Monday, March 14, 2011

The Santa Monica Symphony Orchestra

On a Saturday evening, I went to see The Santa Monica Symphony Orchestra play music.  In an orchestra there are many different instruments, and a conductor.  Here are some of the instruments that I saw:
  • violins
    Double bass- He also was kind enough to take
    photos of the woodwinds and brass horns.
    
  • cellos
  • double bass also called contra bass. This is the largest and lowest pitched stringed instrument. 
  • woodwinds (flutes, clarinets, oboes)
  • trumpets
  • trombones
  • percussion
  • grand piano
  • harp

Woodwinds

Brass Horns














Violins


Cellos


Harp













Every person in the orchestra has a seating spot.  The orchestra has 3 sections, the front, middle, and rear.  The strings and harp are in front, the woodwinds  go in the middle rows and the brass horns and percussion are in the rear which is also the highest level of the stage.  



Maestro Gross
A conductor is a person who leads the orchestra.  Another name for a conductor is Maestro, which means master or teacher in Italian.  The conductor who led the orchestra was named Maestro Gross.  Maestro Gross always explains about the pieces the orchestra will play.  During intermission he comes out and meets with the audience, and I got to meet him too.




At the concert, they played 3 pieces,  Overture To The Italian Girl In Algiers by Rossini, Piano Concerto No.1 by Liszt and Symphony No. 6 by Shostakovich.   My favorite part of the concert was the fourth movement of Symphony No. 6. At the end of the piece, all the instruments in the orchestra played together and made beautiful music.



The Piano Concerto featured a pianist Petor Toth.  He is a Hungarian pianist and a winner of numerous international piano competitions, including the Franz Liszt piano competition.   When Mr. Toth played, his hands moved so fast that they looked blurry!


Mrs. Yollis found an interactive orchestra site where you can learn and listen to instruments! Here is a link!
 

Have you ever been to a  live concert? 
Did you enjoy it? 








14 comments:

  1. Dear Miriam,
    Awesome post.

    No I have not been to a live concert.

    I thought your post was fantastic.

    Did it sound very nice?

    I would love to go to a live concert.

    Would you like to go to a hip hop concert?

    From Bianca.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Dear Miriam,

    How wonderful that you had such a magical moment listening to the Santa Monica Symphony Orchestra.

    I loved your photographs however I have to say my favourite photo was the Harp.

    Did you go with your family?
    I have never been to an live concert. But I have been to watch a lot of play productions.

    Lovely post Miriam and thank you for sharing.
    From your blogging buddy,
    AA.

    ReplyDelete
  3. @BB,

    Awesome comment. You should also go to a live orchestra. The music was very nice.

    I have never been to a hip hop concert, but I would love to go.

    @AA,

    You should also go to a live orchestra. I really liked the music.

    I went with my family, but my dad did not come. :(

    I also liked the harp. It is a very big instrument comparing to a person. I like the sound of a harp.

    From,
    ★Miriam★

    ReplyDelete
  4. Dear Miriam,
    I'm glad you enjoyed the concert, it's nice that your parents are taking you to such a wonderful events, so you can appreciate the arts.
    Love you,
    Grandma Tanya

    ReplyDelete
  5. Dear Miriam,

    First of all I would like to commend you on such a wonderful and detailed description of the concert that you attended.

    Several years ago I went to a Walt Disney Concert Hall and listened to the Los Angeles Philharmonic, it was an unforgettable experience.

    Do you know that Walt Disney Concert Hall has one of the best acoustics among the concert halls in the world?

    Best,
    Grandaunt Olga

    ReplyDelete
  6. Dear Miriam,

    What a fabulous post about your trip to hear the symphony! One of the things I love most in life is listening to music. To get to listen to a concert put on live...now that's a treat!

    I like your use of bullets at the top to list the different instruments, and then the photos you took to help your readers understand what the instruments look like are the perfect complement!

