metal and wooden pipes when keys are pressed. On the modern
organ, a concealed electric blower generates the air. An organ has
from one to seven keyboards, or “manuals,” arranged in tiers one
above the other to be played with the fingers, and a pedal keyboard to be played with the feet. Each manual is capable of controlling a number of “ranks,” or sets of pipes. Each of the
different ranks may be capable of playing many of the same
notes as other ranks, but the sound or “color” will differ based
on how the pipes of a particular rank are constructed. An organist knows which tone colors are available, because knobs or
levers (called “stops”), located on either side or above the manuals, are labeled to designate the different qualities of sound.
35
Notes
36
Music
Suggested Activities
• Have the class discuss what “careful listening” is, and why it is
important in different aspects of life. Some sample questions
for your discussion:
How is careful listening important when you are talking to
a friend?
Youth Concerts
(Grades 4–9)
How does it show someone that you care about what they
are saying?
Provided in the following section are suggestions for classroom
activities designed to enhance students’ understanding of concepts and ideas relating to the Concerts for Kids experience.
This is a general outline of suggestions that you may use as a
point of departure for developing additional activities—ones
that can be tailored to suit your specific classroom situation and
curricular needs. Some of the exercises listed below lend themselves more readily to post-concert follow-up; others may be
more suitable as preparatory studies.
Why is it important when you attend a performance?
Guide students to discuss why it is important to the
performers that they are careful listeners (respecting their
performance, which is being shared with the audience) and
why it is beneficial for them (the more they can hear the
music, the more they will hear and enjoy).
• Have the class remain silent for 60 seconds while listening
very carefully to sounds in the classroom environment.
Encourage students to discuss what they heard. Examples may
include the low hum of the ventilation system, the buzz of
electric lighting, footsteps in the hallway, motor traffic
outside, the sound of the wind, or the high pitch of a
suppressed giggle. Did the sound of the car increase in volume
as it approached the building and decrease after it passed?
Did the footsteps produce a regular or irregular sound pattern? Did they hear something they’ve never noticed before?
The suggestions below are grouped by subject area to encourage
and facilitate an interdisciplinary approach to music education,
but are by no means a comprehensive list. We urge you integrate
music activities into your daily subject matter, and to amplify
these Suggested Activities into learning experiences that will
prove most meaningful to your class.
All of these suggested activities, as well as any pre-concert preparation or post-concert follow up you do with your students, address California State Standards in Music, as well as the National
Core Arts Anchor Standards. These are provided for reference
on page 40. This year’s concerts are focused on integrating
Music with Science—specifically to sound production. This
subject lends itself well to Next Generation Science Standards
(NGSS) instruction. To further encourage integrating music
into your NGSS lessons, we have cited Next Generation Science
Standards that are relevant to the exercises in the “Science” section. We encourage you to adapt the suggested lesson to fit your
students’ grade level. The Next Generation Science Standards
are also provided for reference on page 43.
If you would like to learn more about a composer who explored
the concepts of silence, ambient sounds, and music, research John
Cage (most famous for his piece 4’33” in which a performer sits
on stage silently).
• Review the instruments of the orchestra with your class.
Pages 14-17 have illustrations of the instrument families, with
brief explanations of how sound is made on each of them.
• Have students learning to play instruments bring them to
class and demonstrate them.
• Reinforce students’ ability to identify instruments aurally.
If possible, play a recording of Benjamin Britten’s The Young
Person’s Guide to the Orchestra. Once your students are familiar
with the sounds of the different instruments, ask them to
identify the instrument (or instrument family) that plays in
the following pieces:
The solo at 0:08 in Track 15: Sunrise from Also sprach
Zarathustra (trumpet)
The instrument at the beginning of Track 17: Finale
from Organ Symphony (organ)
The instrument at the beginning of Track 11: Times
Square from On the Town (clarinet)
37
• Discuss the concept of “timbre”—the distinctive sound that
each instrument produces. Have students describe the different timbres of various instruments of the orchestra, using colorful adjectives or pictorial imagery (for example, an oboe
may sound “nasal”; a triangle may sound “tinkly”; a harp may
sound like “a band of angels,” etc.). To extend this exercise,
have them keep these lists and reference them when discussing
or writing about ways music communicates in the “Language
Arts” section of the Suggested Activities.
Language Arts
• Have students create a special notebook or “journal” to record
their responses to these Concerts for Kids Suggested Activities.
