OSO’s Harry Potter show just might make kids symphony fans for life

As music director of the Okanagan Symphony Orchestra, I often get asked why I became a conductor, it’s hard for me to put my finger on it exactly. It wasn’t so much a quick, hard, decision as it was a meandering path.

That path wove in and out of a lifelong affiliation with orchestras. I played cello in many different orchestras, I sang in many choruses that performed with orchestras, but probably the biggest impact was the fact that I heard a lot of orchestras as a child.

My dad had an extensive collection of 78s rpm records (now I’m really dating myself) and there was often orchestra music playing in my home.

My parents also sang in a choir, so we would go to their performances and hear the orchestra there. Perhaps the strongest link to orchestra was forged when my grandmother would take me to hear our local orchestra. I am one of seven kids, so getting that one-on-one time with her was pretty special. Associating it with orchestra must have made an indelible impression.

What I have learned in my adult professional life is that this indelible impression is universal.

I have met so many adults in the lobby after one of our Okanagan Symphony Orchestra performances and when I ask why they love to come to hear the orchestra live, they almost always say that a special adult would bring them when they were a child.

It could be a parent, grandparent or teacher, but there was something about having that personal and live experience with orchestra that created a lifelong love of attending concerts and enriching their day-to-day routine.

This is why one of my favourite programs to perform each season is our Family Special.

It brings back such heart-warming memories to see so many children and teens with their significant adults beginning their journey with a live orchestra.

I can imagine the possibilities of where this musical experience might take them. Who knows, maybe the future music director of the Okanagan Symphony is sitting listening with their grandmother, wide eyed with musical possibilities.

When programming our Family Special, I want to make sure that our

youth are getting to hear the orchestra in many different ways.

We want to showcase each family of instruments, the strings, the woodwinds, the brass and the percussion in music that awakens the imagination and lifts the spirit.

I can’t think of a better show than The Music of Harry Potter. Composer John Williams is a master of orchestration, that is choosing which instruments or combination of instruments is just the right one to set the mood, or create the character or tell the story.

From Hedwig’s Flight to Harry’s Wondrous World, this is music that will make an indelible impression. It might even be the beginning of a wonderful lifelong love of music.

So, what are you waiting for? Grab your favourite kid by the hand and come and join us for The Music of Harry Potter.

Let’s get the magic started.