By Casey, age 9
Mayo Elementary School, Edgewater, Md.
My name is Casey and I am 9 years old. I attend Mayo Elementary and am in fourth grade. I like origami and Yu-gi-oh.
I went and saw “Tchaikovsky Discovers America” at the Maryland Hall for Creative Arts. The Annapolis Symphony Orchestra performed the music with Jose-Luis Novo as the conductor.
The story is about the great composer Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky, who visits America in 1891 for the opening of Carnegie Hall in New York, where he is supposed to conduct. He gets mad because the hall isn’t finished yet and there is lots of noise during rehearsals. He is also tired of the reporters following him and asking silly questions.
Tchaikovsky decides to go on a vacation to Niagara Falls. He meets a girl on the train who is the daughter of a person he knows. Tchaikovsky helps her learn about the meaning of music and what it is about. He shows how music can be found inside of food and fairy tales.
They do lots of dancing and ballet moves. The girl tells him that she is scared because her dad wants to move back to Russia. He tells her that he is often scared when he conducts.
They arrive at Niagara Falls and hear a chorus of people singing to God. The girl tells Tchaikovsky that he should think of music and happy thoughts when he gets scared conducting.
When they get back to Carnegie Hall, Tchaikovsky starts to conduct the concert but then gets scared. The girl runs out and tells him to think happy thoughts, that he can do it. At the end the girl tells him that her dad has decided not to return to Russia. She then says goodbye to Tchaikovsky as he boards a ship back to Russia.
During the performance, the two main characters acted out the scenes on the front of the stage. The orchestra sat behind them, and you could see the violins, piano and cellos really well. They were able to play fast and had quick fingers. They also did a lot of plucking during the songs.
After the show, you could go down and meet some of the musicians. I met a violin player and he played the “Star Wars” theme song for us.
My favorite part is when they play the music for the fireworks. I also liked it when the reporters came out and they played the fast music. I would give this show four stars.
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WHAT: “Tchaikovsky Discovers America”
WHERE: Maryland Hall for Creative Arts, 801 Chase St., Annapolis
WHEN: Jan. 12
INFORMATION: mdhallarts.org, 410/280-5640
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