The ASO’s Children’s Arts Festival Celebrates the Planets with Cosmic Quest!
Posted Apr 20, 2012 | Press Releases,
The Alexandria Symphony Orchestra will present COSMIC QUEST, the 2012 Children’s Arts Festival on Sunday, May 20. This year’s festival will take local families on a solar journey via selections from Gustav Holst’s The Planets.
For the second year in a row, the ASO Children’s Arts Festival will be held at T.C. Williams High School in Alexandria. The activities will be a full 2 hours, from 2:00 p.m. to 4:00 pm, and families may pick from one of two concerts, one at 2:30 and a second at 3:30, each lasting approximately 30 minutes each. Selections from Holst’s work will include the popular “Mars,” “Jupiter,” and “Venus” movements, among others.
“Everyone’s abuzz with the Shuttle Discovery’s recent trek over Alexandria on its way to the Smithsonian’s Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center,” said Executive Director Adrien Finlay. “We’re hoping to add a fantastic soundtrack to that excitement.”
In addition to the concerts, children are encouraged to participate in the many art, music, and movement projects available throughout the festival. Activities include an instrument petting zoo, yoga, art stations, reading centers, and the ever-popular hand bell demonstrations (hand bells courtesy of Browne Academy). The ASO is pleased to partner with several organizations for this event including the Potter Violin Company, Hooray for Books, Del Ray Artisans, Alexandria Public Library, Music Together, and Minds Wide Open.
This year’s ASO Children’s Arts Festival is sponsored by Wells Fargo, SOLA (Symphony Orchestra League of Alexandria), and Washington Gas. Additional funders including the Alexandria Commission for the Arts, Arlington Commission for the Arts, and the Virginia Commission for the Arts.
The Alexandria Symphony Orchestra presents COSMIC QUEST:
The 2012 Children’s Arts Festival featuring Holst’s The Planets
Kim Allen Kluge, conductor
Sunday, May 20, 2:00 p.m.–4:00 p.m.; concerts at 2:30 p.m. and 3:30 p.m.
General Admission: $5. All persons regardless of age must have a ticket.
T.C. Williams High School
3330 King St.
Alexandria, VA, 22302
Call (703) 548-0885 or visit www.alexsym.org for tickets and information. Parking is free in the T.C. Williams garage.
One of Northern Virginia’s most active arts organizations, the Alexandria Symphony Orchestra was founded in 1954 and has established a reputation for thematic and inter-arts programming that features a mix of classical and contemporary music. The ASO’s move in 2001 to the critically acclaimed Schlesinger Center established its reach and reputation as one of the region’s leading arts institutions. Under the baton of Music Director Kim Allen Kluge, the Symphony has distinguished itself through powerful performances marked by poetry and vision.
