If you're down by the Pantages today, tomorrow and Thursday, you'll probably notice all the buses transporting thousands of schoolkids. They're downtown listening to the Tacoma Symphony's annual Simply Symphonic concerts.

So there's nothing particularly new about orchestras giving schools concerts, but the TSO's program is admirable in both academic reach and sheer size. Around 4,500 fifth-graders from 82 schools and 13 districts in the South Sound--up 12 per cent from last season--will hear the orchestra play Offenbach, Beethoven, Tchaikovsky, Bach and more this week. It's a program that recently won the TSO The 2009 Impact Award from The Nonprofit Center.

But as well as reaching so many kids, the orchestra's program does it in a way that both complements their school learning and gives them a taste for classical music. Classroom activities and a learning CD prepared by TSO conductor Harvey Felder link music to patterns and structure in math, architecture and poetry. Teachers also report that the classical concerts, which for many students are the only ones they've ever been to, also calm worries about deployed parents and uplift imaginations through the Pantages' beauty.

Says TSO executive director Andy Buelow: “These fifth grade students are among the most engaged audiences I’ve ever encountered. Nobody has told them yet what kinds of music they’re supposed to listen to and like, and they come...with open ears and minds.”

And all of this only costs each student $3: The rest of the $20 per-child cost is borne by sponsors and the TSO itself.

And if anyone thinks that classical music is for old folks over 35, think again. Here's what one student said from last year's concert:
"On our concert day I was really feeling kind of sad, but when I walked into the Pantages Theater, that frown turned upside down. The instruments looked strange to me. I’ve never seen some of them before. Mozart is my favorite composer and I loved the music that you played."

What's the next step? My suggestion is downloadable TSO tracks at www.tacomasymphony.org, and low-cost kids concerts open to the public, so parents can find out how cool it is too.

Up Country duo Kevin Neil and Ray Mann. Photo courtesy Tacoma Symphony.

The folks at Tacoma Symphony are expanding their POPS series. In January it was Andrew Lloyd Webber faves, and this weekend they're heading into Country, with a capital C. The orchestra will back the duo Up Country (guitarist Kevin Neil and bassist/drummer Ray Mann) in "Into the West," a program of greatest country hits: “Don’t Fence Me In,” “Hey, Good Lookin’," “I Can’t Help It (If I’m Still in Love With You),” “Ragtime Cowboy Joe,” “The Tennessee Waltz,” “Ghost Riders in the Sky" and more.

If you're thinking that symphonic and country don't exactly go together, think again. Composers from Copland to Rossini have either deliberately written for or been poached by the genre. On the TSO program for Sunday will be Rossini's "Overture to William Tell" (theme for "The Lone Ranger"), John Williams' "The Cowboys," Ferd Grofe's "On the Trail" from the Grand Canyon Suite, and the "Hoedown" from Copland's "Rodeo."

It's not only a first for the orchestra, it's a first for Up Country too. The duo has played gigs for 15 years on cruise ships up and down the Northwest, singing harmony and reciting cowboy poetry--but never before with a symphony orchestra. Neil has won awards for his song-writing, and has 35-year career spanning many genres. Mann has performed in many countries (including for Queen Elizabeth II and Presidents Carter and Reagan) and collaborated with artists like Larry Cordle, Chuck Seals, Bobby Braddock, and Otis Blackwell.

And just in case you're wondering how one guy can play bass and drums simultaneously, here's a quote from Mann:
"I was a drummer and a bassist before I got run over by a diesel truck 35 years ago and lost the use of my right arm for two years. During that time I learned to play electric bass with only my left hand (hammering-on.) After physical therapy, I got the arm back and started playing bass and drums at the same time. Sort of a lemons-to-lemonade story."

"Into the West" takes place 2:30 p.m. March 29 in the Pantages Theater, 901 Broadway, Tacoma. Tickets $10 to $75. 253-272-7264, www.tacomasymphony.org.

The San Francisco Symphony. Photo courtesy Seattle Symphony.

