As part of their music curriculum, Middle School students attended “Rule No. 1: Always Take the Scenic Route” at the Boston Symphony Orchestra — performed by the BSO and conducted by the Germeshausen Youth and Family Concerts Conductor Thomas Wilkins.
“All of the Middle School either plays an instrument in the orchestra or sings in the choir, so the field trip was on a topic that every middle school student is learning.”
— Director of Middle School Tiffany Marsh
The show was about how we are now living in an instant age and things can happen so quickly that we forget that life is as much about the journey as it is about the destination. According to the BSO, “This program demonstrates the many ways composers use music and the voice of the orchestra to remind us that in addition to things we want to achieve, there are also many things we need to observe and behold.”
The concert was comprised of seven pieces, and the conductor introduced each piece by teaching the students how a composer uses music to portray an idea, how there is meaning behind each song, and how the composers expressed their ideas technically in each pieces.
The songs performed were:
- Procession of the Nobles, from Mlada by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov
- Sunrise, from Grand Canyon Suite by Ferde Grofé
- Four Sea Interludes: Storm, from Peter Grimes by Benjamin Britten
- Overture to William Tell by ROSSINI
- Nimrod, from the Enigma Variations by Edward Elgar
- Ra! by David Duzubay, who was at the concert and introduced his own piece.
- Pines of the Appian Way, from Pines of Rome by Ottorino Respighi