February 4, 2005
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Portland, Ore. … The 2005-2006 Kids Concert series will feature the return of the popular children’s mime troupe Magic Circle Mime with an all-new program, “The Mozart Experience,” the first of three concerts in the series, which runs from Nov. 2005 through March, 2006. Also returning are the award-winning artists from Tales and Scales with “Just Beyond the Junkyard.” The first two concerts will be conducted by the Symphony’s newly appointed Resident Conductor Gregory Vajda, while the final concert in the series, “Creative Kids,” will showcase a number of accomplished young musicians from around Oregon. All performances will be at the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall. Media support for Oregon Symphony Kids Concerts is provided by Metro Parent and Radio Disney.
Kids can explore the life of Mozart from the inside out in Magic Circle Mime’s “The Mozart Experience” on Nov. 13, 2005, in which a young street musician sneaks into the concert hall to play the piano and ends up becoming the star of the show. Magic Circle Mime, regarded as one of today’s premiere family attractions, has created a number of programs which have become Symphony audience favorites of both kids and parents alike. Magic Circle Mime’s acclaimed performances, which unite the concert orchestra with visual theater, are known for their creative, educational and ground-breaking approach.
On Jan. 8, 2006 Tales & Scales returns with “Just Beyond the Junkyard,” featuring a little girl with a big imagination who creates music out of a number of everyday objects discarded in a municipal junkyard. Tales & Scales’ innovative performance blends orchestral music with “found sounds” and leads the audience on an exploration of creative music-making. Tales & Scales’ programs are a combination of music and movement built around new and traditional stories, which they describe as “musictelling.” This award-winning troupe was founded in 1986 to fulfill a need for quality arts programming for children and family audiences.
The Kids Concert Series concludes on March 5, 2006 with “Creative Kids,” an afternoon of music composed and performed by Oregon’s next generation of classical music artists. Young instrumental soloists, youth composers, school groups and a children’s choir will present the finest music being made in Oregon today by children and young adults. In addition, this concert will feature works by famous young composers, including Mozart, Mendelssohn and Strauss.
The Kids Concert series is designed to introduce young people ages 5-10 to the music of a symphony orchestra in an educational and entertaining way. It is comprised of two one-hour concerts (no intermission) presented on Sunday afternoons at 1 and 3 p.m. at the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall in downtown Portland at S.W. Broadway and Main, in the Portland Center for the Performing Arts.
Kids Concert subscribers receive the best seating; nearly all of the Symphony’s Kids concerts sell out. Subscriptions for the Kids Concert series range in price from $24 to $90 for adults and $18 to $69 for children (age 12 & under), and may be purchased at the Oregon Symphony Ticket Office in downtown Portland at 923 S.W. Washington or charged by phone at (503) 228-1353 or (800) 228-7343, weekdays (and Saturdays, Sept. through May) from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. or (503) 416-6383 after 5 p.m. Subscription orders also may be placed online at www.orsymphony.org beginning Monday, Feb. 7. Single tickets to all 2005-2006 Kids Concert events will be available to the general public at 9 a.m. on Monday, Aug. 22, 2005.
