As families all across Central Florida adjust to the new school year, the Orlando Philharmonic Orchestra is hard at work to bring them an all-new Young People’s Concert (YPC)! With over 30 performances in 2024, more than 65,000 students from Orange, Seminole, Osceola, and Volusia Counties will experience live music, singing, and dancing. Presented by Walt Disney World Resort, the YPC will serve all 5th graders from the four counties, and include all 3rd and 4th grade students from Orange County. An engaging narrator will join Orlando Philharmonic musicians in a 45-minute performance. Three public performances will be available for families to witness the OPO’s Young People’s Concert on October 2, October 16, and November 20, 2024.
History
The Young People’s Concerts are Orlando Philharmonic Orchestra’s (OPO) largest and longest-running education program. The Young People’s Concerts have been offered since the Orlando Philharmonic’s very first Season 30 years ago. These concerts have become a beloved Central Florida tradition and have served more than 1,500,000 children. Specially designed for young audiences, the concert experience introduces students to three performing art forms – Orlando Philharmonic musicians are joined onstage by performers from the Orlando Ballet and Opera Orlando. For most of these children, the YPC provides their first opportunity to experience symphonic music.
Educator Involvement
Each year, the Orlando Philharmonic Orchestra collaborates with professional educators and administrators from our partner school districts to develop the annual Young People’s Concert Guidebook with lesson plans and resources for music teachers. Educators are selected by their School District Arts Supervisor to create a lesson plan for the Guidebook and lessons are carefully aligned with the State of Florida’s Next Generation Sunshine State Standards for Fine Arts, Social Studies, and English Language Arts.
In addition, the annual Young People’s Concert Guidebook helps students become familiar with the music they will hear before attending the concert. In the classroom, they learn more about the composers and musical styles they’ll hear during the concert and explore a variety of musical concepts. This year, the OPO hosted a Professional Development Day to allow educators from across Central Florida to come together and learn the Guidebook Lesson Plans from the authors themselves. This was a day of learning, dancing, and music.
“Orchestra Overboard”
Focusing on an ocean theme to engage students, the concert introduces an exciting musical story that incorporates history, science, and languages.
Seaweed Sam will lead our honorary pirate crew on “a musical day at sea” and search for treasure with the help of our conductors Christopher Confessore and Mauricio Céspedes Rivero. Their adventure will take them all over the ocean from Capriccio Cove to Mount Virtuoso, and introduce them to a cast of fish, mermaids, and sharks!
The program includes familiar pieces such as Paul Dukas’ “The Sorcerer’s Apprentice” and Modest Mussorgsky’s “Night on Bald Mountain,” featuring the Orlando Ballet. Students will listen to the sounds of the high seas with Soon Hee Newbold’s “A Pirate’s Legend” and “‘Storm’ from Four Sea Interludes from Peter Grimes” by Benjamin Britten. Opera Orlando will present “Alfio’s aria” from Cavalleria Rusticana written by Pietro Mascagni and Florence Price’s “Adoration”. A group sing-along will close out the performance with family favorite “Under the Sea” by Alan Menken.
Thank you!
We cannot say it enough – thank you for allowing the Orlando Philharmonic Orchestra to continue growing and expanding our reach across Central Florida. Our Education Programs continue to grow and diversify due to the steadfast support from foundations, corporations, and individual donors of our annual education programs like you.