The Phil is Filled with Youthful Energy

Steven Karidoyanes conducts the in the annual “Rising Stars Showcase,” a family concert bursting with youthful talent and energy.

"This is a great entry in to the symphonic world for children and for people who have never been to a concert," Karidoyanes said while hurrying to a rehersal Monday. "We call it a family concernt, not a kids' concert, all the pieces are bright, short, will get you all gooosebumpily, and then we send you home."

In the past two years, the Family Concert has also included a Rising Star Showcase, featuring young performers from Plymouth and across the South Shore.

Joining the orchestra are the 100-plus voices of the Plymouth Children’s Chorus, Kathy McMinn director, performing movie music by composer John Williams, who is celebrating his 80th birthday this year, Karidoyanes added. The chorus will also sing Double Trouble from Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban and Dry Your Tears, Afrika from Amistad.

This is the sixth year of the Plymouth Children’s Chorus. Made up of select fourth and fifth graders, this training chorus rehearses over a very focused eight-week period in preparation for this concert and is the result of a special partnership between music educators and the Plymouth Philharmonic. This tuition-free ensemble is designed to give students of every socio-economic background the opportunity to perform at a high musical level with a professional symphony orchestra. Their director is music specialist Kathy McMinn. Their piano accompanist is Sharon Francer, music specialist for the .

The winner of the South Shore Conservatory youth concerto competition, 18-year-old Gillian Pentheny of Marshfield, is featured in music from Mozart’s Flute Concerto No. 1. The concert also includes a special musical commemoration. 

Pentheny is an honors student in her senior year at Notre Dame Academy in Hingham. She has played the flute since fourth grade and is a student of Donald Zook. Gillian participates annually in the South Shore Conservatory’s Flute Symphony, performing several solos and coaching young students. Gillian has been a member of the Bay Youth Symphony since the 2007 inaugural year, earning first chair flute for the last three seasons. She is also a member of the BaYS Honors Woodwind Chamber Group. The Bay Youth Symphony is a sequential youth orchestra program of the South Shore Conservatory in partnership with the Plymouth Philharmonic Orchestra.

Karidoyanes said this concert is one of his favorites because he can fit in pieces he may enjoy but wouldn't fit in other concerts during the year. One of those is Tchaikovsky’s 1812 Overture.

The U.S.S. Constitution, the world’s oldest commissioned naval vessel afloat berthed in Boston’s Charlestown Navy Yard, earned her nickname “Old Ironsides” during a famous ‘War of 1812’ encounter and the Phil observes the bicentennial of that defining event, performing excerpts from Richard Rodgers’ Victory at Sea and Tchaikovsky’s 1812 Overture.

It is universally acknowledged that children love the cannon blasts of the 1812 Overture, but since the Phil performs indoors, and the use use of cannons is prohibited, Karidoyanes has come up with a unique way to perform the piece: the audience will help out.

"You've heard of a sing-along, well this is a boom-along," he said. "I'm going to teach the audience to boom along with the piece so they can be part of the performance.

"This will be a big splashy, noisemaking concert," Karidoyanes added. "I love creating something that when people leave here and go home, they remember it."

This concert is part of the national food drive, Orchestras Feeding America. Audience members are encouraged to bring and contribute non-perishable food items to benefit the . 

This family-friendly event is being held in , Sunday afternoon, March 4. The concert begins at 3 p.m. The very popular hands-on instrument demonstrations precede the concert, 2 to 2:40 p.m. 

Tickets are now on sale. Memorial Hall is fully accessible. The 96th season of the Plymouth Philharmonic Orchestra is funded in part by the Massachusetts Cultural Council, a state agency. Tickets are $15 and $20 for adults, $8 and $12 for children (through age 12). Advance tickets can be purchased on-line by visiting plymouthphil.org or calling the Phil office at 508-746-8008. Memorial Hall is located on 83 Court Street/Route 3A, Plymouth, MA.

The Concert Sponsor is The Edgar & Pauline Main Family Foundation; the Plymouth Children’s Chorus sponsor is also The Edgar & Pauline Main Family Foundation; and the Instrument Demonstration Sponsor is WatchAll. Additional educational support comes from the Rogers Family Foundation.