Youths treated to 'Chills & Trills'
Eastern Connecticut Symphony Orchestra bassist Thomas Green brings his instrument into the seating area at The Garde for Skyler Jones, 10, to try prior to the ECSO's annual Young People´s Concerts on Tuesday, Oct. 18, 2016, at the Garde in New London.
Sponsored by the Community Foundation of Eastern Connecticut, Chelsea Groton Foundation, Bodenwein Public Benevolent Foundation and Charter Oak Federal Credit Union, over 1,500 third- to fifth-grade students from Norwich, New London, Groton and other school districts were treated to "Chills & Trills."
The 50-minute concert featured some familiar Halloween-themed music, including Mussorgsky´s "Night on Bald Mountain" and Grieg´s "In the Hall of the Mountain King" from Peer Gynt. The Eastern Connecticut Ballet joined ECSO with Saint-Saëns´ "Danse Macabre" and selections from Tchaikovsky´s "Sleeping Beauty." The program ended with a tribute to John Williams that highlighted many of his movie compositions.
New this year for these YPCs, ECSO offered in-school presentations of some of the material that was provided in study
guides, and on the concert stage. A grant from the Community Foundation of Eastern Connecticut allowed the ECSO concertmaster Stephan Tiezan and principal cellist Christine Coyle to travel to elementary schools in the region,
performing excerpts and breaking down concepts musically to further prepare students to make the most of their Young People´s Concerts experience.
Comment threads are monitored for 48 hours after publication and then closed.