Pacific Symphony to Close Family Musical Mornings Season With HAPPILY EVER AFTER

Pacific Symphony invites children and their families to help the orchestra build its own fairy tale for "Happily Ever After?," the final Family Musical Mornings concert of the season, presented by Farmers and Merchants Bank. Assistant Conductor Maxim Eshkenazy and the Symphony introduce children to the great symphonic repertoire of Tchaikovsky's "Sleeping Beauty," Richard Strauss' "Don Juan," Beethoven's Symphony No. 5, Mendelssohn's Wedding March from "A Midsummer Night's Dream" and more! Fun-loving characters Do, Re, Mi and Fa (also known as Fa-Sol-La-Ti-Do) help act out this kid-friendly story of a beautiful princess who faces an evil ogre, witch or dragon (it's the audience's choice!) in the dark and mysterious cave or mountain (pick again!) before she is rescued by a heroic prince (but which one?).

Helping to shape the story along the way, children interact with the music, learn to conduct, sing and begin to express how music makes them think and feel. Also, Benjamin Britten's "Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra" introduces the four instrument families, exploring the uniqueness of each as they are visually enhanced on the big screen.

The Symphony welcomes back family favorite Andreas Kraemer as the writer, director and actor, who served in the same roles for "Symphony in Space" and as father/narrator in "Hansel and Gretel." The talented ensemble of actors includes Samantha Simon, Sebastián Hinton (also seen in "Symphony in Space") and Dianne Manaster. Kids are welcome to come dressed as their favorite fairy tale character for the concert, taking place Saturday, March 12, at 10 and 11:30 a.m. in the Renée and Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall. A Musical Carnival filled with fun, musical activities highlighting the themes of the of the concert begins at 9 a.m. (for the 10 a.m. concert) and 12:15 p.m. (for the 11:30 a.m. concert). Tickets are $19-36; for more information or to purchase tickets, call (714) 755-5799 or visit www.PacificSymphony.org.

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