M E D I A  A D V I S O R Y

Gregory Smith’s The Orchestra Games
Union Bank & Trust LolliPops
Carpenter Theatre at Richmond CenterStage
Saturday, March 21 ­at 11:00 a.m.

March 10, 2015 – Richmond, Virginia Join us at the Carpenter Theatre at Richmond CenterStage on Saturday, March 21 at 11:00 a.m. for Gregory Smith’s The Orchestra Games. The Orchestra Games is not just another “get to know your instruments” concert. It explores the personalities of various instruments and introduces basic musical elements as it sprints through an Olympic array of events. The Orchestra Games will be narrated by Virginia Rep’s Alexander Sapp and begins with a ceremonial introduction of the players and then leads into musical events including the low note limbo, the fast note dash and the marathon. Grace Kim, winner of the Richmond Symphony Orchestra League’s 2015 Concerto Competition, will be featured as a soloist.

This concert is guaranteed fun for kids of all ages and will be led by Erin Freeman, Director of the Richmond Symphony Chorus & James Erb Choral Chair. Pre-concert festival activities begin at 10:00 a.m.

Tickets are $10 for children and $12 for adults online at richmondsymphony.com or 1.800.514 ETIX.

The LolliPops Series is sponsored by Union Bank & Trust.

Praise for LolliPops concerts from parents:

“My three-year old grandson was enchanted with the entire experience.”

“Love the participatory nature of the LolliPops series and the short concerts. Just right for kids!”

About Gregory Smith

The music of composer Gregory Smith covers a wide range of the musical world entertaining thousands every day and night at Disney theme parks while reaching millions on television networks throughout the world. Smith’s symphonic family/educational concert works are among the most performed in the genre.

The family/educational concert works of Gregory Smith have received over 800performances by more than 160 orchestras, often with Smith narrating. Orchestras such as the Atlanta, Baltimore, Bonn, Boston, Cincinnati, Minnesota, and Toronto symphonies and the Rochester and Hong Kong philharmonics have embraced Mr. Smith’s unique approach to family/educational concerts. More recently these works have found an international audience with numerous performances in the United Kingdom, China, South Korea, Germany, Australia and New Zealand. His newest work in this genre, The Animated Orchestra, was commissioned for the Cabrillo Music Festival’s 50th Anniversary and premiered in August 2012 with long-time Smith champion, Marin Alsop conducting. The Student Composer Project, pioneered by conductor Christopher Confessore and the Brevard Symphony, culminates in new works featuring themes by local school children. Most recently the project featured The Sarasota Orchestra resulting in the new work Tamiami Sinfonietta.

Smith enjoys a long association with the Walt Disney Company and has served as Composer and Arranger for numerous productions at all of the worldwide theme parks. His music for the nighttime spectaculars Wishes, Remember-Dreams Come True, and Magical continue to entertain and draw record crowds. In 2011 Smith collaborated with Disney Animation and Obscura Digital to re-score classic Disney animation for the World of Color Road Show. Using cutting edge technology, the animation was projected onto various landmark buildings including the Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles. He also contributed additional music to the World of Color nighttime spectacular at Disney California Adventure.

Recent broadcast credits include the creation of a new theme for CBS election/inauguration coverage and a new theme arrangement for the Encore Suspense channel. Also for CBS, he conducted and produced the re-recording of the original Star Trek theme for the show’s re-mastered 40th anniversary release. In the genre of sports music, Smith composed a new theme for The Tampa Bay Lightning NHL team. His theme music for college football on ESPN/ABC is completing its second decade of use. As a conductor, Smith has recorded with orchestras in London, San Francisco, Nashville and Seattle as well as numerous studio orchestras in New York, Los Angeles and Prague.

About Alexander Sapp

Alexander is a dedicated actor here in Richmond, Virginia. Alexander is currently performing in Virginia Rep’s production of Treasure Island. Other recent credits include Richard in The Lion in Winter (Henley Street Theatre/Richmond Shakespeare), Patrick in MAME (Virginia Rep), Buckingham in Richard III (Henley Street Theatre/Richmond Shakespeare), Alexander in The Complete Works of William Shakespeare Abridged (Henley Street Theatre/Richmond Shakespeare), Steve in Grace (TheatreLAB), Damis in Tartuffe (Virginia Rep), Stevie in Good People (Cadence Theatre), Sebastian in Twelfth Night (Sycamore Rouge), and Ray Dooley in The Beauty Queen of Leenane (Henley Street Theatre). He can be seen next in Cadence Theatre’s production of A Lie of the Mind.

