CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Students across Kanawha County and beyond learned about how music works as well as the key elements which make it up during an annual symphony event at the Clay Center Tuesday.
The West Virginia Symphony Orchestra was host to its annual Young People’s Concert, The Building Blocks of Music. The event focused on helping kids understand and interpret what they hear when listening, and on the three key elements behind the music– melody, harmony, and rhythm.
WV Symphony Marketing Director Amanda McDonald said it’s an exciting day for the students.
“A lot of times this is the first time these students have not only been to a symphony concert but to the Clay Center in general, to these big venues, and so it’s a really fun, exciting day,” McDonald told MetroNews.
Led by Music Director Maurice Cohn, McDonald said Cohn talks to the students in between pieces and explains a lot about what’s going on within the music in a kid-friendly, easy to understand way.
“They’re very easy to listen to, shorter pieces,” said McDonald. “Sometimes at a symphony concert you can have a concerto that lasts 30 to 40 minutes, so these are much shorter pieces that will keep their attention.”
She said along with the symphony itself, often students are seeing classical instruments such as violins and cellos for the first time, as well.
McDonald said students were coming out to the Clay Center to see the performance Tuesday from not only Kanawha County, but Putnam and Cabell counties, and even some schools from Ripley were expected to attend.
She said having these concerts helps expand their reach of classical music to children.
“We’re not just seeing kids in Kanawha County but across the valley, across the state, and bringing them into a fantastic hall of the Clay Center, with fantastic professional orchestra musicians that they may not have another chance to interact with or see otherwise,” said McDonald.
She said WV Symphony will in Parkersburg tomorrow, Wednesday, Nov. 15 and then in Clarksburg Thursday, Nov. 16 to continue the children’s symphony event there.
McDonald said the symphony also has plenty of seasonal performances to close out the year. She said they will have three performances of their Sounds of the Season, as well as The Nutcracker with the Charleston Ballet, and to visit WV Symphony on its website for a full list of those performances.