• Have students write letters to the conductor and musicians
telling them what they thought of the concert. Letters may be
sent to: San Francisco Symphony, Education Department,
Davies Symphony Hall, San Francisco, CA 94102. Some
topics could include: a critical analysis of the performance, a
narrative of their trip, or a comparison of two or three pieces.
Encourage them to use musical vocabulary they have learned.
• Using your Concerts for Kids CD, compare different works
on the program to discuss the mood or atmosphere that each
piece creates.
(CCSS.ELA-Literacy.CCRA.W.1, 3 & 4)
• As beginning conductors, have students experiment with
sound. Write “forte” and “piano” on the chalkboard and
connect the two words with a straight vertical line (leaving
some distance between the two words). In the language of
notation (the series of symbols in which music is written),
forte means “loud” and piano means “soft.” Making a sound
move from soft to loud is called “crescendo” (kreh-SHENdoe). Conversely, making a sound move from loud to soft is
called “decrescendo” (DAY-kreh-shen-doe). Beside your
straight line connecting forte and piano, draw an arrow
moving from bottom to top and write the word crescendo.
On the other side of your straight line, draw an arrow moving
from top to bottom and write the word decrescendo. Now
you are ready to conduct.
• Have students act as newspaper reporters whose assignment
is to write an article about a newly discovered instrument.
The article should include a description of the instrument,
the sound it produces, and how it produces that sound. An
account of where and how the instrument was discovered
(teleported from a distant planet, from pre-historic times,
etc.) should also be included. Encourage students to be as
creative and “farfetched” as possible.
(CCSS.ELA-Literacy.CCRA.W.2, 3 & 10)
• Have students research the meaning of the word “music.”
As part of this research project, encourage the students to ask
their families and friends how they would define “music.”
After students have written their definition, have a class
discussion through the reading of several written reports.
One of the natural outcomes of this exercise will be for the
class to recognize that answering “what is music” is a difficult
question that has no simple answer. There are many “right”
answers to “what is music” depending on one’s age, cultural
background, sound preference, etc.
Have students select a word or sound for their song: “Hey,”
“Boo,” “Me,” their choice. Explaining the terms to the
students and using your hand or a pointer, move it up and
down to conduct your student chorus. Make sure their sounds
increase or decrease in volume according to your hand
position. You should vary the speed (tempo) by sometimes
moving fast and sometimes moving slowly. Have students take
turns performing the role of conductor.
38
• Explore different sounds that can be produced in the
classroom. For example, students clapping their hands,
marching in place, hitting two chalkboard erasers together, or tapping pencils on their desks, can produce
percussion sounds. Whistling produces wind sounds, and
don’t forget about the human voice. Have students compare and contrast the characteristics of the sounds and how
the sounds are produced.
Fine Arts
• Have students draw pictures to illustrate different pieces of
music from the program. You should consider submitting
entries to the San Francisco Symphony’s Visual Arts Project.
Information is on the back cover of this Study Guide.
• Explain to students what an abstract picture is—a picture
that uses shapes and colors without trying to represent
anything in the real world. Show them examples by artists
like Kandinsky, Rothko or Mondrian. Then choose a piece
from the Concerts for Kids CD, and ask them to think
about what colors and shapes it makes them imagine. After
listening to the piece once, play it again and ask them to
create an abstract picture based on their ideas about the
visual representations of the piece. After they are done, ask
them to describe what they heard to a partner, and talk about
their ideas.
NGSS PS3: Energy
• Create a telephone out of two cups and a string. Have students speak and listen to each other. Explore how sound
waves transfer from one person to the next through the telephone. Students can predict what will happen to the sound
when the string is loose and then pulled tight between the
two cups. If possible, experiment with the length of the
string and a variety of strings: nylon, yarn and fishing line.
• Have students create a play by selecting a folktale or story.
Members of the class should dramatize the story using a
word-for-word performance. Dance or pantomime portions
may also be included, and sets and costumes may be
constructed. Ask them to choose selections from the Concerts
for Kids CD as their soundtrack!
NGSS PS4: Waves and their applications in technologies
for information transfer
Multicultural Studies
Science
• Have students select a country or region of the world to
research for a report. Reports should focus on the indigenous
instruments of the region, and on how music is used culturally (celebrations, worship, entertainment, etc.).
