UPDATE: This giveaway is now closed.
One of the fun things about homeschooling is when different subjects overlap in surprising ways. This is happening now with a recent visit to the San Antonio Museum of Art and an upcoming event at the San Antonio Symphony.
Ever since last year’s birthday date night (earlier post), when I learned about the Symphony’s DISCOVER series concerts, I’ve been looking forward to attending one with my kids. The next concert, DISCOVER “New World” Symphony (part of the Dvořák Festival), is at 3:00 p.m. on Sunday, February 9, 2014 at the Majestic Theatre. The Symphony gave me four tickets for my family and another four tickets for me to give away to my readers. To enter the giveaway, leave a comment, no later than Wednesday, February 5, sharing an example of an interaction between a work of visual art and a piece of music. I will randomly choose a winner and send an email on February 6.
The DISCOVER series concerts are designed to introduce classical music to new audiences. A large video screen hangs above the orchestra, showing close-ups of the conductor and the musicians. Music Director Sebastian Lang-Lessing will give an introduction to the program, including musical excerpts, and then lead a performance of the complete work. To buy tickets in advance, order online at sasymphony.org, call the Symphony box office at (210) 554-1010, or go through Ticketmaster.
I recently bought a CD of Antonin Dvořák’s Symphony No. 9 in E minor, “From the New World” (1893), so that my kids and I can listen to the music and get more familiar with it before the concert. I had not listened to the piece for a while, but it seemed familiar again right away. The first movement reminds me of 19th-century landscape paintings by artists like Albert Bierstadt, who were seemingly overwhelmed by their encounters with the jagged mountains, towering forests, and wide open spaces of the New World.
This is where the serendipity comes in. A few weeks ago, my kids and I went to a SAMA Playdate about trees. SAMA Playdates start at 10 a.m. Wednesdays in the Great Hall, and involve a craft, a gallery tour, sometimes also story time or music performance, and another craft—all related to the same theme, which changes every week. They are designed for ages 2-4, but F.T. (age 6) is always challenged and engaged.
F.T. with a Bierstadt landscape at the San Antonio Museum of Art
The playdate involved a craft project—pictured above—to use brown construction paper, green tissue paper, and acrylic sealer to make a collage of a tree. (I tried to help F.T. with the acrylic, but he got mad. I learned my lesson. His independence makes me proud.) Then, we visited the American gallery to see “Passing Storm over the Sierra Nevadas” (1870) by Albert Bierstadt. Also, Melody Rose Mollis Lindquist read out loud from her book, “Oak Tree”, about an old tree teaching a young tree how to grow. The playdate finished with another project, painting a tree in acrylics on canvas—G.N. loved that part.
Melody Rose Mollis Lundquist reading “Oak Tree” at the San Antonio Museum of Art
Will F.T. make the connection, like I did, between the Bierstadt painting and the Dvořák symphony? Not sure. But I can expose him to all this good stuff, and hopefully he will have the tools to make the connections when he is ready. F.T. is a quiet guy, but sometimes he surprises us all. One day, on a playdate at the McNay Art Museum with my friend Veronica Rouse (of Seven Lovely Things) and our kiddos, we stopped to look at a Calder mobile. I asked F.T. what it looked like, and he said, “Flight.”
Some notes for your calendar: The Symphony is planning one more DISCOVER concert this season, DISCOVER Schubert “The Great”, on May 11, 2014 at the Majestic Theatre. Also, the Symphony also has one more Family Concert planned, Peter and the Wolf, April 13, 2014, at Laurie Auditorium.
If you’d like to read more about our Symphony adventures this season, here’s an earlier post about the Holiday Magic family concert with the Symphony and the San Antonio Mastersingers, an earlier post about “The Nutcracker” with the Symphony and Ballet San Antonio (and F.T.’s review), and an earlier post about the Halloween Spooktacular family concert.
To enter the giveaway for four tickets to DISCOVER “New World” Symphony on Sunday, February 9, leave a comment, no later than February 5, sharing an example of a work of art and a piece of music that are related in your mind. I will randomly choose a winner and send notice on February 6. Good luck!
Disclosure: The San Antonio Symphony gave me four free tickets to give away, and another four tickets for my family and me to use.
