On March 7, 2023, Petersen Adventist School’s upper-grade students attended the Madison Symphony Orchestra’s Spring Concert for Young People. This is a special concert meant to introduce the orchestra and live, classical music to students in grades 5 – 12.
The symphony orchestra’s associate conductor, Kyle Knox, taught students about some of the major instruments present in the orchestra. He talked about music history that was relevant to the pieces presented and also gave a brief lesson on the difference between absolute classical music and program classical music.
While there, students heard three pieces: Tico Tico by Abreu (arranged by Colnot); Cuban Overture by Gershwin; and Pictures at an Exhibition by Mussorgsky (orchestrated by Ravel). The final piece, Pictures at an Exhibition, was created by Modest Mussorgsky following his visit to an art installation and is an example of program classical music. The performance of this piece incorporated visual art to enhance the student’s understanding of the piece.
While many students were excited about a field trip – several were concerned about becoming bored. They delightfully discovered that a live orchestra concert is anything but boring!
Tiffany Meulemans, Upper Grades Teacher at Petersen Adventist School