• Music is the special organization of sound that is constructed by using special musical tools. Sounds are made
by vibrating objects. Students can feel sound vibrations
by performing the following experiments. Having them
exaggerate the sounds will make them easier to feel:
• Using online resources or one of the music books in your
school library as a reference, explore with your students instruments that have come to this country with immigrating cultures, such as the violin, the guitar, the harmonica, the banjo,
and both the Irish and Scottish bagpipes.
1) Have students place the forefinger lightly on the lips
and say “mmm”
• Have students explore folk dances from various regions of the
world. They should describe the dance, the kind of music that
traditionally accompanies it, and any traditional costumes that
the dancers wear. If possible, have them locate the appropriate
music (use libraries and online searches as resources) and
demonstrate the dances.
2) Have students place the forefinger of each hand on
each side of the nose and say “nnn”
3) Have students place a hand on the chest and say
“ahh”
4) Have students place a hand on the back of the neck
and say “ing”
As a class, discuss the respiratory systems within the body
that work together to produce your voice and allow you to
hum. Have students research diagrams of the respiratory
system or create their own.
NGSS PS1: Matter and its Interactions
NGSS LS1: From Molecules to Organisms: Structures
and Processes
39
State and National Standards
Concerts for Kids performances and the classroom activities surrounding them support the implementation of the California State
Music Standards and Common Core State Standards in ELA, as well as aligning with the National Core Arts Standards. California’s
Visual and Performing Arts Standards outline what students should know about music at each grade level. The voluntary National
Core Arts Standards, published in 1994 and revised in 2014, offer a broader framework for student musical education. The revised
standards were developed to align more readily with the goals of the Common Core State Standards in educating students as 21st
century learners and creative problem solvers.
Classroom implementation of Common Core standards, especially those addressing English Language Arts, can be supported by artsbased learning. Not only do art integrated lessons engage students in topics through a creative medium, but they also promote ways
of processing information that improve students’ long term memory of the material (Rinne, et al., 2011). According to the College
Board’s Report Arts and the Common Core: A Comparison of the National Core Arts Standards and the Common Core State Standards,
“The arts standards connect to all segments of the Common Core, extending beyond the standards for reading to include writing,
speaking and listening.” We recommend using the information and activities contained in the Study Guide as a launching point for
teaching about both music and exploring further arts integrated activities in your teaching practices.
California State Board of Education Visual and Performing Arts: Music Content Standards
1.0 ARTISTIC PERCEPTION: Processing, Analyzing, and Responding to Sensory Information Through the Language and Skills
Unique to Music
Students read, notate, listen to, analyze, and describe music and other aural information, using the terminology of music.
2.0 CREATIVE EXPRESSION: Creating, Performing, and Participating in Music
Students apply vocal and instrumental musical skills in performing a varied repertoire of music. They compose and arrange music and
improvise melodies, variations, and accompaniments, using digital/electronic technology when appropriate.
3.0 HISTORICAL AND CULTURAL CONTEXT: Understanding the Historical Contributions and Cultural Dimensions of Music
Students analyze the role of music in past and present cultures throughout the world, noting cultural diversity as it relates to music,
musicians, and composers.
4.0 AESTHETIC VALUING: Responding to, Analyzing, and Making Judgments About Works of Music
Students critically assess and derive meaning from works of music and the performance of musicians according to the elements of
music, aesthetic qualities, and human responses.
5.0 CONNECTIONS, RELATIONSHIPS, APPLICATIONS: Connecting and Applying What Is Learned in Music to Learning
in Other Art Forms and Subject Areas and to Careers
Students apply what they learn in music across subject areas. They develop competencies and creative skills in problem solving, communication, and management of time and resources that contribute to lifelong learning and career skills. They also learn about careers
in and related to music.
The National Core Arts Anchor Standards:
Creating: Conceiving and developing new artistic ideas and work. Responding: Understanding and evaluating how the arts convey
meaning.
#7. Perceive and analyze artistic work.
#8. Interpret intent and meaning in artistic work.
#9. Apply criteria to evaluate artistic work.
Connecting: Relating artistic ideas and work with personal meaning and external context.
#10. Synthesize and relate knowledge and personal
experiences to make art.
#11. Relate artistic ideas and works with societal, cultural
and historical context to deepen understanding.
The grade specific standards can be found at www.nationalartsstandards.org.
