Studio3Music Blog

Archive for the ‘Symphony Concerts’ Category

May
10

5 Things You Didn’t Know About the Show

Posted in Bits and Pieces, Family, Symphony Concerts, Things to do

1.  We discovered that puppet making is becoming a lost art. Our search for the perfect puppet took us all the way to New York City.  The fabulous fish puppets you’ll see on stage are hand-crafted by the internationally renowned Furry Puppet Company.

2.  Our brass quintet hails from Central Washington University. And instead of a trombone, they have a euphonium. Isn’t that breaking some unwritten, unspoken, unplayable brass quintet rule? Nope! Did you know that if you unwound a euphonium and a trombone, they’d be exactly the same length? Want to see that done? Come to our concert on Saturday!

3.   For every minute a live production company spends on stage, an hour of rehearsal is required. But our rehearsals are never boring. Often they’re exactly like those funny outtakes you see at the end of movies. Or Psych.

4.   Miss Allison (the star of the show!) and Michael (our delightful tenor) are married. In fact, they met while playing the parts of Laurey and Curly in the musical Oklahoma! It was love at first sight. Still is. 22 years later.

5.  The 10:30 show is sold out, but there are a few tickets left for the 9:30 – so get them here!

 What show you say? Swing Me High and Swing Me Low, our next Symphony Serenade concert for families. It’s at Benaroya Hall (Seattle Symphony) on Saturday, May 12 at 9:30 and 10:30. You’re invited!

-posted by Miss Analiisa, aka The Story Fairy, who gets to wear bathtub fish on her head this weekend. And a new pair of wings! (But on her back, not on her head.)

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Mar
6

The Magic of the Theater

Posted in Bits and Pieces, Symphony Concerts, Things to do

There’s just something about it. The anticipation of seeing magic happen on the stage.  The whole evening, from the time you start getting dressed for the show to the car ride home, is just the best thing to go through. But to top it off is seeing a production through a child’s’ eye.

This last week, my husband and I went to the musical Beauty and the Beast. WOW! What a production.  I have seen this show once before when it came through town about 12 years ago or so. I had one memorable scene that has stuck with me through out the years and has made me want to see this musical again. I was SO excited when the Paramount Theater announced its line up for the 2011/2012 season and Beauty and the Beast was on it! I went so far as to mark it on my calendar, each month, reminding me when tickets went on sale and to save money to be able to afford them.

When the day finally arrived, I was over the moon happy. Now, a couple things came into play that could’ve dampened my mood but I was not going to let that happen! The biggest thing that I was worried about was my son. He is 6 months old and we had yet to leave him in the evening to be babysat. I have NO problem leaving him with Nana or trusted friends but this was the first time that we would be breaking up his evening routine. Thankfully, he had taken a bottle from my husband that day so I was hopeful that he would do that at night as well.

After giving all the instructions to my mom, who was watching him, off we were to the Paramount Theater.  We went with a couple of friends and on the way down we were talking about our favorite parts of the movie. Singing the songs, recapping the story and talking about the anticipation of the costumes were all in our conversation. As soon as we parked the car, I saw it. There it was – a sea of gold amongst the theater goers.

Now, I have to say, we were lucky in that the night before was technically opening night. However, the trucks couldn’t make it over the pass and so the people who had opening night tickets had to be rescheduled for closing night. That meant that we had opening night tickets! This element just added an extra excitement in the air.

About the sea of gold. As you know, Belles’ dress when she dances with the Beast is gold and very elegant. There were so many little girls dressed in gold dresses holding roses. You could just see and hear them, non-stop talking to their parents about how excited they were to see the show. The sparkle in their eye was so bright you could see it from across the room.

Once we were seated, you could hear the buzz in the audience when the lights went down and the music started. It really was electric. Every one, adults and children alike, were sitting on the edge of their seats soaking up every note played, word spoken and song sung.  Through out the musical you could hear children laughing and little comments like ‘oooo, look at the Beast!’, ‘Belle is so pretty’ and ‘I just love this song’.

At one point in the show, I took a moment to look at my friends on my left and then my husband on my right, and all of them had smiles on their faces and an intent happiness in their eye. How can one musical, one show, one experience evoke so much emotion and reach an audience of young and old? It’s the magic of the theater!

