The Southwest Washington Symphony is set to open its 52nd season with a free “pops” concert at 3 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 14, in the Columbia Theatre for the Performing Arts, 1231 Vandercook Way, Longview. The performance will feature two songs from Hollywood movies, along with two other popular numbers.
More than 3,000 elementary school children from across the area will get a sneak peak of the season-opening concert Thursday, Oct. 11, when the group hosts fourth- and fifth-grade students in the theater.
“It makes you feel so good because all these elementary aged kids are coming to the theater for the concert and it may be their first introduction to music,” said Pat Martin, symphony auxiliary member.
A long-held tradition of the symphony, the early concert allows the musicians to showcase one of the songs from their fall concert.
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Martin said the fall concert usually has “lighter music” to make the performance more interesting for children.
“It needs to be something that will be light enough to appeal to kids, but will still be symphonic,” Martin said.
“School kids are brought in by bus and they get to see the program,” Martin said. “Then we have the concert for everybody else, including the kids if they want to come back and bring their parents.”
The early performance features Prokofiev’s “Peter and the Wolf,” a well-known symphonic piece composed originally with children in mind. Each instrument in the song represents a character in a Russian folk tale, using music to tell the story.
Dancers acting out the parts of the story will accompany the symphony performance, said Dick Uthmann, principal clarinet.
Uthmann has played for the symphony since 1973. He said he joined the group because he loves to play music.
“We are dedicated to good music, and we think that good music is important to the community,” Uthmann said. “We just love to play, and to be honest with you, I think most of us play because we enjoy the playing, not just because we want to perform for an audience.”
The symphony is an all-volunteer orchestra, and none of the members are paid to participate. The group includes musicians of all ages, from high school students to retirees.
“It’s amazing to me those people kept up with music and had the skills and interest to play in a symphony orchestra,” said Martin, adding that she’s fascinated all these musicians also work “day jobs.”
“You go there and you see people in the symphony and you think, ‘Oh my, that’s my dentist,’ ” Martin said. “It’s amazing they are working all week and still have time to study the music on their own.”
Martin said the symphony started offering free concerts about three years ago. Now, all of its performances are free.
“That way the symphony is more accessible to all types of people, and that’s been great because we’ve been having bigger audiences that way,” Martin said.
Martin described the symphony as “a wonderful orchestra” of local residents that helps remind the community of why music is important.
“Music is our soul, and as a society — and here we are in Longview at the microcosm of that — it feeds your soul, and makes each person who partakes, whether they are player or an audience member, a more complete person,” Martin said.