#1. Generate and conceptualize artistic ideas and work.
#2. Organize and develop artistic ideas and work.
#3. Refine and complete artistic work.
Performing: Realizing artistic ideas and work through interpretation and presentation.
#4. Analyze, interpret, and select artistic work for presentation.
#5. Develop and refine artistic work for presentation.
#6. Convey meaning through the presentation of artistic work.
40
Common Core Standards
Listed below are the Common Core English Language Arts Anchor Standards. Specific standards for each grade level
can be found at http://www.corestandards.org/ELA-Literacy
College and Career Readiness Anchor
Standards for Reading
Standards for Writing
Key Ideas and Details:
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.CCRA.R.1: Read closely to determine
what the text says explicitly and to make logical inferences
from it; cite specific textual evidence when writing or speaking
to support conclusions drawn from the text.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.CCRA.R.2: Determine central ideas or
themes of a text and analyze their development; summarize
the key supporting details and ideas.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.CCRA.R.3: Analyze how and why individuals, events, or ideas develop and interact over the course
of a text.
Text Types and Purposes:
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.CCRA.W.1: Write arguments to support
claims in an analysis of substantive topics or texts using valid
reasoning and relevant and sufficient evidence.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.CCRA.W.2: Write informative/explanatory
texts to examine and convey complex ideas and information
clearly and accurately through the effective selection, organization, and analysis of content.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.CCRA.W.3: Write narratives to develop
real or imagined experiences or events using effective technique,
well-chosen details and well-structured event sequences.
Craft and Structure:
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.CCRA.R.4: Interpret words and phrases
as they are used in a text, including determining technical,
connotative, and figurative meanings, and analyze how specific word choices shape meaning or tone.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.CCRA.R.5: Analyze the structure of
texts, including how specific sentences, paragraphs, and larger
portions of the text (e.g., a section, chapter, scene, or stanza)
relate to each other and the whole.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.CCRA.R.6: Assess how point of view or
purpose shapes the content and style of a text.
Production and Distribution of Writing:
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.CCRA.W.4: Produce clear and coherent
writing in which the development, organization, and style are
appropriate to task, purpose, and audience.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.CCRA.W.5: Develop and strengthen writing as needed by planning, revising, editing, rewriting, or trying
a new approach.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.CCRA.W.6: Use technology, including the
Internet, to produce and publish writing and to interact and collaborate with others.
Research to Build and Present Knowledge:
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.CCRA.W.7: Conduct short as well as more
sustained research projects based on focused questions, demonstrating understanding of the subject under investigation.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.CCRA.W.8: Gather relevant information
from multiple print and digital sources, assess the credibility and
accuracy of each source, and integrate the information while
avoiding plagiarism.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.CCRA.W.9: Draw evidence from literary
or informational texts to support analysis, reflection, and research.
Integration of Knowledge and Ideas:
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.CCRA.R.7: Integrate and evaluate content presented in diverse media and formats, including visually and quantitatively, as well as in words.1
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.CCRA.R.8: Delineate and evaluate the
argument and specific claims in a text, including the validity
of the reasoning as well as the relevance and sufficiency of the
evidence.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.CCRA.R.9: Analyze how two or more
texts address similar themes or topics in order to build knowledge or to compare the approaches the authors take.
Range of Writing:
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.CCRA.W.10: Write routinely over extended time frames (time for research, reflection, and revision)
and shorter time frames (a single sitting or a day or two) for a
range of tasks, purposes, and audiences.
Range of Reading and Level of Text Complexity:
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.CCRA.R.10: Read and comprehend
complex literary and informational texts independently and
proficiently.
41
Standards for Speaking and Listening
Comprehension and Collaboration:
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.CCRA.SL.1: Prepare for and participate
effectively in a range of conversations and collaborations with
diverse partners, building on others’ ideas and expressing their
own clearly and persuasively.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.CCRA.SL.2: Integrate and evaluate information presented in diverse media and formats, including
visually, quantitatively, and orally.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.CCRA.SL.3: Evaluate a speaker’s point of
view, reasoning, and use of evidence and rhetoric.
Presentation of Knowledge and Ideas:
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.CCRA.SL.4: Present information, findings, and supporting evidence such that listeners can follow
the line of reasoning and the organization, development, and
style are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.CCRA.SL.5: Make strategic use of digital
media and visual displays of data to express information and
enhance understanding of presentations.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.CCRA.SL.6: Adapt speech to a variety of
contexts and communicative tasks, demonstrating command
of formal English when indicated or appropriate.
