Share the joy of symphonic music with your child with this free AYS concert at Royce Hall on April 10 at 7pm

We love music, theater, films, and the arts!   It doesn't have to cost much more than parking and gas for transportation.  With school districts considering music and the arts to be first to be cut when budgets are slashed, it is all the more important for families to explore music and the arts on their own.  It can even be free!

As a family, we have enjoyed extensively many of the free events in all musical genres - see the events I have blogged previously: World City concerts and art projects, Hammer Museum family movies and Getty Center and Villa.   I would like to add to this list of free offerings:  The American Youth Symphony concerts.  (Click on http://www.aysymphony.org/about-ays for its history and mission.)

Royce Hall is a beautiful venue and AYS will be playing an exciting and varied program at Royce Hall on April 10 at 7pm.  But come at 6 pm for the pre-concert talk--- just as they do at the LA Phil, these pre-concert talks often contextualize the musical pieces you will be hearing and highlights aspects of the composer's life.

This early exposure to music has been instrumental to my children playing the piano as well as a second instrument, the violin and cello respectively.  My daughter and I sing in the car together to enjoy our vocal ranges, while my husband has been playing the trombone "forever."   But it helps tremendously to have a gifted teacher, Alexander Tseitlin of Eleos Music in our case, to teach and mentor them in their comprehensive musical education.  Encouraged by our music teacher to audition, our 9.5-year old started playing the violin in the Crossroads Community Orchestra (you don't have to be a Crossroads student to play) this year.  I would highly recommend this small orchestra program as the best introduction to playing in an orchestra.  The conductor of both the Crossroads School  Chamber and Community Orchestra is Michael Powers.  In addition to being the Music Director of the USC Concert Orchestra, he is also the Assistant Conductor for AYS, and he normally gives the pre-AYS concert talks at 6pm at Royce West Lobby.

For more personal info on both Eleos Music (http://www.eleosmusic.com/) and Crossroads Community Orchestra, please contact me via the comments section..

If your child or children can sit through a concert, do get the free tickets for this program.  For those who cannot, and for those not living in Los Angeles, you can listen to live recordings of AYS performance on their website:   http://www.aysymphony.org/

Enjoy!  Here's more information on the music and composers featured in this concert.

http://www.classicalnotes.net/classics/verklarte.html

http://www.naxos.com/person/Henri_Lazarof/21029.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Der_Rosenkavalier

 

ROYCE HALL, APRIL 10, 2011, 7 PM

Alexander Treger, conductor

Schoenberg Verklärte Nacht
Henri Lazarof Symphony No. 2
Strauss Der Rosenkavalier Suite

The hall will open at 6:30 pm.

Members do not need to make a reservation, and can enter the hall at 6:15 pm using their green membership cards.

Pre-concert talk in the West Lobby begins at 6:00 pm.

To get your free tickets (donations welcomed), please go to:

http://www.aysymphony.org/
For parking info and directions, see http://www.aysymphony.org/directions