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MAGICAL TALES
Musical Stories for Children of All Ages!
Over the centuries, tribal elders, parents, and grandparents have passed on cultural heritage and wisdom through storytelling around the bonfire or late at night to send their children to sleep and dreamland. We will present our concert with Spanish narration with Paz Garcia and Arturo Sarmiento on Saturday, October 22nd.
In the first concert of our 48th season, we celebrate the aural tradition of storytelling with music inspired by classic stories composed by several of our favorite composers. We will premiere a new arrangement of The Legend of La Llorona by Larry Harrington. The story of La Llorona has roots deep in Mexican history. Some versions of the legend are traced back to Aztec creation stories. Many variations in folk songs, poems, and stories are well known in Mexico and the Southwestern United States. Some are love stories, but most involve a ghost grieving and looking for her lost children. This version of the story is often associated with honoring the Day of the Dead or Dia de los Muertos, a Latin American celebration of life and death.
The Legend of Sleepy Hollow by Washington Irving presents us with another ghost story set in New York’s Hudson Valley just after the American Revolution. It features the schoolmaster Ichabod Crane and his adversary, the Headless Horseman. The story has inspired movies, plays, and songs by popular artists. We will present the narrated version of the story composed by James Stephenson.
Jeff Witt, Narrator - ENGLISH VERSION
On Sunday, October 23, we will perform the same music with English narration featuring Jeff Witt. Both concerts will be presented in the beautiful new Rose Auditorium at South Salem High School, as will the remaining three concerts in our season.
During our 48th season, we will perform three of Julie Giroux’s six symphonies. This concert will feature her Symphony No. 2, A Symphony of Fables. The work is based on five fables: two by Aesop, The Lion and the Mouse and The Tortoise and the Hare; the Hans Christian Andersen tale, The Ugly Duckling; a German tale, The Pied Piper of Hamelin; and a Norwegian story, The Three Billy Goats Gruff.
Kenneth Grahame wrote the children’s novel The Wind in the Willows, first published in 1908. The book was originally a series of short bedtime stories he wrote to read to his young son Alastair. They involved the animals that lived on and around a river, including Mole, Rat, Mr. Toad, and Mr. Badger. Johan de Meij used four sections of the novel in his symphonic setting, The Wind in the Willows. It includes the following movements: The River, Ratty and Mole, Mr. Toad (which includes a spectacular car crash), and The Return of Ulysses.
John Williams has written film scores for over 75 films, including nine Star Wars films, four Indiana Jones films, and three Harry Potter films. In this concert, we will perform Harry’s Wondrous World from HARRY POTTER AND THE SORCERER’S STONE and the Superman March from SUPERMAN. Plan on joining us at our concert in April to hear an arrangement of his music from Star Wars films.
This is a concert of beautiful music that can be enjoyed on its own. We encourage you to read the stories before attending the concert for more connection and appreciation by you and the children in your families. Share the joy of spending time together engaged in these great adventures! Visit your local library to find new editions of the stories, or add them to your personal library to have them available to revisit and adopt as family treasures.
About Us
The Salem Symphonic Winds was established in 1975 and has established a tradition of bringing profound music to our audiences. We strive to deliver the highest levels of expression, beauty, and drama. John Skelton, our Artistic Director, has dedicated his life to finding and refining band music that will blow your minds and enrich your lives. We hope you will join us and discover the power and joy of live music in this magnificent environment.
Stories Brought to Life Through Music!