42
Next Generation Science Standards
Listed below are the three dimensions of the Next Generation Science Standard (NGSS). Specific standards for each grade level
can be found at www.nextgenscience.org
THE THREE DIMENSIONS OF THE NGSS FRAMEWORK
Scientific and Engineering Practices
1. Asking questions (for science) and defining problems (for engineering)
2. Developing and using models
3. Planning and carrying out investigations
4. Analyzing and interpreting data
5. Using mathematics and computational thinking
6. Constructing explanations (for science) and designing solutions (for engineering)
7. Engaging in argument from evidence
8. Obtaining, evaluating, and communicating information
Crosscutting Concepts
1. Patterns
2. Cause and effect: Mechanism and explanation
3. Scale, proportion, and quantity
4. Systems and system models
5. Energy and matter: Flows, cycles, and conservation
6. Structure and function
7. Stability and change
Disciplinary Core Ideas
Physical Sciences
PS1: Matter and its interactions
PS2: Motion and stability: Forces and interactions
PS3: Energy
PS4: Waves and their applications in technologies for information transfer
Life Sciences
LS1: From molecules to organisms: Structures and processes
LS2: Ecosystems: Interactions, energy, and dynamics
LS3: Heredity: Inheritance and variation of traits
LS4: Biological evolution: Unity and diversity
Earth and Space Sciences
ESS1: Earth’s place in the universe
ESS2: Earth’s systems
ESS3: Earth and human activity
Engineering, Technology, and Applications of Science
ETS1: Engineering design
ETS2: Links among engineering, technology, science, and society
43
Glossary of Musical Terms
acoustics (ah-COO-sticks)
Can have two meanings. First, the science of sound. Second, the properties
of a concert hall or other buildings as they affect the sounds produced in it.
accelerando (ak-cheh-leh-RON-doe)
Getting faster. The word “accelerate” comes from the same Latin origin.
adagio (ah-DAH-zhee-oh)
Slow, relaxed tempo.
allegro (ah-LEG-grow)
Fast, brisk tempo.
ballet
A form of theater where dance and music are combined, frequently to enact
a story.
bass (BASE)
The lowest part of the music, such as string bass or bass singer.
baton
A thin stick used by the conductor of an orchestra, choir, or band, to indicate rhythm or expression.
beat
A pulse.
blues
An African-American musical form, originating in the work songs and spirituals of the rural American South in the late 19th century.
chord
A combination of tones sounded together.
composer
A writer of music.
concertmaster
The first violinist in an orchestra.
concerto (con-CHAIR-toe)
A composition for orchestra and solo instrument.
conductor
The leader of an ensemble.
crescendo (cre-SHEN-doe)
Making a sound move from soft to loud.
decrescendo (DAY-cre-shen-doe)
Making a sound move from loud to soft.
diminuendo (dee-men-you-EN-doe)
Getting softer.
dynamics
Variations of volume, from loud to soft, and soft to loud.
ensemble
Two or more musicians playing at the same time.
fanfare
A flourish of trumpets.
forte (FOR-tay)
Loud.
fortissimo (for-TIS-see-mo)
Very loud.
harmony
A combination of musical sounds that is musically significant.
improvise
To make up and perform music on the spur of the moment, without
playing music that is written down or from memory.
jazz
A musical form developed from the African-American genres of
blues and ragtime.
largo
Slowly.
melody
A succession of pitches over time with direction and rhythm.
movement
Like chapters in a book, a movement is a distinct unit or division within a
big piece of music like a symphony.
notation
The language (a series of symbols) in which music is written.
44
note
A musical sound.
opera
A form of theater where the words are set to music. Combines drama,
music, and dance to tell a story.
orchestra
A large body of instrumentalists including strings, woodwinds, brass, and
percussion.
orchestration
The art of using instruments in different combinations and deciding the
various parts of music each instrument is to play.
overture
A piece of music designed to be played as an introduction to an opera or a
ballet.
piano
Soft. (The piano gets its name from the term pianoforte [pea-ahno-FORtay], which means it was an instrument that could play both soft and loud.
