Fairy tales, world music and kids, oh my! The Detroit Symphony Orchestra skips into a new year of "Macy's Super Saturdays at The Max" on Saturday, January 19. First up, Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra Conductor Lawrence Loh leads the DSO as they put music to timeless children's classics in "Musical Tales," the National City Young People's Concert, at 10 a.m. and 11:30 a.m. in Orchestra Hall.
Then, for the little ones, the Bernard Woma Trio will brings African Music stateside with their traditional Ghanaian instruments and bigger than life personalities for the Henry Ford Fund Tiny Tots concert 10:30 a.m. in The Music Box.
Included with admission to either concert is access to KidZone, a unique festival of kids' activities including an instrument petting zoo with Marshall Music experts, plus arts and crafts, balloon artists, kid-friendly food and beverages and meet-and-greets with DSO musicians. KidZone begins at 9:30 a.m. and continues until 12:30 p.m. (30 minutes after end of the YPC performance).
Kids of all ages will thrill to the classical soundtracks of favorite fairy tales and children's stories. "Musical Tales" is like comfort food for the soul with charming melodies from the likes of Sleeping Beauty, Billy the Kid, Beauty and the Beast and more. The selections in "Musical Tales" have become ubiquitous in pop culture through movies, popular music, television shows, video games and even ringtones. Music such as Tchaikovsky's fourth symphony sampled in the Pink Floyd's Wish You Were Here and Dukas' The Sorcerer's Apprentice, used not only in the Disney film classic Fantasia but also as the theme to the arcade game Zoo Keeper, will echo in Orchestra Hall as performed by the DSO and led by guest conductor Loh.
A maestro for young audiences and an advocate of early childhood exposure to music, Lawrence Loh is the creator of a family concert series in Pennsylvania and is sought after as a guest speaker and clinician. He is in his third season as Music Director of the Northeastern Pennsylvania Philharmonic and his first season as Resident Conductor of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra.
No one excites young audiences like Bernard Woma, a musician who has been performing since he was a Tiny Tot. The "Master of the Ghanaian Xylophone" began playing for crowds in his village near Ghana's coast when he was just two years old. He quickly learned to play the gyil, a percussion instrument made with a wooden frame and calabash gourds with holes covered by spider web silk, the combination of which create a buzzing sound. Woma has shared his musical skills throughout Africa, Europe and North America as a teacher, lecturer and workshop leader. One of his career highlights was performing for former U.S. President Bill Clinton and Ghanaian President Jerry Rawlings in Accra, Ghana's capital. Joined by students Mark Allen Stone and Kofi Ameyaw, the Bernard Woma Trio has crowds buzzing in Ghana and around the world. -- www.detroitsymphony.com
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