Instruments take on voices of characters in SBSO's presentation of 'Peter and the Wolf'

Cheryl Morey, South Bend Tribune
·1 min read
Shira Samuels-Shragg guest-conducts the South Bend Symphony Orchestra's performance of Sergei Prokofiev's "Peter and the Wolf" on Nov. 26, 2023, at the University of Notre Dame’s DeBartolo Performing Arts Center. The concert also features the experimental theater troupe Shades of Orange acting out the story.
Shira Samuels-Shragg guest-conducts the South Bend Symphony Orchestra's performance of Sergei Prokofiev's "Peter and the Wolf" on Nov. 26, 2023, at the University of Notre Dame’s DeBartolo Performing Arts Center. The concert also features the experimental theater troupe Shades of Orange acting out the story.

SOUTH BEND — The South Bend Symphony performs Sergei Prokofiev’s “Peter and the Wolf” at 2:30 and 6 p.m. Nov. 26 at the University of Notre Dame’s DeBartolo Performing Arts Center.

The concert features guest conductor Shira Samuels-Shragg and the experimental theater troupe Shades of Orange.

Written in 1936 on a commission from Natalya Sats, the director of a newly established Children’s Theatre in Moscow, “Peter and the Wolf” introduces audience members to the different instruments and voices of the orchestra as they represent the characters in a short story: the strings for Peter, flute for the bird, oboe for the duck, clarinet for the cat, French horns for the wolf and the bassoon for the grandfather.

“Peter and the Wolf” chronicles Peter’s adventure when he disobeys his grandfather and leaves the safety of their yard for the adjacent woods, where he’s joined by a bird and the duck that live in his yard and his pet cat.

The experimental theater troupe Shades of Orange acts out the story of "Peter and the Wolf" as guest artists when the South Bend Symphony Orchestra performs the popular work by Sergei Prokofiev on Nov. 26, 2023, at the University of Notre Dame’s DeBartolo Performing Arts Center. Shira Samuels-Shragg guest-conducts for the performance.
The experimental theater troupe Shades of Orange acts out the story of "Peter and the Wolf" as guest artists when the South Bend Symphony Orchestra performs the popular work by Sergei Prokofiev on Nov. 26, 2023, at the University of Notre Dame’s DeBartolo Performing Arts Center. Shira Samuels-Shragg guest-conducts for the performance.

His grandfather catches him and brings him home, but when he witnesses a wolf swallow the duck whole, Peter grabs a rope, scales a tall tree and, with the help of the bird, captures the wolf with a noose he lowers onto its tail.

He and a group of hunters then escort the wolf to a nearby zoo.

Samuels-Shragg also conducted the SBSO’s “A Night at Woodstock” concert in April. This fall, she assumed her new position as assistant conductor for the Spokane Symphony Orchestra, while maintaining her current assistant conductor post with the Plano Symphony Orchestra.

Tickets are $24-$12.

For more information, call 574-631-2800 or visit performingarts.nd.edu.

This article originally appeared on South Bend Tribune: South Bend Symphony performs 'Peter and the Wolf'