The word was later shortened to piano.)
pitch
The highness or lowness of a musical sound.
presto
Very fast.
program music
Music based on something non-musical, such as a story, legend, historical
event, place, painting, etc.
rest
Space in the music when an instrument or group of instruments is silent.
rhythm
A basic element of music. The organization of sound over time.
rhapsody
An instrumental composition without a particular structural musical form,
and usually suggesting music that is imaginative and vivid.
ritardando (ree-tar-DON-doe)
Slowing down the music.
scale
A sequence of notes going up or coming down in order.
soprano
In Italian, it means “upper.” This is the name of the highest female voice.
suite
A group of musical pieces that belong together.
symphony
A composition for orchestra, often containing four movements that fit together.
syncopation
When a beat or beats of a rhythmic pattern are unexpectedly accented or
emphasized.
tempo
A term that indicates the pace of the music.
theme
A musical idea that can be varied or transformed in a number of ways.
timbre (TAM-ber)
The quality, personality, or color of a sound unique to an instrument or
voice.
tuning
The process by which all members of an ensemble ensure the pitches on
their instruments match.
variation
The altering of a theme, from a simple embellishment to more complex
changes.
vivace (vee-VA-cheh)
Lively, quick.
45
Bibliography
This list of books and multi-media resources can help further your exploration of music in the
classroom. These suggestions are not meant to be comprehensive, but rather offer selected titles that
can serve as a jumping off point for you and your students to learn more about the music and ideas
presented in your Concert for Kids performance.
Teacher Reference Books
Chase, Gilbert: America’s Music, from the Pilgrims to the Present. McGraw-Hill
Chroninger, Ruby: Teach Your Kids About Music. Walker and Company
Copland, Aaron: What to Listen for in Music. McGraw-Hill
Koch, Kenneth: Wishes, Lies, and Dreams: Teaching Children to Write Poetry. Vintage
Machlis, Joseph: The Enjoyment of Music. W. W. Norton and Company, Inc.
Hands-on Learning
Dunleavy, Deborah, and Louise Phillips: Jumbo Book of Music. Kids Can Press
Madgwick, Wendy: Sound Magic. Armadillo
Parker, Steve: The Science of Sound. Dover Publications
Wiseman, Ann S., and Langstaff, John: Making Music. Storey Kids
Composers and Musicians
Meyers, Walter: Jazz. Holiday House.
Krull, Kathleen: Lives of the Musicians. Harcourt Brace Jovanovich
Machlis, Joseph: American Composers of Our Time. Thomas Crowell Company
Venezia, Mike: Peter Tchaikovsky. Children’s Press Group
The Orchestra
Hayes, Ann: Meet the Orchestra. Harcourt Brace Jovanovich
Krull, Kathleen: M is for Music. Harcourt Brace Jovanovich
Levine, Robert: The Story of the Orchestra. Workman Publishing
Luttrell, Guy: The Instruments of Music. Thomas Nelson, Inc.
Rubin, Mark and Daniel, Alan: The Orchestra. Firefly Books Ltd.
Snicket, Lemony: The Composer is Dead. HarperCollins
Turner, Barrie Carson: Carnival of the Animals. Henry Holt and Company
Picture Books
Aliki: Ah, Music! HarperCollins Publishers
Demi: The Firebird. Henry Holt
Kirby, Matthew: The Clockwork Three. Scholastic
Kushner, Tony: Brundibar. Hyperion
McPhail, David: Mole Music. Henry Holt and Company
Schuch, Steve: A Symphony of Whales. Voyager Books, Harcourt, Inc.
Schulman, Janet: Sergei Prokofiev’s Peter and the Wolf. Knopf
Multi-Media
Classical Kids: Tchaikovsky Discovers America. Alliance
Bernstein, Leonard: Young People’s Concerts. Simon and Schuster
Genevieve Helsby: My First Orchestra Book. Naxos Books
Genevieve Helsby: The Amazing Musical Instruments!. Naxos Books
46
introduces the NEW version of the FUN and ENGAGING website
SFSKIDS.org
DISCOVER music, composers and instruments
LISTEN to a wide selection of orchestral music
PLAY games with music
PERFORM music on virtual instruments
COMPOSE a musical creation all your own
Learn to CONDUCT music
If you’d like to encourage even more music learning at home, use your desktop or
laptop computer and click on the newly redesigned San Francisco Symphony’s kid
web page: SFSkids.org. If you are without an internet connection at home, you
might choose to access the web page on your next visit to your local Public Library!
