11:45am | Over the course of just two mornings, January 18 and 19, the Long Beach Symphony Orchestra will perform a total of four concerts for more than 10,000 people.
What makes these concerts different from LBSO’s normal performances? The attendees will all be fourth and fifth grade students from the Long Beach Unified School District, and they will experience – many for the first time – a live orchestra concert performed by world-class musicians. Maestro Diemecke will provide educational and entertaining commentary for the students in both Spanish and English.
“This is a unique partnership between LBSO and LBUSD, and provides students with an opportunity to experience a professional symphony orchestra performance that is not otherwise possible as part of the LBUSD general music program.,” says James Petri, LBUSD Music Curriculum Leader. “Attending these symphony concerts for young people is a once in a lifetime experience for some of these students, and hopefully this experience will encourage students to explore the beauty and satisfaction of orchestral music in the future.”
This season’s program, created and conducted by LBSO Music Director Enrique Arturo Diemecke, focuses on one of our natural resources, water – hence the title, “Rain, River, Sea and Ocean.” The pieces to be performed include An der schönenblauen Donau (On the Beautiful Blue Danube) by Johannes Strauss, Jr., The Sea and Sinbad’s Ship from Scheherazade by Rimsky-Korsakov, and more.
Maestro Diemecke has invited the LBUSD All-District Orchestra to perform this season’s concert side-by-side with the professional musicians in the Long Beach Symphony Orchestra.
These Symphony Concerts for Young People are made possible by the support of the Earl B. and Loraine H. Miller Foundation. This is the 34th Symphony Concerts for Young People, and the 27th anniversary of it being part of the LBUSD Curriculum-Based Programming. The concerts are not public performances—only students, teachers and volunteers are permitted to attend.
More than 100 volunteers, members of LBSO’s volunteer organization Ovation!, and LBUSD music teachers will attend the concerts to meet, greet and seat the students and teachers. More than 100 busses are used to transport students to and from the concerts.
In addition to the support from the Miller Foundation, the Long Beach Symphony Orchestra acknowledges the Arts Council for Long Beach, the Bank of America Foundation, Edison International, Valero Energy, Boeing, the Evalyn M. Bauer Foundation, Farmers and Merchants Bank, Supervisor Don Knabe Arts Education Partnership Program, Union Bank, Keesal, Young, and Logan, Mrs. Earl J. Leake, the Bess J. Hodges Foundation, Target, and the Will J. Reid Foundation, among others, for their support of LBSO education programs.
For more information on The Miller Foundation Symphony Concerts for Young People, call the Orchestra at 562-436-3203, or visit LBSO.org.