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RPO Plays for Kids for Primary Education Concert

Director Ward Stare teaches conducting gestures to hundreds of students at Kodak Hall.
Veronica Volk
/
WXXI News
Director Ward Stare teaches conducting gestures to hundreds of students at Kodak Hall.

The Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra played for hundreds of students from six different counties as part of their Annual Primary Education Concert.

It was Director Ward Stare's first of these kinds of concerts, and he engaged his first-to-third grade audience by making them a part of the presentation.

He taught the kids basic conducting gestures, before leading the musicians through a composition called The Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra, by Benjamin Britten.

The composition breaks down the orchestra's sections, giving its young audience a chance to experience each sound individually.

"I loved featuring each of the individuals families too, to build up the orchestra because, often times, the kids can't see all the way to the back of the stage. So filling it from the back to the front gave them an opportunity to really see each family up close before we put it all together."

The Primary Education Concert is an annual event, but the RPO engages with students in other ways throughout the year.

CORRECTION: A previous version of this article mistakenly referred to the Eastman Presents Concert Series as an RPO program. It is actually a production of the Eastman School of Music, and you can read about it here.

Veronica Volk is a senior editor and producer for WXXI News.