For their first community outreach venture since before the pandemic, the Peterborough Symphony Orchestra’s woodwind quintet is combining classic music with storytelling for an immersive program on Sunday, February 25th in Lakefield.
Hosted by Children’s Stage Lakefield, a volunteer-run non-profit organization created over 30 years ago when a small group of dedicated parents saw the need to expose their children to high-quality performing arts, “Stories and Music with the Peterborough Symphony Chamber Players” will be held at 2 p.m. in the gymnasium at Lakefield District Public School at 71 Bridge Street.
The event invites audience members of all ages to enjoy the sounds of the wind section of a classical symphony orchestra. Tickets are $15 (free for children two and under) and can be purchased at www.childrenstage.org/shop/.
“It’s wonderful because it will let audience members hear a range of colours and give them a real flavour of what the orchestra sounds like, even if it’s on a miniature scale,” says Tori Owen, the orchestra’s principal oboist.
The woodwind quintet is a part of the Peterborough Symphony Orchestra’s Chamber Players, comprised of members who give back to the community beyond performing at the orchestra’s regular concerts at Showplace Performance Centre. The Chamber Players support the non-profit orchestra’s mandate to create community connection and support arts and culture in Peterborough and region through education and outreach.
“In this day and age, orchestras have become more than something you can see on a Saturday night a few times here and there,” says Owen. “It’s important for people to see us doing other great things and to educate and give the gift of music to people in the community.”
Joining Owen for the program are other principal players from the orchestra, including flautist Jaye Marsh, clarinetist Scott Wight, and horn player Jane McKay, as well as former orchestra member Anne Olscher playing the bassoon.
To inspire young musicians in the audience, opening the program will be Lakefield District Public School’s own concert band led by music director Lisa Quackenbush, who is also the Peterborough Symphony Orchestra’s second chair clarinetist.
“It lets young audience members see themselves as a musician in the future, just a few years ahead of where they are now,” says Owen. “It’s a really nice thing for people to see representation in this day and age and it’s great to show the rainbow of possibilities for kids to see, experience, and dream about.”
Quackenbush will then stay on stage — or perhaps, as Owen points out, “intimately” on the floor of the gymnasium with the audience — to narrate the program throughout the afternoon.
Karen Locklin will also join as guest composer with her evocative new work “The Imperial Blue Butterfly.” About a friendship between a caterpillar and an ant, the children’s story was written by Locklin’s brother Allan Dennis Lee, and each insect is characterized by a woodwind instrument.
“You can hear some reflections of the activities in the story,” says Owen, giving the example of using her oboe to craft the buzzing sound of a wasp. “It’s an interesting and fun challenge to convey and hear the sounds of the insects through the music.”
Other works to be shared include “Mary’s Little Lamb,” which features scripts inviting audience participation, and “The Story of the Woodwind Quintet,” which is an educational piece.
“Each instrument again plays a character as narration to introduce kids to what the instruments actually are, and what they do and sound like,” says Owen, noting that even adults often have questions about orchestra instruments. “(Children are) getting these really fine distinctions and getting up close to see what we’re talking about and what makes them different — even adults can find out new things.”
While the educational piece makes the program welcoming for all audience members, Owen is particularly excited for the doors it will open for aspiring young musicians.
“I remember when I was going to things like school field trips and seeing actual artists perform a play with music and it transformed my whole world view,” she says. “It’s not just a recording or soundtrack. This music comes from actual people, and showing that to young people could help them become a musician because they see it happening as something people do.”
For more information about Children’s Stage Lakefield and for tickets, visit www.childrenstage.org.
This story has been updated to correct a misspelling of Anne Olscher’s name.
