VALDOSTA— One of the missions of the Valdosta Symphony Orchestra that is supported by the Valdosta Symphony Guild is the annual Youth Concert Series. These youth concerts, held on Friday mornings before several of the Saturday night VSO concerts, provide area school children and youth of our region with a symphonic experience, and are presented at no charge. As shorter concert versions lasting approximately one hour, youth are exposed to a full orchestra experience of music and instruments with age-appropriate explanation and narration in a highly interactive environment by Music Director and Conductor, Howard Hsu. These concerts always conclude with time for Maestro Hsu to take questions from the student audience for responses from the guest artist or featured performers.
The first Youth Concert in this year’s VSO 30th Anniversary Season took place on Friday morning, September 27, 2019 in Whitehead Auditorium on the VSU campus, with 464 attendees. During this concert students were excited to respond to which of some selected instruments respective orchestra members could demonstrate the highest and lowest notes to be played and the length of time that a note could be held. They learned to recognize a particular segment of music and then responded by standing when they knew the orchestra was playing the segment in a piece.
Students had lots of questions for the VSO guest artist, acclaimed pianist, Rachel Cheung.
Questions ranged from how old she was when she learned to play the piano [age four], to how she was able to play so fast [practice] and how many hours she practiced [6-8 hours a day]. When hearing that Friday was actually her birthday, the students broke out into singing “Happy Birthday” to her!
There will be two more Youth Concerts in this 2019-20 VSO Season: next on October 25th, and then on February 14th in 2020. Teachers may reserve free seats for any of these dates by contacting the VSU Outreach Office at 229-333-2150.
PHOTO CREDIT: Jake Parris, VSU