It takes a lot to convince me to drive up to Seattle through evening rush-hour traffic in the kind of fog we're getting these days, especially mid-week. But tonight and tomorrow night there's the kind of reason that would make me go up twice in a row if I had the time:
The San Francisco Symphony Orchestra.
They're playing Benaroya Hall tonight and tomorrow, and they're playing Brahms, Prokofiev and Tchaikovsky. But even if they were playing "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" I'd still go and hear them. They're one of the world's best bands, playing with a sound in which every instrument speaks uniquely. Bernard Holland, reviewing a Carnegie Hall concert last year, called their sound European (rather than brassy American), with "a glow and a weight that begin below the surface of the sound and expand upward and outward."
They also have the best attitude toward younger audiences that I've found--their "Metallica" CD is a great example--with a website that really walks the talk with audio and video.
Tonight they're playing Berg, Copland and Brahms 1; tomorrow it's Prokofiev's 5th concert (Garrick Ohlson) and Tchaikovsky 5, plus a piece by their superb conductor, Michael Tilson Thomas. It's part of the longest West Coast tour they've done yet.
Both shows start at 7:30 p.m. Benaroya Hall is on Second Avenue at Union and University Streets in downtown Seattle. Tickets: 1-866-833-4747, or www.seattlesymphony.org

The Seattle Symphony has reconsidered. Here's the latest:

Tonight’s Messiah Performance Cancelled

Seattle, WA – In the interest of safety, tonight’s 8:00pm performance of Handel's Messiah has been cancelled due to worsening weather conditions.

Ticketholders for tonight’s performance should call the Seattle Symphony Ticket Office at (206) 215-4747 on Monday, December 22, between 10:00am and 6:00pm.

I'm in the newsroom this afternoon, covering Snowpocalypse. Even an arts editor is pressed in to duty on days like this.

I was expecting the whole Puget Sound A&E scene to shut down this weekend but found this in my in box:

WEATHER ADVISORY

Seattle Symphony's Messiah Performances Will Continue As Planned

Seattle, WA – All performances of Handel's Messiah will be performed this weekend at Benaroya Hall, regardless of inclement weather. Concertgoers are urged to plan accordingly for possible traffic delays.

Performances of the perennial favorite, conducted by Music Director Gerard Schwarz and featuring distinguished soloists and the Seattle Symphony Chorale, will take place at 1:00pm and 8:00pm on Saturday, December 20; and 2:00pm on Sunday, December 21.

Tickets for Handel’s Messiah are still available through the Seattle Symphony Ticket Office at (206) 215-4747 and www.seattlesymphony.org . The Ticket Office phone lines will be open on Saturday, December 20, between 1:00pm and 6:00pm.

If you go to hear the Seattle Symphony at the Pantages this Friday, you won't just hear the Seattle Symphony. You'll also hear (and see) four outstanding young Pierce County musicians, playing with the world-class orchestra as part of their annual Gold Medalists program.

The SSO concert is an annual Tacoma visit, of course, presented by the Tacoma Philharmonic. It's a great way to hear this fantastic orchestra without the hassle of I-5, Seattle parking fees and whatnot. And they're playing a great program: Mozart's overture to "Don Giovanni," the Beethoven violin concerto and Dvorak Symphony no. 7, under conductor John Fiore and with violinist Stefan Jackiw.

But what makes it special is that every year there's always a few local kids on stage. The SSO's Gold Medalists program offers top-level high-school-age musicians the opportunity of rehearsals at Benaroya Hall, personal coaching from Seattle Symphony musicians and a concert performance with the orchestra, often in their home town. The students also get presented with a medal onstage before the concert. It's not only a chance to experience what a professional orchestra feels like, it's wonderful recognition for these kids who work so hard at their instruments.

The Gold Medalists to be featured in the Seattle Symphony’s concert in Tacoma on November 7 are all senoirs at local high schools: JohnMark Taylor, viola (Curtis), Grace Youn, violin (Curtis), Olivia Thomas, violin (Spanaway Lake) and Hayley Watt, violin (Tacoma School of the Arts.)

Concert begins at 7:30 p.m., Nov. 7 at the Pantages Theater, 901 Broadway, Tacoma. Tickets from $32.50, at 253-272-0809 or www.tacomaphilharmonic.org

Judging from Maestro Harvey Felder’s remarks during the Tacoma Symphony’s “Behind the Stands” concert Friday night, Tacoma must be full of people very frightened of chamber music.

It’s an odd assumption, considering Tacoma has a chamber orchestra, chamber music series, and numerous individual chamber groups playing the town. But Felder was talking to his symphony audience, who were filling the seats at the Tacoma Art Museum for an unusual start to the TSO season: a season preview concert of (shock, horror) chamber music.

As it turned out, his remarks weren’t necessary.

Eleven of the orchestra’s principal players took turns playing different combinations of instruments, playing with professional skill and totally non-frightening repertoire. The only thing lacking was some verve.

