PSO Youth Concert Features USM Student Soloist

PORTLAND SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA PRESENTS "A YOUNG PERSON'S GUIDE TO THE ORCHESTRA" YOUTH CONCERT, OCTOBER 27 AND 28

PORTLAND, Maine- For the first Portland Symphony Orchestra (PSO) Youth Concert of the 2008-09 season, Music Director Robert Moody conducts "A Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra" on Monday and Tuesday, October 27-28 at Merrill Auditorium, 20 Myrtle Street in Portland.

A Young Person's Guide is designed to teach kids about all of the parts of the orchestra, including the woodwinds, brass, strings and percussion, and allows them to hear the instruments separately and as part of the whole. The program is not only enthralling, but a fun, family-friendly introduction to the symphony. This engaging program will include flugelhorn soloist Micah Maurio, USM student and winner of the first Martha Blood Concerto Competition. The concert opens with excerpts from A Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra by Benjamin Britten, and will also feature Tchaikovsky's Serenade in C Major for Strings, John Williams' Nimbus 2000 for Winds (from Harry Potter) and other pieces.

Youth Concerts introduce students ages 8 to 13 to the full symphony orchestra. Students experience richly diverse styles of music while learning about the elements of orchestral music and the instruments that perform it. PSO provides participating schools with lesson plans, activities, and recordings of the music to help prepare the students. For more information about the Youth Concerts or to make reservations, visit www.portlandsymphony.com.

Youth Concerts are sponsored by Unum. Time Warner Cable is the media sponsor for PSO education programs, and IDEXX Laboratories is the 2008-2009 season sponsor.

Tickets are $5 per person (adult or child), $4 per person for groups of 25. For more information, contact the Portland Symphony Orchestra Education Office at (207) 773-6128 or education@portlandsymphony.com.

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PSO Youth Concert: "A Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra," Full Schedule:

¬… October 27, 2008 ’Äî 9:30 a.m. and 11:00 a.m. Merrill Auditorium

¬… October 28, 2008 ’Äî 9:30 a.m. and 11:00 a.m.* Merrill Auditorium

* Sold out.