Once the show was over it was a popcorn conversation between us about our favorite scene, song, dance and just about everything. As I was soaking everything in, an overwhelming feeling came over me. I can now share this love with my son! Obviously, I’m not going to take him to the paramount theater at 6 months old, but I can take him to Benaroya Hall for the symphony concert that Studio3 puts on. I can play music around the house and as he gets older introduce him to musicals, plays and art.  And, when he does come of age, I WILL be taking him to see a musical in the theater so that he can experience how a musical comes alive on the stage and not just the TV screen. : )

When we finally got home we learned that Miles had not taken his bottle and it had been a rough night for him. But, he didn’t starve, and my mom had a wonderful time with him. Even though things hadn’t gone ideally at home, the night couldn’t have gone any better. The memory of it all will stick with me for some time and I look forward to my next time at the theater. But, even more than seeing a musical myself, I cannot wait to introduce Miles to the art of the theater!

-posted by Miss Anna, who will jump at every chance she can get to attend a show!

 

 

 

 

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Mar
3

The Lone Ranger and Capering Cupids

Posted in Bits and Pieces, Education, Symphony Concerts

I have a go to list for music when I’m feeling less than myself.  I mentioned in my last post that I enjoy the less than meaningful music of the 80’s for rote work around the house, and that I find certain music to be irritating and other music to be sad.  If you’ve been to the symphony for one of our concerts recently you’ve heard some of my favorite classical music.

At our Christmas concert in December we sang the “Hallelujah Chorus”.  I’ve always loved the Hallelujah Chorus.  The best part of my Birthday this year was getting up at 5:30 am to make it to Choir rehearsal with the high-school students who joined us at the concert.  I sang the “Hallelujah Chorus” three times before 7:30 am… oh, bliss….

And in January we focused a whole show on Mozart.  There are scads of Mozart pieces on my Happy List.  I love Eine Kleine Nachtmusik, I love the Piano Sonata in C Major, I love the Haffner Symphony and the Piano Concerto No. 22, and there are so many things on my LOVE IT Mozart list that I can’t even remember the names of some of them.

On March 17th, at our Symphony Serenade concert, we will be putting the spotlight on another one of my favorite pieces of music (and one that is definitely on my Happy List), Beethoven’s Sixth Symphony.

I love the playful nature of this piece, and I can’t ever quite get the vision of Fantasia’s capering cupids, centaurs and Pegasus out of my mind when I hear it.  I did manage to quash them down low enough to write a story without any fantastical mythical creatures. However, it does have animals, and they do talk, so perhaps I haven’t escaped the fantastical after all.

You’ll also be hearing part of the Overture for William Tell (yes, the famous part), the theme from the Lone Ranger.  There is nothing quite like hearing that brass fanfare and watching the faces of the children light up as they realize something wonderful is coming.  That fanfare creates a sense of excitement; it stirs something deep within us.  It literally screams, “Heroic deeds are heading your way!”

Introducing classical music to your child is fun, and not as hard we seem to think…. It can be daunting to search for a piece of music: the names are odd, technical descriptions that read like food labels for items produced entirely from polysyllabic ingredients that never existed in nature, and most of the composers have names that are hard to spell, too.

But coming to a Symphony Serenade concert is a way to find music that your child can connect with, and sing along with.  And if you’d like to know the name of a piece of music we’ve focused on or the name of the composer you can always send us an email, we’d love to pass that information on to you (it’s not like we announce them during the show).  And we’d love to give you few pointers for looking farther afield in the classical world, too. If you like X you just might like Y.

And yes, my kids did listen to classical music when they were little. And they liked it.   They were moved to play a game of monster search through and behind the furniture in my family room when the radio station we listened to in Denver played the Sinfonia Antartica, and everyday at noon all the kids came running from where ever they were in the house to hear Mozart’s Impresario ring in Mid Day Mozart on that same radio station.

I think it’s what has saved Nathaniel from the horrors of the really depressing music his peers listen to, because I know I gave him a musical heritage that is deep and wide, long and curvy with twists and turns and pockets of a little bit of everything. (Except smooth jazz.  I have saved him from that. And jazz fusion, too!)

