THE SKY IS THE LIMIT: On May 10, the Princeton Symphony Orchestra’s (PSO) BRAVO! education program presented “The Sky is the Limit!,” a concert designed to get the imaginations of over 2,000 area school children soaring with works ranging from Ottorini Respighi’s “The Hen,” Nikolaï Rimsky-Korsakov’s “Flight of the Bumblebee,” Daniel Dorff’s “Blast Off!,” and Gustav Holst’s “Mars.” These works, plus an unofficial world record, a surprise narration from a school teacher, and an unexpected composer’s visit combined for a fun field trip for the orchestra.

On Tuesday, May 10, at 9:30 a.m., 11:30 a.m., and 1:15 p.m. at Richardson Auditorium, the Princeton Symphony Orchestra’s (PSO) BRAVO! education program presented “The Sky is the Limit!”, a concert designed to get the imaginations of over 2,000 area school children soaring with works ranging from Ottorini Respighi’s The Hen, Nikolaï Rimsky-Korsakov’s Flight of the Bumblebee, Daniel Dorff’s Blast Off! and Gustav Holst’s Mars. Music Director Rossen Milanov conducted as he guided the students through the upper stratosphere and beyond.

The PSO’s principal trumpet player Jerry Bryant’s fingers flew as he set an unofficial world record performing the Flight of the Bumblebee as student volunteers stood by with stop watches. The excitement continued when Riverside Elementary School’s Paul Chapin, interim principal and veteran teacher of music, surprised his own students when he took the stage to narrate Daniel Dorff’s work, complete with countdown.

“Performing Daniel Dorff’s piece in front of students I teach, sitting on the front of the stage with the orchestra behind and seeing the students’ faces light up as they recognize pieces they’ve studied — how exciting and wonderful!”

Mr. Dorff attended two of the day’s concerts, giving students the opportunity to put a face to the composer and forge a connection to the performed music.

Students from the following schools participated in this year’s concert, singing along to “America the Beautiful”, accompanied by the professional musicians of the PSO: Community Park, Johnson Park, Littlebrook, Riverside, Toll Gate Grammar, Stony Brook, Hopewell Elementary, Newgrange, South Brunswick Schools, Princeton Montessori, Trenton Catholic, Bear Tavern, Princeton Charter, Princeton Friends, Christina Seix Academy, Carmina Homeschoolers, Stuart Country Day School, Princeton Junior School, and St. Paul’s School.

Over 30 volunteers from Bloomberg were on hand helping to shepherd the hundreds of children attending each of the three concerts.

School Day Concerts are presented free to schools through the support of the Robert Wood Johnson 1962 Charitable Trust and hundreds of other corporate, foundation, government, and individual donors.

For more information, visit princetonsymphony.org/education.

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