Marine Band Young People's Concert: Sound Off!

Photo By Gunnery Sgt. Amanda Simmons | Master Sergeant Christopher Rose with a child attending the Young People's Concert Instrument Petting Zoo  

AL, UNITED STATES

04.26.2013

Story by Staff Sgt. Rachel Ghadiali 

"The President's Own" U.S. Marine Band

ALEXANDRIA, Va. - Have you ever attended a concert where the performing musicians simply get up and leave? This Sunday during the Young People’s Concert titled “Sound Off!,” even Superman can’t keep the musicians of “The President’s Own” United States Marine Band from exiting the stage in the middle of the first piece!

Conducted by Assistant Director Major Jason K. Fettig, the Marine Band will kick off the interactive and educational concert with the familiar theme to “Superman.” Then suddenly the musicians will leave the stage, exiting right, exiting left, to the front and to the rear, abandoning the conductor and his baton. The band will turn the sound off; the music will fall apart and Maj. Fettig will have no one to conduct. Then concert-goers must consider an afternoon without any music at all.

But through a progression of musical demonstrations, Maj. Fettig and the Marine Band members will help the audience re-build music from the ground up, exploring piece-by-piece the most important ingredients of the musical mixture: melody, harmony, rhythm, and form. The program will include the theme from “Jaws,” “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer,” the theme from “SpongeBob SquarePants,” and other kid-friendly tunes alongside works by the great composers Claude Debussy, Dmitri Shostakovich, Piotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, Benjamin Britten, Morton Gould, and Gustav Holst.

“One of the things I’ve tried to do is program real, serious pieces that you would hear on any concert that is for adults but try to present it in a way that breaks it down so that kids can understand what is so special about these pieces,” Maj. Fettig explained. “I try to mix in music from movies and lighter music. The idea is to show that all music is built with the same musical building blocks, whether it’s a substantial symphony or a piece of pop music.”

Throughout the second half of the program, the band will help the audience bring the music to life in the concert hall’s theatrical environment by conducting a series of musical experiments with different lighting techniques, spontaneous artwork, and by applying music to film.

“The goal is to break down music so that it can be enjoyed by anybody, regardless of whether you’re a regular concert-goer or if you’ve never set foot in a concert hall before,” Maj. Fettig said. “I hope when families leave this concert that they are excited about what they’ve just heard and that they’ve experienced classical music in a different way.”

The free concert will take place at 2 p.m., Sunday, April 28, at the Rachel M. Schlesinger Concert Hall and Arts Center at Northern Virginia Community College located at 3001 North Beauregard Street in Alexandria. While ages 5-12 are the key demographic, the concert will be entertaining and educational for all. Prior to the concert, attendees will enjoy a clarinet trio performance beginning at 1:15 p.m. in the lobby, and following the concert, patrons are invited to take part in an instrument petting zoo.

For general concert information, patrons may call the 24-hour Concert Information Line at [phone] or visit www.marineband.usmc.mil. Directions and parking information are available by contacting the performance venue at [phone] or www.schlesingercenter.com.

• Date Taken: 04.26.2013
• Date Posted: 04.26.2013 12:00
• Story ID: 105905
• Location: AL, US