Santa Barbara Strings will present the 10th iteration of its unique multimedia Story-Telling with Strings Attached project as part of its Spring Concert, 4 p.m. Saturday, May 10 at the Music Academy of the West’s Hahn Hall.
Using composer Prokofiev’s age-old classic tale of “Peter and the Wolf” as a template, this year’s student authors of the story wrote an original narration titled “The Five Obstacles.”
Student musicians then wrote accompanying tunes/themes to be worked into a complete composition for string orchestra by artistic director Mary Beth Woodruff.
In years past, the award-winning youth orchestras of Santa Barbara Strings have created original versions of Vivaldi’s “Four Seasons,” Holst’s ‘”The Planets;” Copland’s “Rodeo,” Saint-Saëns’ “Carnival of the Animals;” along with writing three stories from scratch in the first years of the project.
The Story-Telling project is a three-fold effort involving student writing (the story); student compositions (the music); and student illustrations (the art) that will be projected on the screen at Hahn Hall as the orchestra performs.
The Spring Concert will also feature works by Brahms, Handel, Haydn, Grieg and Mozart.
Tickets are $20 for adults and admission is free for children.
Santa Barbara Strings is a nonprofit group providing comprehensive training for musicians ages 4-19 years old in three progressive levels of string orchestras, traditional music, and chamber ensembles.
Recent graduates of the Santa Barbara Strings orchestra program are attending the Juilliard School of Music and the Colburn School of Music.
Open to all students, Santa Barbara Strings aims to inspire life-long understanding and appreciation of classical music of all eras.
For more on the Spring Concert and the organization, visit www.santabarbarastrings.org.
