Building With A Snowman

SoNA brings magic of orchestral music to little ones

Everybody at SoNA admits it. When the musicians present "The Snowman: A Family Concert" on Sunday, they're hoping to spread more than holiday joy to young listeners.

"I hope they go away with the spark I had when I really fell in love with music," says 17-year-old Mary Moreno, a Bentonville High School junior who will solo on violin. "I hope they can't stop talking about it."

FAQ

A Very SoNA Christmas

WHEN — 7:30 p.m. Saturday

WHERE — Walton Arts Center in Fayetteville

COST — $40-$50

INFO — 443-5600

AND

The Snowman: A Family Concert

WHEN — 3 p.m. Sunday

WHERE — Walton Arts Center in Fayetteville

COST — $40

INFO — 443-5600

Paul Haas' children couldn't. That's how the Symphony of Northwest Arkansas came to choose the silent film and its score for a yuletide performance.

"This is quite possibly the best holiday film ever made, for adults and children alike," the SoNA music director says. "I was introduced to it two years ago by my daughters, who persisted in watching it on the iPhone during dinner, much to my annoyance.

"Apparently their daycare provider was responsible for this infatuation, and I persisted in being annoyed until -- one lucky day -- I actually sat down next to them and watched it. Before my eyes unfolded this incredible jewel of an animated film about a boy who builds a snowman that (spoiler alert!) comes to life and the adventures they then share.

"I subsequently found out that 'The Snowman' is all the rage in England and on the European continent, where orchestras regularly perform it during the holiday season, replete with large screen on stage," Haas explains. "I couldn't believe my luck in finding what amounts to the perfect holiday concert: a hugely entertaining, emotionally captivating film with one of the best orchestral soundtracks I've ever heard. I knew immediately I had to bring this to SoNA and Northwest Arkansas."

Based on a 1978 picture book by English author Raymond Briggs, the 1982 film was nominated for an Academy Award and is best described as "really sweet and touching," says Matthew Herren, the orchestra's executive director. "Paul told me I had to watch it, I'd love it, and he was right."

Of course, Herren also endorses the idea of hooking young listeners.

"A family concert like this at the Walton Arts Center with a full orchestra really accomplishes two goals at once -- to continue to present world-class live music and to have young people involved and exposed to live music, and classical music in particular," he says. "We plan to do more of the same."

Introducing youngsters to music "is an audience-building technique, of course," Herren goes on, "but the thing we get the most reward from as educators is seeing young people get interested in music, get that spark and then take up an instrument. Playing and studying an instrument is a great tool for life. But of course, I'd love to see these people in the audience when they're in their 20s and I'm 55!"

Haas wants grownups to know they're welcome at Sunday's concert, too.

"It captures so poignantly and poetically the beauty and powerful imagination of youth," he explains. "All of us remember what it was like as a child to wish that our favorite toys or stuffed animals would come to life, in fact to believe they would! This silent film -- accompanied by an extraordinary score for virtuosic orchestra -- brings that magical thought alive in a way that captivates both young people and adults alike."

The symphony also presents its traditional Christmas concert on Saturday, featuring the SoNA Singers, an auditioned group of choral singers led by director Terry Hicks; the Bentonville High School Chamber Choir; the Har-Ber High School Camerata Singers; jazz trumpeter Jeff D. Shadley; tenor Jose Ortega, a hometown talent who has shared the stage with the likes of Placido Domingo; and Moreno, making her professional orchestral debut.

"She's conservatory level and will definitely have a career in music," says her high school instructor, Jesse Collett. "That's what I love about teaching in this area. We get these exceptional players like Mary."

NAN What's Up on 12/12/2014

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