Creating Young Listeners 

On March 24, 2012, children who attend Carnival of Animals, our Saturday afternoon family program, will be invited after the concert to a petting zoo -- a hands-on opportunity to try the instruments of the orchestra.

April 2012 marks the 18th year of our Annual Education Concert.  The program was launched in 1994, the year Paul Phillips began as Music Director of the Pioneer Valley Symphony. Focused on third and fourth graders in Franklin County, the program consists of a six-week curriculum and a field trip to a morning concert in Greenfield High School's auditorium. Each year, the repertoire for the Education Concert is drawn from the Symphony's current season.

As part of the six-week curriculum, children receive a handbook, and their teachers receive a CD with the concert pieces that they can play in their classrooms.  Shortly before the concert, orchestra members visit schools to demonstrate their instruments, giving the students a personal experience, perhaps with a flute, a violin, or a double bass.

Imagine busloads of children spilling out into the parking lot, lining up, and walking into the hall. The 1,000-seat auditorium is filled to capacity. Well behaved and highly expectant, the students respond enthusiastically to Maestro Phillips' questions, applaud loudly, cheer their favorite section or players of the orchestra, or chant "Mozart, Mozart, Mozart!"

 "The whole thing was amazing…I myself play the clarinet…The theme of the concert was great, and I really think that it got everyone to like and appreciate music," wrote one youngster after attending a concert.

The Mary Stuart Rogers Foundation has played a leadership role in making this program possible by generously underwriting a large portion of the program for the past 12 years.  In addition, the PVS has been successful in finding support from a variety of sources including gifts from local businesses and individuals.

PVS orchestra members also volunteer their talents to help youngsters appreciate orchestral music or learn an instrument -- sometimes individually, by going into the classroom, sometimes in duos, trios, and quartets, at the schools, in hospitals, or other community venues.  

Long-time PVS violinist Elaine Holdsworth, PVS violinist, founder of  a string program at Wilbraham Elementary School, wrote: "The PVS string quartet performed one number, then divided up and played with smaller groups of students….The young cellist delighted in playing with an adult cellist -- at the end of the hour he just sat there and said he didn't want to leave, he wanted to keep playing. Sixteen young musicians were able to have a meaningful group musical experience at the very beginning of their musical careers."

Please think of your gift to the PVS Annual Fund or the Endowed Funds as a strategic investment in the education of our children and their experience of live symphonic music in the Pioneer Valley!