Jill and the Beanstalk

Holiday Pops: Fun and Games is our festive three-concert tour to Barre, Burlington, and Rutland, December 9-11. The program -- in addition to pieces showcasing the youthful side of the season -- features a composition by a Vermont student. Her name is Eileen Kocherlakota (pictured) and her piece is a musical fractured fairy tale, Jill and the Beanstalk. Keep reading for a full description of the piece, Eileen's bio, and the complete tour schedule.

Eileen Kocherlakota is 14 years old, and a freshman at Burlington High School. Music has been a big part of her life ever since she started playing violin when she was 5 years old. Currently she studies violin with Evelyn Read and plays in the Vermont Youth Orchestra Association (VYOA). She started composing with the Vermont MIDI Project (VMP) when she was in fourth grade. She recently took music theory lessons with Erik Nielson and completed the theory courses offered by VYOA. She would like to thank Ms. Greene and Ms. Nolan, her music teachers in elementary and middle school, who fostered her interest in composition. She thanks Erik Nielsen, Matt Podd, and Zach Sheets, all composer mentors with the Vermont MIDI Project and Sandi MacLeod, Executive Director of VMP. She especially thanks her family for supporting her all the way.

The Vermont MIDI Project is a non-profit organization supporting young composers through a variety of technology tools. VMP enlists professional composers to provide feedback to students in an online mentoring website and supports teachers in music composition. Live performance opportunities of student compositions are offered through the Opus concerts and with organizations such as the VSO. Visit the website for more information.

Jill and the Beanstalk is a fractured fairy tale based on “Jack and the Beanstalk.” This updated rendition is told through music with narration throughout the piece. It is like another piece Eileen Kocherlakota wrote, based on the fairytale, ”Cinderella,” which was for a small ensemble of brass, piano and percussion. In Jill and the Beanstalk, similar to Peter and the Wolf, different instruments representing different characters. Jill’s theme is played by clarinets, the witch trading beans is represented by violins 1 and 2, the giantess’ dancing is numbly highlighted with flutes and a piccolo, and the giant comes to life with timpani and low brass. Please enjoy!

2011 Holiday Pops I: "Fun & Games"
The National Life Group Holiday Pops Concert
Friday, December 9, 2011, 7:30 p.m.
Barre Opera House, Barre
Anthony Princiotti, conductor
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2011 Holiday Pops II: "Fun & Games"
Saturday, December 10, 2011, 7:30 p.m.
Flynn Center for the Performing Arts, Burlington
Anthony Princiotti, conductor
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2011/2012 Sunday Matinee Series I/2011 Holiday Pops III
Sunday, December 11, 2011, 3:00 p.m.
Paramount Theatre, Rutland
Anthony Princiotti, conductor
Holiday Pops: Fun and Games
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Carnival of the Animals a huge success!

Our orchestral youth concert this week at the Flynn Center in Burlington was a huge hit! Carnival of the Animals surprised and delighted over 1200 schoolchildren from around the state, some coming from as far as Windsor! Student Charles Wu wowed the audience with both his piano AND saxophone skills, the artist mural backdrop was stunning, and Champlain Elementary took home the Symphony Bear. The purpose of the VSO's SymphonyKids Educational Outreach Programs is to explore the delights of classical music with Vermont school children, and to inspire them with a lifelong enthusiasm for music through a variety of high-quality, educational, and FUN programs. In 2010/2011 SymphonyKids reached 30,223 students or 53% of the statewide K-8 population. This impressive statistic is made up of 248 presentations serving 199 schools in 166 towns (66% of the 251 towns in Vermont, not all of which have schools). Keep reading for upcoming SymphonyKids programs around the state.

DrumShtick Percussion Trio
December 8, 2011
Bennington Elementary 9:15 AM
Monument Elementary (Bennington) 11 AM
North Bennington Graded School 1:30 PM

Fanfare Brass Trio
December 16, 2011
Weybrigde Elementary 9 AM
Ripton Central School 10:45 AM
Beeman Elementary (New Haven) 12:45 PM

Symphony Reel String Trio
January 6, 2012
Thatcher Brook Elementary (Waterbury) 9 & 10 AM
Moretown Elementary 1 PM

Musical Petting Zoo
January 9, 2012
Waterville Elementary Time TBA
Eden Elementary Time TBA

Ah! Cappella Vocal Quartet
January 20, 2012
Sheldon Elementary 9 AM
Highgate Elementary 10:15 AM
Fairfield Elementary 1 PM Keep reading!

We're giving away free tickets on Facebook today!

Get a friend to like our page and you BOTH win free tickets. Or, if you are a new fan, you get free tickets. Visit our Facebook page for details. If you miss out on the contest, do not despair, $25 rush tickets are still available through FlynnTix. Simply use the following discount code during checkout: prokofiev. Keep reading for the concert program.

Masterworks Series II
Saturday, December 3, 8 PM
Anthony Princiotti, conductor
Katherine Winterstein, violin

BEETHOVEN Coriolan Overture
PROKOFIEV Violin Concerto No. 2
SCHUMANN Symphony No. 2

Coriolanus and Beethoven were both passionate, imperious, and iron-willed—so it’s no surprise that the Coriolan Overture is powerful music! Concertmaster Katherine Winterstein is featured in Sergei Prokofiev’s second concerto, a piece which uses Russian-inspired melodic elements--brilliantly orchestrated--and displays the composer’s trademark ironic sense of humor. Schumann’s second symphony was written as he continued to wrestle with mental illness. His staunch wife Clara championed her beloved genius’s progress as he wrote music that is marked with “fire, imagination, freshness, and originality.”
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2011 VSO Brass Quintet and Counterpoint Holiday Concert Tickets Available TODAY*!

Tickets are now available for our 2011 VSO Brass Quintet and Counterpoint Holiday Concerts, happening in five communities around the state: Warren, Jay, Grafton, Manchester, and Brandon. These concerts are presented in intimate spaces and feature the twelve-member Counterpoint chorus and the VSO Brass Quintet joining forces to regale audiences with festive tunes sure to imbue holiday spirit. Conductor Nathaniel G. Lew leads in a program featuring works fit for the season. Keep reading for the complete schedule. Tickets for these concerts go fast, so be sure to secure your seats today.


*Please note tickets for the Grafton concert will not be available until Saturday, December 3.

2011 VSO Brass Quintet and Counterpoint Holiday Concerts
Thursday, December 15, 7:30 p.m.
Warren United Church, Warren
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2011 VSO Brass Quintet and Counterpoint Holiday Concerts
Friday, December 16, 7:30 p.m.
International Room at Jay Peak Resort, Jay
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2011 VSO Brass Quintet and Counterpoint Holiday Concerts
Saturday, December 17, 5:00 p.m.
The White Church, Grafton
*Please note tickets for the Grafton concert will not be available until Saturday, December 3.
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2011 VSO Brass Quintet and Counterpoint Holiday Concerts
Sunday, December 18, 4:00 p.m.
First Congregational Church, Manchester
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2011 VSO Brass Quintet and Counterpoint Holiday Concerts
Monday, December 19, 7:00 p.m.
Brandon Congregational Church, Brandon
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Keep reading!