Area students attend CSO performance in Oneonta

Nov. 16—ONEONTA — Hundreds of local children listened to fairy tales when the Catskill Symphony Orchestra performed music by Maurice Ravel on Thursday, Nov. 16.

Glen Cortese, interim music director of the CSO, conducted musicians in Ravel's "Mother Goose Suite" at the Foothills Performing Arts and Civic Center in downtown Oneonta.

Almost 700 students from 13 area schools were signed up to attend the program, organized and presented by the CSO and the Catskill Area School Study Council, Otsego Northern Catskills Board of Cooperative Education Services, according to Ryan Geraghty, executive director of the CSO.

The concert was the first BOCES performance since the COVID pandemic halted public gatherings, Geraghty said.

Previously, CSO performances to BOCES audiences had been a traditional educational outreach.

"Live music is great — live music is back," said Peter Daum, music teacher with the Cooperstown Central School District. He was with about 65 fourth-graders and said they have been studying about orchestras in class.

"They're very excited to see the performance," he said as students settled into their theater seats.

Cynthia Donaldson narrated the program that included Ravel's musical telling of "Sleeping Beauty and "Tom Thumb," among others. Besides bits about the stories, she told students that Ravel's piece has five sections, similar to a book having chapters.

Hundreds of hands went up when Cortese asked how many students play a musical instrument. Hundreds went up again when he asked how many students played sports.

Cortese told students that being part of an orchestra is like playing as a member of a sports team, and he explained the role of the conductor in working with musicians to learn and perform compositions. To help students identify the various sounds of stringed, brass, woodwind and percussion instruments, he asked some musicians to play individually.

Virginia Mills, a fifth-grader at Delaware Academy Central School District in Delhi, said she plays piano and violin. The 10-year-old said she was interested in hearing the professional orchestra.

"I personally have always liked string instruments," she said. "It's very good to be here."

Geraghty, who welcomed the audience and introduced the event, invited students and their parents to attend a CSO concert at the Foothills Center at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 18. The CSO offers free tickets to school-age children with up to two adult companions, thanks to an anonymous donor.

The CSO's "Musical Portraits" program will feature works by Ravel, Respighi and Brahms, with a pre-concert talk is set for 6:30 p.m. For more information, visit catskillsymphony.org or telephone 607-269-7501.