Oboist Selina Greso was first to shine in Mozart’s Oboe Quartet K. 370 (movt. 1.) Her sweet, if not penetrating, tone soared over strings who tiptoed lightly through the score, missing some opportunities for dynamic guts in the mostly cheerful music. More winds followed in Taffanel’s Quintet for Winds in G minor: excellent intonation and blending, though a slightly sluggish tempo and, again, zero drama.

With Tchaikovsky’s string sextet “Souvenir de Florence,” the mood picked up. This shimmering sleigh ride of a piece featured shining violin solos by concertmaster Svend Ronning, and tight and agile ensemble work in the fugue sections. The only difficulty was, as with many concerts here, the soaring, glass-walled lobby at TAM: a lot of sound is lost between podium and seats, and one is constantly wishing for more, especially in strings.

After intermission, Felder took over the easy, conversational introductions from the musicians and opened up a Q-and-A for the audience before conducting Schubert’s Octet in F major. Just why eight people need a conductor is unclear, and though Felder took the musicians through this joyful, rollicking piece with well-crafted style and assurance, there wasn’t a lot of the spontaneity you need with chamber music.

Finally, after Felder’s interminable introduction to Britten’s 1931 “Sinfonietta” (which he obviously thought his audience needed, it being one of the most recent works the TSO has performed lately,) the piece revealed some of the great solo playing the TSO is capable of. An exquisite duo between violinists Ronning and Sara Hancock, fluid flute from Mary Jensen and Greso’s rich oboe, then spunky viola from Thane Lewis in the final tarantella.

As the ensemble expanded, so did their confidence and sound. The thing about chamber music is that to achieve the same level of dramatic excitement as an orchestra, each musician has to work hard. Which is why it’s actually good for orchestras to learn to play this repertoire together—the problem comes when, despite beautiful playing, the extra work isn’t quite there.

Yet a pleasant enough evening was had by all. No-one seemed afraid of the chamber music, or—for that matter—the Britten. Maybe this will give the TSO confidence to leap into the 21st century. After all, where else than in classical music will something from the 1930’s be called, in Harvey Felder’s words, “modern”?

The Tacoma Symphony Orchestra opens its season with “A Night in Old Russia,” 7:30 p.m. Oct. 25. 253-272-7264, www.tacomasymphony.org.

If you're like me, you would have already checked out the latest at Tacoma Art Museum. TAM had its opening party splash for two new shows on the weekend, offering yummy Indian food and groovy Bollywood beats along with the Donald Fels Indian signboard art and 19th-century Orientalism from the Dahesh museum.

But guess what? You can see it all over again (and it's totally worth seeing, along with the new exhibit of Surrealist works from TAM's collection) this Friday night, when the Tacoma Symphony previews its season with a chamber music concert in the museum's cavernous lobby.

The program includes a Mozart oboe quartet, a Taffanel wind quintet, a Tchaikovsky string sextet ("Souvenir de Florence") and then--you guessed it--an octet, Schubert's F major one. (More musicians each piece, if you haven't already worked that out.) Finally the TSO folks will play Britten's "Sinfonietta."

Now, exactly how a concert featuring a third of the orchestra and consisting of music that won't be played during the main season constitutes a preview, I'm not sure. Ask conductor Harvey Felder (or another musician) over dessert and wine afterward.

The concert's at TAM because it's a nice small venue, intimate but still acoustically awesome. A pity the music doesn't remotely reflect what's in the galleries (how about some Satie, for the Surrealists, or some Orientalist Debussy for the Dahesh?) but you can't have everything, I guess.

"Behind the Stands" starts at 7:30 p.m. Sept. 26, at the Tacoma Art Museum, 1701 Pacific Ave, Tacoma. Tickets are $50, and include reception and gallery admission. 253-272-7264 or www.tacomasymphony.org.

As posted yesterday, Seattle Symphony music director Gerard Schwarz is stepping down, in three years' time.

Schwarz, 61, who's both much maligned (by musicians asserting favoritism) and beloved (by other musicians denying it), has been at the head of the orchestra since 1985, the longest-serving in that position at a major orchestra. After the 2011-12 season, he'll become the conductor laureate.

But the king's not yet dead. You can see Schwarz in all his glory conducting the SSO's opening weekend for the 2008-09 season this weekend. There's a preview concert Friday night at 7 p.m., a gala concert featuring opera greats Frederica von Stade and Samuel Ramey on Saturday night at 8 p.m., and a full day of FREE music in three venues.