    One of my former students in now in high school, and he has been playing since he was five. I went to a concert to see him, and he sounded professional! His name is Michael Aspinwall. Do you know him?

    Do you think you would like to be a professional musician? Also, did you take the pictures? How did you get the musicians to pose for you?

    Great work!

    Your proud teacher,
    Mrs. Y♥llis

    ReplyDelete
  7. I love orchestra! I play the cello and Im gonna learn to play the oboe!
    That would be so much fun to fo see a live orchestra!
    sounds like you had fun!

    Thanks!
    Selena

    ReplyDelete
  8. @Olga,

    Thank you for leaving me a quality comment. I have never been to the Walt Disney Concert Hall, but I would love to go. I did not know that Walt Disney Concert Hall has one of the best acoustics among the concert halls in the world!


    From,
    Miriam

    ReplyDelete
  9. Mrs. Yollis,

    Thank you for your comment. The live orchestra was wonderful. I do not know Michael Aspinwall, but I suppose that he is probably a good player. What instrument does he play?

    I don't know if I want to be a professional player because there is a lot of different things that I like to do besides playing the piano.

    I took some of the photos. To get the musician to pose I asked him kindly if I could take his photo and he said yes. I also let him know that the photo is for my blog and then he offered to take additional photos of the other musicians in the back.

    From,
    Miriam

    ReplyDelete
  10. @Selena,

    Wow that is so cool that you play the cello! I don't know anyone who plays the cello.

    Is the cello heavy? Do you play in an orchestra? Why did you pick the cello? Is the cello taller than you?

    Have fun playing!

    From,
    Miriam

    P.S. Good luck on learning the oboe!

    ReplyDelete
  11. Dear Miriam,

    What a wonderful post! It sure sounds like you had a fantastic time at the symphony. Several years ago my dad and I went to a concert of the Boston Symphony Orchestra performing The Four Seasons by Vivaldi. It was amazing!

    Right now I am really enjoying listening to the music of Bach, especially The Brandenburg Concertos.

    It must have been very exciting for you to see a master pianist playing live! That might be you one day...

    From,
    Mr. Salsich

    ReplyDelete
  12. Dear Miriam,

    I have been to a concert. The concert was in Mammoth, CA and the bands name was Pink Fraud. My sister Ruby and I danced, along with teenagers and grown ups.
    I had a blast.

    I looked at the link about instruments and I loved it.

    My favorite instruments are Basson and Harp.

    How many concerts have you been to?

    What is your favorite instrument?

    From, Finn

    ReplyDelete
  13. We had a wonderful time at the Santa Monica Symphony concert last night (May 28). It was at the Santa Monica Civic. Mahler, Dvorak, and Tchaikovsky. Great performances by all! And a wonderful conductor in Maestro Allen Robert Gross! It was our first time taking in a live classical music performance since last year, so we were long overdue for it! Thanks for allowing us to comment. Best wishes.

    ReplyDelete
  14. No, the cello is not very heavy. Well, to me anyway. People who play the violin seem to think it is. I picked the cello cause its kind of in the middle of the high instruments and the low instruments. I play in a small orchestra, but just with the kids in my grade. It's not like we preform very often. It's not taller than me.
    See ya!
    Your bud,

    Selena

    ReplyDelete

♥ ★ ♥ ★ ♥ ★ ♥ ★ ♥ ★ ♥ ★ ♥ ★ ♥ ★ ♥ ★ ♥ ★ ♥

Steps to Comment:

1. Write your comment in the box below. Please proofread your comment for spelling, grammar, punctuation, and capitalization.

2. Choose an identity. (If you have a gmail account, use it. If not, simply choose "Anonymous".)

3. Click "Publish your Comment". You may preview your comment before publishing if you'd like.

♥ ★ ♥ ★ ♥ ★ ♥ ★ ♥ ★ ♥ ★ ♥ ★ ♥ ★ ♥ ★ ♥ ★ ♥