Inspiring the Next Generation:
BVSO’s Annual Children’s Concert
Information courtesy of | Brazos Valley Symphony Orchestra
Every year, the Brazos Valley Symphony Orchestra offers 4th and 5th grade students an unparalleled experience at its Annual Children’s Concerts. On Monday, January 27, 2025, over 2,000 children from the Brazos Valley and other areas came out to see this year’s sold-out performance at Rudder Auditorium on the Texas A&M University campus. The students and their teacher chaperones were from both public and private institutions and thus provided a diverse and enriching experience for young audiences.
Music Director and Conductor Marcelo Bussiki, and the BVSO musicians ensured that a captivating performance was delivered for the students for about fifty minutes—just the right time to keep the attention of the enthusiastic young audience. With this year’s program, the Symphony emphasized its efforts in advocating for musical arts and education for cultural and educational reasons, as supported by studies showing the positive impact of music on a child’s learning.
Some of the highlights of the program were:
The first movement of Camille Saint-Saëns’ Violin Concerto No. 3, performed by Cynthia Kuo-Lo, the 2024 winner of the Brazos Valley Youth Concerto Competition.
A real treat was a guest student conductor picked from the audience to conduct Leroy Anderson’s playful “Plink, Plank, Plunk!”
Cirque de la Symphonie, who entertained the audience with breathtaking aerial acrobatics, juggling, and other dazzling visuals, in a show stopping performance choreographed to live orchestral music. The collaboration between the BVSO and Cirque de la Symphonie was an incredible experience for everyone and left a mark on all who attended.
It was a seamless event organized by FASO (Friends Association of the Symphony Orchestra) which made sure that the concert went as planned. From providing teachers with curriculum materials and interactive educational packets to offering on site support for musicians and volunteers, FASO was an essential part of this educational outreach made real. The teachers received the curriculum materials, including live links to online music and videos, which helped the students to learn and gain insights into orchestral music and how it works before the actual performance.
The BVSO is deeply thankful for the support of sponsors such as Blue Bell Creameries, the Brazos Valley Council of Governments, the Brazos Valley Affordable Housing Corporation, and the Brazos Valley Community Action Programs. The Symphony Ambassadors and many FASO volunteers also gave a great deal of help in ensuring the success of the program.
The concert was a private event and was only for schools and groups with previous reservations. Through its live orchestral music performances, the BVSO is passing on the baton to the new generation of musicians and music enthusiasts. With one more successful Children’s Concert under its belt, the BVSO is ready to carry on this tradition and enlighten many more young minds in the future.
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About the BVSO: The Brazos Valley Symphony Orchestra is a non-profit performing arts organization with the mission to maintain a symphony of high artistic standards, and to promote the musical arts for cultural and educational purposes in the Brazos Valley. For more information about the Symphony’s 2023-2024 Season, please visit the Brazos Valley Symphony Website at www.bvso.org.
The Brazos Valley Symphony Society wishes to recognize and thank our programming sponsors, grant funding providers, and charitable trust contributors:
The Clearfield Family, Eugene Edge III Charitable Trust, The Ham Family Trust, Gilbert & Thyra Plass Charitable Trust, Plass Arts Foundation, Union Pacific, The Rea Charitable Trust, the Nina Astin Winkler Charitable Trust, and Paul and Lenora Terry Jr Foundation
This program made possible in part through Hotel Tax Revenue funded from the City of College Station through The Arts Center. This project is also supported in part by an award from the National Endowment for the Arts.