The Orchestra
Michael Tilson Thomas Music Director & Conductor
Herbert Blomstedt Conductor Laureate
Donata Cabrera Resident Conductor
Ragnar Bohlin Chorus Director
Vance George Chorus Director Emeritus
First Violins
Cellos
Bassoons
Alexander Barantschik
Concertmaster
Naoum Blinder Chair
Nadya Tichman
Associate Concertmaster
Foundation Chair
Mark Volkert
Assistant Concertmaster
75th Anniversary Chair
Jeremy Constant
Assistant Concertmaster
Mariko Smiley
Paula & John Gambs
Second Century Chair
Melissa Kleinbart
Katharine Hanrahan Chair
Yun Chu
Sharon Grebanier
Naomi Kazama Hull
In Sun Jang
Yukiko Kurakata
Catherine A. Mueller Chair
Suzanne Leon
Leor Maltinski
Diane Nicholeris
Sarn Oliver
Florin Parvulescu
Victor Romasevich
Catherine Van Hoesen
Michael Grebanier
Principal
Philip S. Boone Chair
Peter Wyrick
Associate Principal
Peter & Jacqueline Hoefer Chair
Amos Yang
Assistant Principal
Margaret Tait
Lyman & Carol Casey
Barbara Andres
The Stanley S. Langendorf Foundation
Barbara Bogatin
Jill Rachuy Brindel
Gary & Kathleen Heidenreich
Sébastien Gingras
David Goldblatt
Christine & Pierre Lamond
Carolyn McIntosh
Anne Pinsker
Stephen Paulson
Principal
Steven Dibner
Associate Principal
Rob Weir
Steven Braunstein
Contrabassoon
Second Violins
Dan Carlson
Principal
Dinner & Swig Families Chair
Paul Brancato
Acting Associate Principal
Audrey Avis Aasen-Hull Chair
John Chisholm
Acting Assistant Principal
Dan Nobuhiko Smiley
The Eucalyptus Foundation
Raushan Akhmedyarova
David Chernyavsky
Cathryn Down
Darlene Gray
Amy Hiraga
Kum Mo Kim
Kelly Leon-Pearce
Elina Lev
Isaac Stern Chair
Chunming Mo
Polina Sedukh
Chen Zhao
Sarah Knutson†
Violas
Jonathan Vinocour
Principal
Yun Jie Liu
Associate Principal
Katie Kadarauch
Assistant Principal
John Schoening
Joanne E. Harrington & Lorry I. Lokey
Gina Cooper
Nancy Ellis
David Gaudry
David Kim
Christina King
Wayne Roden
Nanci Severance
Adam Smyla
Matthew Young
Horns
Robert Ward
Principal
Nicole Cash
Associate Principal
Bruce Roberts
Assistant Principal
Jonathan Ring
Jessica Valeri
Kimberly Wright*
Trumpets
Mark Inouye
Principal
William G. Irwin Charity Foundation Chair
Mark Grisez†
Peter Pastreich Chair
Guy Piddington
Ann L. & Charles B. Johnson Chair
Jeff Biancalana
Basses
Scott Pingel
Principal
Jeremy Kurtz-Harris†
Stephen Tramontozzi
Assistant Principal
Richard & Rhoda Goldman Chair
S. Mark Wright
Lawrence Metcalf Second Century Chair
Charles Chandler
Lee Ann Crocker
Chris Gilbert
Brian Marcus
William Ritchen
Trombones
Timothy Higgins
Principal
Robert L. Samter Chair
Timothy Owner†
Paul Welcomer
John Engelkes
Bass Trombone
The San Francisco Symphony string section utilizes
revolving seating on a systematic
basis. Players listed in alphabetical
order change seats periodically.
Tuba
Flutes
Harp
Jeffrey Anderson
Principal
James Irvine Chair
Douglas Rioth
Principal
Tim Day
Principal
Caroline H. Hume Chair
Robin McKee
Associate Principal
Catherine & Russell Clark Chair
Linda Lukas
Alfred S. & Dede Wilsey Chair
Catherine Payne
Piccolo
Timpani
Michael Israelievitch†
Acting Principal
Marcia & John Goldman Chair
Percussion
Jacob Nissly
Principal
Raymond Froehlich
Tom Hemphill
James Lee Wyatt III
Oboes
Eugene Izotov
Principal
Christopher Gaudi†
Pamela Smith
Dr. William D. Clinite Chair
Russ deLuna
English Horn
Joseph & Pauline Scafidi Chair
Keyboards
Robin Sutherland
Jean & Bill Lane Chair
* On leave
† Acting member of the
Clarinets
Carey Bell
Principal
William R. & Gretchen B. Kimball Chair
Luis Baez
Associate Principal & E-flat Clarinet
David Neuman
Jerome Simas
Bass Clarinet
Donato Cabrera’s appointment as Music Director
of the San Francisco Symphony Youth Orchestra is
generously supported by the Paul L. and Phyllis
Wattis Endowment Fund.