Here are the details from the press release:

Join us in celebrating the 10th Anniversary of Benaroya Hall with a day of FREE performances and activities with Seattle Symphony, Soundbridge, Seattle Art Museum and The Triple Door. The celebration will happen in three locations: Benaroya Hall (10 a.m. to 6 p.m.), Seattle Art Museum (10 a.m. to 5 p.m.), The Triple Door (4 p.m. onward). Nearly 50 musical acts in a variety of genres will appear on multiple stages, including the S. Mark Taper Foundation Auditorium, Illsley Ball Nordstrom Recital Hall, Garden of Remembrance , Seattle Art Museum ’s South Hall and Knudson Family Room, Soundbridge and The Triple Door, plus children’s performances and activities.

Tickets/information: 206-215-4747 or see www.seattlesymphony.org.

Chambers Creek Central Meadow, University Place. Image courtesy Broadway Center for Performing Arts.

There's a new venue in town, and it's outdoors. The Chambers Creek Central Meadow, a 22-acre park and performance amphitheater located on the Chambers Creek Properties in University Place, opens this weekend with a concert on Saturday night and a community picnic on Sunday.

The concert's a big one: the Tacoma Symphony Orchestra with folksinger Judy Collins. Those of you who were around in the '60s might remember Collins' album "Wildflowers," with a Joni Mitchell song that got her into the Grammy Hall of Fame. In 1975 she was credited for winning Stephen Sondheim his Grammy for her rendition of "Send in the Clowns," and she sang for President Bill Clinton's first inauguration in 1983. This Saturday she'll sing with the Tacoma Symphony. The opening act is folk-rock singer/songwriter Jonatha Brooke, with some undiscovered Woody Guthrie numbers.

The event, aside from ushering in the latest step in the evolution from gravel pit to public park at the Pierce County-owned Chambers Creek, is a nice example of collaboration, with the Broadway Center for Performing Arts and Chambers Creek Foundation combining to organize an ongoing concert series benefitting both arts and environment.

The big downside is the parking: there is none. At least, there's parking for the $80 Gold Circle tickets, but they're now sold out. The general admission, still pretty hefty at $50, includes a shuttle ticket from nearby parking lots at Charles Wright and Curtis Junior and Senior High schools. You can bring chairs and a blanket, though high chairs will be moved to a separate area. You can also bring in food and non-alcoholic drinks; beer, wine and food will be for sale at the Meadow.

Gates open at 4 p.m., the concert starts at 6 p.m. Saturday Aug. 9. To buy tickets, visit www.broadwaycenter.org or call 253-591-5890. Parking lots are at Charles Wright Academy, 7723 Chambers Creek Rd. West; Curtis Junior High, 8901 40th St. W.; and Curtis Senior High, 8425 40th St. W., University Place.

As for the picnic, it's free, running from 11 a.m.-3 p.m. on Sunday Aug. 10. Food vendors will be there. Two entertainment stages include everything from bagpipes to string quartets to a magician and a steel drum band. Bring your own food, leashed dogs are welcome, and shuttles will run between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. from the school parking lots. Handicapped picnickers can park at the Pierce County Environmental Services building at 9850 64th St. W., and take an accessible shuttle from there. After the picnic, take a hike around the walking trail, or just admire the Fox Island/Puget Sound view.

For more information on the Meadow or picnic, visit www.piercecountywa.org/pc/abtus/ourorg/ccp/eventprograms.htm.

Many of us remember the dynamic Steve Bloom as the man who turned the struggling Tacoma Symphony Orchestra in the late '90s into the success it is today.

And some us might be surprised to know he's been executive director of the Portland Japanese Garden for the past three years. At least I was. The last I heard he was leading the Honolulu Symphony Orchestra.

And apparently he's still working his magic. Bloom was just awarded an International Affairs Fellowship in Japan. It's presented by the Council on Foreign Relations, a group focused on increasing America’s understanding of the world and contributing ideas to U.S. foreign policy.

Bloom will conduct research and establish relationships between Japan and the U.S. The goal is to increase the care and maintenance of the 200-plus Japanese gardens open to the public in North America. He'll also work on cultural and artistic programming and exchange within the gardens. He'll be in Japan from this November through May 2009.

Bloom came to Tacoma in 1996 and left in 2000. He is originally from Buffalo, N.Y., where he was general manager of the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra. Prior to Tacoma, he lived in Sacramento, where he was director of operations and personnel and staff conductor at the Sacramento Symphony.