D

elaney Ziegman, a junior at Thornton Academy, was featured in a dual role as author as well as narrator in the Portland Symphony’s Discovery Concert held at Merrill Auditorium on Jan. 21.

The theme of this concert was “Symphony Safari” and dressed in Safari khaki’s she introduced each selection of the orchestra and led the youthful (ages 5-12) audience and their parents through a program that had the dual purpose of telling a story as well as introducing the youngsters to a program that would introduce them to music that ought to be familiar to everyone. Her diction was clear and her delivery measured, and she achieved her purpose in weaving a story that the orchestra could and did support it.

Merrill was fully occupied both downstairs and the first balcony as well. It was a tribute to her as well as to the orchestra that the youthful audience was quiet throughout the program. (Although one fifth- or sixth-grade young man seated next to me seemed to be puzzled by the lack of conversation when the orchestra was playing. The very idea of simply listening to music that was not a background to conversation was a concept whose time had not yet come.)

The program included the 1st movement of Beethoven’s “Pastoral” Symphony (No. 6), the start of Prokofiev’s “Peter and the Wolf,” Saint-Saens “Carnival of the Animals,” Williams Hedwig theme from “Harry Potter,”Anderson’s “The Waltzing Cat,” The Duck and Wolf from “Peter and the Wolf,” Rimsky-Korsakov’s “Flight of the Bumble Bee,” and the finale of Haydn’s Symphony No. 82, “the Bear.”

The program was conducted by Andrew Crust. Prior to the concert Mr. Crust spent about 45 minutes showing as well as patiently helping very young boys and girls on the art of conducting. There was a violin and string bass (from the orchestra) who did not seem to tire of playing a phrase of Bizet’s Carmen faster and/or slower, louder and/or slower. The experience of actually conducting an instrumental group was wonderful to see and for the children to experience.  To Mr. Crust’s credit, he did not seem to tire or get bored with this assignment either.

Speaking of Mr. Crust, when it came time to conduct the orchestra, he did so with skill and authority.  The musicians paid him the ultimate tribute in that they actually paid attention to him. They did not play with the feeling that this was merely a kid’s concert that they had to get through. A revealing moment occurred early in the Pastoral. The celli had been repeating a phrase umpteen times and then had to change. Many a conductor would not have bothered to indicate this as after all, these were professional musicians who ought to be able to count their measures without losing their place. This was not a detail that was insignificant to Crust. He turned to face the celli and indicated the place, not in a theatrical gesture but with his baton as well as his body. The orchestra played as if this was a Tuesday night Classical Concert. The Haydn and Stravinsky excerpts produced some really beautiful playing. 

At the end of the program Crust asked the audience to acknowledge Ms. Ziegman and also the contributions of the orchestra. His official role is that of conductor of the Youth and Discovery Concerts. That he could and do so with distinction was evident to me by his work as well as his attitude in this concert. That he is well equipped to do more was apparent as well.

Prior to the concert, many of the children who attended participated in a kind of petting zoo for instruments, touching, listening and speaking to the various instrumentalists. The next Discovery concert will not take place until May 20t and will be conducted by Normal Huynh, the orchestra’s assistant conductor. The next scheduled concert by the orchestra will occur much sooner with Maestro Robert Moody leading the orchestra on Jan. 30. As he will be leaving this position at the end of this season makes each remaining concert more memorable.

— Dr. Morton Gold is a composer/conductor, retired educator and an arts reviewer for the Journal Tribune.