EVERETT — For people who want to encourage their children or grandchildren to play a musical instrument, this concert is a great starting point.
The Everett Philharmonic Orchestra will perform its “Imagine” concert at 3 p.m. Sunday in Everett Civic Auditorium, led by conductor Paul-Elliott Cobbs.
The program features Benjamin Britten’s “The Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra,” made popular first by the London Symphony Orchestra conducted by Malcolm Sargent and then by Leonard Bernstein and the New York Philharmonic.
The instruments of the orchestra are introduced individually, then slowly join together in a fugue on a musical theme by the composer Henry Purcell. Jannie Meisberger’s narration of the guide, especially with her British accent, will tie it all together for the audience, said Everett Philharmonic cellist Cami Davis.
Violinist Gloria Ferry-Brennan, 18, of south Whidbey Island, won the Everett Philharmonic’s first Young Artist Concerto Competition earlier this year. At the concert she will play the first movement of Samuel Barber’s Concerto for Violin.
A student of Seattle Symphony musician Simon James, Ferry-Brennan has performed with the Seattle Symphony, previously was concertmaster of the Seattle Youth Symphony and has made other solo appearances with orchestras such as Avanti, Sammamish and Philharmonia Northwest. She studied seven weeks at the Itzhak Perlman Music Program this past summer, attended a 10-day violin symposium at the Juilliard School in New York City and has participated in many violin competitions.
Ferry-Brennan plans to submit an audition recording of the Barber concerto with her college applications to Juilliard, Curtis Institute of Music and the New England Conservatory of Music, among others.
“Performing in Everett gives me even more experience playing the concerto, which is one of my favorites,” she said. “It’s not a technically difficult piece, but it’s dramatic and emotional and a challenge to get the phrasing right.”
A violinist since age 4, Ferry-Brennan also plays violin and sings in the band 3 Cent Stamp, with friends James Hinkley on cello and Levi Burkle on guitar. The group performs their own take on old jazz standards and plans to tour this coming summer in support of their CD release.
“I am very busy, but I am glad to be a part of this educational concert in Everett,” Ferry-Brennan said. “Just like with any new language, music is best learned if you start playing early.”
Also on the Sunday program will be selections from movie score of “The Polar Express” along with the Leroy Anderson winter favorite, “Sleigh Ride,” made famous by Arthur Fiedler and the Boston Pops Orchestra.
Leopold Stokowski’s orchestration of the rousing John Philip Sousa march, “The Stars and Stripes Forever,” will be conducted by Everett Philharmonic Orchestra Spring Fling auction winner Mouss Benmessauod.
Right after the concert, families will have the opportunity for a close look at the various instruments of the orchestra. Children can watch the orchestra’s musicians pluck their violins, toot their horns and bang their drums, and enjoy some hands-on activities, too.
Gale Fiege: 425-339-3427; gfiege@heraldnet.com. Twitter: @galefiege.
If you go
Everett Philharmonic Orchestra: 3 p.m. Nov. 30, Everett Civic Auditorium, 2415 Colby Ave., Everett. Family tickets are $40 for a group of four and $10 for each additional ticket. Individual tickets are $20. Tickets are available online at www.everettphil.org, by calling 206-270-9729 or at 2:15 p.m. at the door.
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