“The Williamsburg Symphony Orchestra has recruited its most acclaimed principal musicians for what are probably their most essential performances,” writes Lucretia Cunningham in Monday’s (1/13) Williamsburg Yorktown Daily (Williamsburg, VA). “For two consecutive weeks up to Jan. 16, the 20-musician ensemble is taking their production of Sergei Prokofiev’s Peter and the Wolf to nine Williamsburg-James City County schools…. Carolyn Keurajian, executive director for the Williamsburg Symphony Orchestra … said Peter and the Wolf is the perfect introduction to the orchestra for children… ‘At the end when … we ask “who would like to play an instrument?” … every single hand goes up,’ she said…. The group collects, refurbishes, and loans out free instruments for children who express an interest for playing. ‘We absolutely want to encourage them to be musical … because … there’s just a huge amount of data … published by the National Endowment for the Arts about the value of arts education for children and how it correlates specifically to test scores,’ she said. Jim Gandolfo, a veteran performer and adjunct theater instructor at Christopher Newport University, is the narrator … and David Grandis, director of orchestras at the College of William & Mary, is the conductor.”
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