48
Rebecca Blum
Director of Orchestra Personnel
Bradley Evans
Assistant Orchestra Personnel Manager
Amy Sedan
Orchestra Personnel Administrator
& Auditions Coordinator
Margo Kieser
Principal Librarian
Nancy & Charles Geschke Chair
John Campbell
Assistant Librarian
Dan Ferreira
Assistant Librarian
Peter Grunberg
Musical Assistant to the Music Director
Robert Doherty
Stage Manager
Dennis DeVost
Stage Technician
Roni Jules
Stage Technician
Mike Olague
Stage Technician
San Francisco
Symphony
Education Committee
Patricia Sughrue Sprincin, Chair
Brent Assink*
Paul A. Bissinger, Jr.
Athena T. Blackburn
Christopher Borg
Richard Carranza
Dr. Yanek S. Y. Chiu
Robert Daniels
Mrs. Donald G. Fisher
Sakurako Fisher*
Mimi Kugushev
Dr. Raymond K. Y. Li
George F. Lucas
Meg Madden
Christine Mattison
Randi Murray
Claudette M. Nicolai
Barbro Osher
Trine Sorensen
Susan Stauter
Leigh Wasson
Anita L. Wornick
* Ex-officio
Education Committee Emeriti & Advisor
Mrs. Robert A. Corrigan
Ramon C. Cortines
Education Docent
Program
Mimi Kugushev, Chairman
San Francisco
Symphony
Michael Tilson Thomas
Music Director
Donato Cabrera
Resident Conductor
Herbert Blomstedt
Conductor Laureate
Sakurako Fisher
President
Brent Assink
Executive Director
Ronald Gallman
Director, Education and Youth Orchestra
Kay Anderson
Education Programs Director
Virginia Reynolds
Education Programs Manager
Justin Sun
Education Programs Associate
Erin Kelly
AIM Scheduling Coordinator
All students who attend a Concerts for Kids performance are invited to participate in the
VISUAL ARTS PROJECT
The San Francisco Symphony’s Visual Arts Project encourages further
engagement with the concert experience by inviting all students to submit
artwork based on any aspect of their visit to Davies Symphony Hall!
THEME: Art can be based on any aspect of their trip to Davies Symphony Hall, from the building to the
audience to the musicians to the music itself!
TYPES OF ENTRIES: Entries can be drawings of any medium (crayon, pencil, paint, etc.) up to 16” x 18”.
Due to the nature of the program, please no group projects.
LABELING ENTRIES: All pieces must be clearly and legibly labeled on the back of the entry.
• Name and phone number of student (Phone number needed in order to contact student if their art is selected as “Most Outstanding”)
• Student’s age and grade
• Name and address of school (please include zip)
• Name of teacher
• School phone number
STUDENT RECOGNITION: Each student who submits a drawing to the Visual Arts Project will receive
a Certificate of Participation. From the artwork submitted, a panel of guest judges from the music and art
community will determine three entries to be the “Most Outstanding.” These three students will receive
a subscription for three seats to the Symphony’s Music for Families Series for the 2016–17 season. The
winners, along with selected other entries, will also be displayed at the San Francisco Public Library, Main
Branch in Spring of 2017. The selected artwork from the 2014–15 season will be on display there from
February 1–March 31, 2016. The Main Branch of the San Francisco Public Library is located at 100 Larkin St,
only 2 blocks from Davies Symphony Hall. The display location is on the second floor, outside the Fisher
Children’s Center.
DEADLINE FOR RECEIPT OF ENTRIES: April 14, 2016
All submitted artwork becomes the property of the san francisco symphony and cannot be returned.
It also may be used, without attribution, for promotional purposes.

CONCERTS FOR KIDS - San Francisco Symphony

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