On October 27 the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra debuted their sixth season of BPO Kids with the annual Spooktacular Halloween concert.
The festive and magical afternoon began with activities in the Mary Seaton room and costumed characters in the lobby greeting children and posing for photos.
The annual Halooween event featured Kleinhans staff, ushers, and even the BPO attires in a myriad of costumes. BPO conductor Ian Passmore came dressed as a football referee, complete with yellow penalty flag in his back pocket.
Playing before a full house of concert goers, many attired in costumes of their own, the BPO opened with music from the Harry Potter films with “Hedwig’s Flight” and “Harry’s Wondrous World” from “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone”.
Taking into account the shorter attention spans of the wee ones, the BPO Kids programs are much shorter than the normal BPO concerts. The program ended with a performance of “The Conductor’s Spellbook” with BPO conductor Jaman Dunn as the official storyteller.
The Conductor’s Spellbook” is a story with elements from “Peter and the Wolf” and “The Young People’s Guide to the Orchestra”. The boy in this tale is name Tony Stradivarius and as young boys are want todo he stows away in the music hall until everyone is gone and beholds a spectacle when the instruments come to life. After discovering the “Conductor’s Spellbook”, young Tony attempts to conduct the orchestra as the storyteller describes the instruments and their “special power”.
Jaman’s storytelling was augmented by music from the orchestra and pictures up on the video board.
Audience members were given a “baton” upon entering the auditorium and were invited to help Tony in his conducting ventures.
With his deep resonating voice (a la James Earl Jones) Jaman Dunn was well suited to tell the story.
The afternoon’s festivities concluded with the traditional “Funeral March of the Marionette” as the children marched across the stage in their costumes as proud parents took photos. Each year the parade of costumes grows and it took over 15 minutes for everyone to make their way across the stage.