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Princeton Symphony Struts its Educational Stuff; Creates an Imaginative and Enlightening Program

Nancy Plum

Almost since its inception, Princeton Symphony Orchestra has included educational outreach to area schools as part of its mission. The organization's Bravo! Series, celebrating its 10th year, has expanded to a $90,000 program including activities ranging from classical music performances to an "instrumental petting zoo." In celebration of its 10th anniversary, Music Director Mark Laycock paid a musical tribute to education and educational institutions on Sunday afternoon in Richardson Auditorium with a concert replicating the programs members of the orchestra present in schools. No doubt by the end of the concert, even the most seasoned Princeton Symphony concertgoers had learned something new about music.

Taking a cue from Public Radio's "From the Top," Mr. Laycock invited a local student, Princeton High School tenth grader Eliana Ritts, to narrate Britten's A Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra, as well as introduce the Symphony's concept of educational outreach to the audience. Ms. Ritts was clearly poised and comfortable in front of the audience, giving them a taste of music education through the Symphony's eyes.

Britten's Guide to the Orchestra was conceived to demonstrate how a composer uses music and musical instruments for effects. Each instrument in the Princeton Symphony had an opportunity to solo, and the orchestra had a chance to show its ensemble sound. The solo winds and brass in particular seemed to enjoy playing improvisatory passages not called for in other works, as they lived up to their depictions by the narrator.

Sports and music do not often mix, but a few 20th century composers, such as William Schumann's setting of Casey at the Bat attempted to depict sporting events in music. Charles Ives, who had a long compositional life documenting history through music, composed the rarely-performed The Yale-Princeton Football Game (which coincidentally is next weekend) in 1897, recalling his undergraduate days at Yale. This piece, full of inside Princeton and Yale musical jokes, would naturally appeal to Princeton audiences yet has probably not been heard in recent history. With Mr. Laycock, dressed as a football referee, the orchestra presented a slick rendition of Ives' short but musically complex work, complete with audience participation on kazoos.

The educational portion of the program closed with the very clever A Major-minor Mystery for orchestra and narrator by Gregory Smith, a young American composer obviously rooted in Broadway and film. Mr. Smith narrated his own work with animation and well-timed dialog, combined with the orchestra's precise playing, to convey an understanding of major and minor tonalities in music.

Mr. Laycock pulled all these educational concepts together for Bartok's Concerto for Orchestra, a five-movement work calling upon all the resources of the orchestra. The ensemble was expanded for this work, but the players lost no precision in the Concerto. Starting with the lower strings in the first movement, the orchestra had the piece well in hand, especially the pairs of instruments working together in the second movement.

Princeton Symphony Orchestra has grown into a multi-faceted organization, with a classical and chamber series and special concerts in between. On this Sunday afternoon, it was refreshing for adults to hear an element of the orchestra's activities normally reserved for children.

Princeton Symphony Orchestra's next concert will be on Sunday, January 23, 2005 at 4 p.m., and will be a concert version of Verdi's La Traviata. Ticket information can be obtained by calling (609) 497-0020.