Virginia Repertory Theatre presents national caliber productions of Broadway musicals, world classics, and contemporary new works. With four distinct venues and seasons, a touring company, and an annual audience of over 550,000, Virginia Rep is the one of the largest performing arts organizations in Central Virginia. The Signature Season is staged at the historic Broadway style Sara Belle and Neil November Theatre in heart of the arts district in downtown Richmond.  The Barksdale Season is staged at the historic Hanover Tavern on Route 301.  Virginia Rep’s Children’s Theatre is located at the newly renovated Shops at Willow Lawn where magical characters mesmerize even the youngest patrons from our intimate stage.

About Grace Kim

Grace Kim was born in Seoul, Korea and began playing the violin at the age of 3 through the Suzuki Violin Academy. She won first place at the Nanpa competition in Korea at the age of 5, and first place at the Music Education News competition a few years later. She switched to the viola when she was 10 years old. Since moving to the States, she has been principal of the Lynchburg Youth Symphony and is the current principal of the Richmond Symphony Youth Orchestra’s viola section. She was one of the winners of the RYSO concerto competition this year. She is currently a student of Esther Nahm, assistant principal violist of the Richmond Symphony. Grace is in ninth grade at Deep Run High School. Away from the viola, she enjoys playing the flute and piano.

About Erin Freeman

Hailed by the press as engaging, elegant, and entertaining, Erin Freeman continues as the Director of the Richmond Symphony Chorus, and in the fall of 2014 joined the faculty of VCUMusic as Director of Choral Activities, a newly created joint position co-sponsored by the Richmond Symphony.  This appointment comes on the heels of a successful seven years as the Richmond Symphony’s Associate Conductor, and will include overseeing all of the choral ensembles at VCU as well as vocal chamber music, and preparing the 150-voice Richmond Symphony Chorus for all of its performances.

She is also the newly appointed Artistic Director of Wintergreen Performing Arts, where she will lead artistic endeavors of the Wintergreen Summer Music Festival and the associated Wintergreen Summer Music Academy.

As Associate Conductor and Chorus Director of the Richmond Symphony from 2007-2014, Freeman conducted subscription concerts, led the Pops and Lollipops Series, spearheaded the Symphony’s education initiatives, including its four youth orchestras, and directed the 150-voice symphony chorus. She collaborated with soloists such as Jamie Bernstein, Elena Uriosti, Arturo Sandoval, Marietta Simpson, Joseph Conyers, Patti Austin, and Maureen McGovern, and in 2012, Freeman prepared the Richmond Symphony Chorus for an historic performance and recording of Mahler Symphony No. 8 with the Virginia Symphony, under the direction of JoAnn Falletta.

A frequent guest conductor throughout the country, Freeman maintains an association with the Buffalo Philharmonic Chorus, for whom she has served as Music Director, and with the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra, where she has been a frequent guest conductor. This year, she will conduct the BPO and BPC in their popular Classical Christmas program. She has also been a Guest Conductor for the South Carolina Philharmonic, the Savannah Symphony, the Richmond Ballet, and other ensembles in Maryland, Virginia, Georgia, Missouri, and Illinois. And, in summer 2015, she will conduct Dvorak’s Stabat Mater at the Berkshire Choral Festival.

Passionate about making classical music accessible to all, Freeman has led programs from the Richmond Symphony’s ground breaking Come and Play, resulting in a community orchestra of over 650, to Celebrity Maestro, for which she taught conducting lessons to such notables as Miss America Caressa Cameron and Richmond Mayor Dwight Jones. She has served as Director of Orchestras at Baltimore School for the Arts and American University, Conductor at Northwestern University’s National High School Music Institute, Lecturer for the National Philharmonic and Baltimore Symphony, Music Director of the Richmond Philharmonic, and Resident Conductor at Peabody Conservatory. She has instructed national seminars for the Conductor’s Guild, and serves on their board of directors as Vice President.

Winner of numerous awards, including the Women’s Philharmonic Conducting Scholarship, Freeman was selected by Virginia Lawyer’s Weekly as one of Virginia’s 50 most influential women. With degrees from Northwestern University, Boston University, and Peabody Conservatory, she has studied and performed in masterclasses with Gustav Meier, Victor Yampolsky, Markand Thakar, Helmuth Rilling, Murry Sidlin, and Robert Shaw.

About the Richmond Symphony

Founded in 1957, the Richmond Symphony is the largest performing arts organization in Central Virginia. The organization includes an orchestra of more than 70 professional musicians, the 150-voice Richmond Symphony Chorus and more than 260 students in the Richmond Symphony Youth Orchestra programs. Each season, more than 200,000 members of the community enjoy concerts, radio broadcasts, and educational outreach programs. The Richmond Symphony is partially funded by the Virginia Commission for the Arts and the National Endowment for the Arts.