Sounds Like an Orchestra

This family concert by the QSO asks young audiences to hear the difference between instruments, and to witness the magic that music can make in their imaginative landscapes. World-renowned and award-winning Scottish composer, educator and presenter, Paul Rissmann, guides the audience to appreciate the power of the orchestra, with the help of vocalist Ashleigh Denning (also an educator). The conductor is Jen Winley, a percussionist, teacher, and conductor of the WA Youth Orchestra. The 40-minute program is an inspiring and mature mix featuring: Dance from Othello Suite (Coleridge-Taylor); Hungarian Dances No.5 (Brahms – arr. Parlow); Dance of the Paper Umbrellas (Kats-Chernin); Flight of the Bumblebee from Tale of the Tsar Saltan (Rimsky-Korsakov); Leon and the Place Between (Rissmann); and Main Title from Star Wars (Williams).

My young friend, 10-year-old Clara Sutherland, is right in the target zone for this show, and had this to say about the performance…

“The show was fun, and I really enjoyed it. When we got into the theatre, the musicians were already on stage. There were lots of different instruments, and all the musicians had different coloured shirts on, depending on what instrument they played, so it was easy to see where all the instruments were, in their groups. The presenter (Paul Rissmann, pictured right) was very funny and asked the audience lots of questions about the instruments and about music. It was very interactive. Lots of kids knew the correct answers to call out and everyone was enthusiastic about participating. He also talked about the songs before the orchestra played them, so the songs made more sense when we heard them. We were introduced to Jen, the conductor of the QSO, and Paul talked about how she is responsible for setting the tempo and dynamics of the music.

“My favourite song was Flight of the Bumblebee. It really sounded like a bumblebee! We were told that usually an orchestra finishes the song in 1 minute 19 seconds, but the QSO finished it today in 1:15! (They had a big timer on a screen above the orchestra.) The screen also showed the songs that were being played and who wrote them, which was interesting. The story, Leon and the Place Between, was read out to us with music and illustrations, and a vocalist, Ashleigh Denning (pictured left). We were encouraged to sing along to the story about believing in magic, and a world where all the things that magicians make disappear go to while they’re waiting to go back to the real world. This part was great, and everyone seemed to really enjoy the story and getting to sing along.

“The last song the orchestra played was the theme from Star Wars. What a treat to hear the orchestra play this one! It was great to watch in real life a song that I knew from the movie!”

Find out more about QSO Connect education concerts for 2025: qso.com.au/education/events#discover

Beth Keehn & Clara Sutherland

Photo Credit: QPAC, QSO and Paul Rissman