So come see us on March 17th.  They’ve just released few tickets for the 9:30 show. The 10:30 is sold out on the website, but you can call the box office at 206.215.4747 and plead.  And when you come, you’ll find out what you might miss if you sleep too late when the Rooster loses his ear shattering COCK-A-DOODLE DOO!

-posted by Miss Allison, who stayed up late last night with the prop making crew sewing costumes for sheep, cows, horses, ducks and a rooster, and creating a giant tree!

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Dec
20

The Latke Song for Hanukkah, Studio3Music Style

Posted in Bits and Pieces, Family, Symphony Concerts

If you came to our Holiday Concert, you were at the premiere of a brand new Hanukkah song! We thought you and your children would like to see it here. Be sure to note how the kitchen gets messier and messier as the days go on! Here it is in digital format.

Click on the image below to see the book full-size. For the best viewing, click on the double page button to the left of the X on the top bar. As you listen to the song, flip the pages in time to the words.  Please feel free to share this with your family and friends via Facebook or email them the blog link. Enjoy!

-posted by Miss Analiisa on behalf of all of us at Studio3Music, who wish you a very warm and happy Hanukkah and Christmas season, filled with love, joy and peace.

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Nov
10

A New Holiday Tradition

Posted in Family, Symphony Concerts, Things to do, Things We Love

Oh, I love Christmas…the beautiful wreaths, the cookies, the carols, the bows ribbons and wrappings, the Yorkshire pudding.  I love decorating the Christmas tree, and shopping and rehearsing for Christmas Eve mass, and I love going to mass on Christmas Eve, and singing all the beloved old carols and the new ones, too. I love making my lists of gifts and deciding what to get for my family (except for my husband’s dad – he is so hard to shop for!) And I still wait anxiously to open my own gifts.  (Although I may have recently joined the same category as my father-in-law…)

It’s the traditions that make Christmas and any holiday or special event stand out in our memories.  Would it be Easter without dyed eggs and chocolate bunnies, or the Fourth of July without hotdogs, apple pie and fireworks, or a wedding without rings?  The answer: of course it would, but it might feel kinda funny, especially at first.

But every one of today’s traditions, once upon a time, were new additions to a time honored event.  “Joy to the World and “Silent Night” had premiers and were the new kids on the block.  They had to worm their way into the hearts of the people and become a tried and true Christmas tradition.  So over time the traditions of all our beloved holidays have changed.

I’ve added a new tradition to my Christmas – the family concert at the Symphony.  So a part of my Christmas preparations now is writing a script (and it’s all new this year) creating props, (all those are new, too) picking the music, (all new- well, all new old music, I guess is the better way to say that) and writing new music that none of you have ever heard before.

I’ve been deciding what kind of wacky things the Story Fairy will say and do, and wear on her head, it’ll be all new wackiness, but she’ll still be bossy (that’s traditional, after all) figuring out what Stacey and Michael will argue about and who gets to cry (Stacey is so funny when she cries…) crafting a story- yes, it’s all new and working with the arranger (he’s new!)  and the illustrator.  She stays the same, thankfully! I’ve grown accustomed to her style, and love her work, which will be –don’t be shocked – all new.  And we are adding a new twist. We have invited a choir to join us for the story… there will be lots of voices singing out with Christmas and Hanukkah spirit.

Things are starting to move quickly now in our quest toward an all new Holiday Symphony Serenade Show. The illustrations have already been sent to the photographer.  The arranger is working on the lullaby this weekend, our first read through was on Sunday, and Michael and I will begin building a very large Menorah in our garage sometime this week.   The Story fairy will be welding the Shamash – you just can’t miss that!

If you’re reading this and you feel kinda mystified, then you need to add our concert series to your Holiday Traditions.  Your children will love it and you will love it.  It’s a great way to spend a Saturday morning.  There will be group singing, of course, and a bounce, and some giggles, great harmony, a steady beat and a story and a snuggle.  If you now exactly what I’m talking about, get your tickets right here…. ‘cause it’s ALL NEW…..

-posted by Miss Allison, who will see you in the lobby after the show!

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