Utah Symphony Family Series Present Kid-Friendly Programming

By: Mar. 11, 2019
Get Access To Every Broadway Story

Unlock access to every one of the hundreds of articles published daily on BroadwayWorld by logging in with one click.




Existing user? Just click login.

In conjunction with Ballet West II and Story Pirates, Utah Symphony continues its Family Series by providing marvelous symphonic music in family-friendly performances. Ballet West II will join Utah Symphony in Prokofiev's "Peter and the Wolf," a short ballet written to introduce children to orchestra instruments, on March 16 at 11 AM & 12:30 PM Abravanel Hall. The "Story Pirates: Symphony Extravaganza!" will have a performance on April 20 at 11 in Abravanel Hall. Tickets, priced from $9 to $26, are available for purchase through www.utahsymphony.org or by calling (801) 533-6683.

The Utah Symphony Family Series features mid-day Saturday performances for affordable family outings. These kid-friendly performances add wonder and excitement for every age with captivating stories, enchanting music, and entertaining visuals. The Utah Symphony Family Series' goal is to inspire young minds and introduce famous symphonic works in a friendly and visually-entertaining setting.

Utah Symphony and dancers from Ballet West II will bring Prokofiev's timeless musical tale of a boy and his forest friends' bravery to life. Audience members can hear the young hero strut to the melody of the strings, the bird flit to the flute, the cat slink with the clarinet, and all the characters find their voice in the different sections of the orchestra. The entire family will enjoy the experience of this musical fable for the child in all of us.

Utah Symphony Associate Conductor Conner Gray Covington will be conducting the music during the ballet "Peter and the Wolf." Maestro Covington is in his second year at Utah Symphony and will have conducted 200 performances by the end of his second season. These "Peter and the Wolf" performances will also feature choreography from Ballet West II Choreographer Christopher Sellars. In last year's performance of Ballet West's "Cinderella," Mr. Sellars received praise for his role as "Jester" in the production. Now, he brings his choreography to Abravanel Hall to enliven the music from "Peter and the Wolf."

The ballet "Peter and the Wolf" was written by Segei Prokofiev in 1936 for a children's theatre in Moscow, Russia. Although Prokofiev is known for other ballets such as "The Love of Three Oranges," "Lieutenant Kijé," and "Romeo and Juliet," his children's ballet "Peter and the Wolf" is performed almost every year by the world's most prestigious symphonies.

Prokofiev always intended for the ballet to be educational for children, and he explained, "Each character of this tale is represented by a corresponding instrument in the orchestra...Thereby, the children learn to distinguish the sonorities of the instruments during the performance of this tale."

The second Family Series Concert is the nationally-recognized education and media organization Story Pirates believes that kids have the best ideas. This year Story Pirates will perform with the Utah Symphony for the first time. This Symphony Extravaganza presents well-recognized symphonic music filtered through the wild imaginations of kids and performed by Story Pirates' cast of professional actors and improvisers.

Household cats take flight when they hear On the Beautiful Blue Danube, four ninja sisters battle a monster to the tune of Night on Bald Mountain, kids in the audience decide what sort of character would sound like a tuba, and so much more. By combining timeless music with kids' creativity, anything can happen in this musical adventure.



Videos