NH Philharmonic brings Drawn to the Music back for 15th year
For 15 years the New Hampshire Philharmonic has worked with schools across the state, encouraging kids kindergarten through grade 5 to listen to classical music and draw something inspired by it.
“This year we had over 700 drawings from nine schools from all over the state,” said Toni DeGennaro, the executive director of the Philharmonic. “We get the drawings, pick 300 winners and have concerts … on Saturday and Sunday at 2 p.m., with each school represented on a certain day.”
Kids who were selected will get a chance to hear the music they listened to, Aaron Copland’s Appalachian Spring, and see the art they created projected on a screen over the orchestra. The artwork is divided evenly across the two performances, so 150 drawings will be featured each show.
Winners of the competition are invited to attend, as well as their parents or guardians and their art or music teacher who helped them with the project.
When it comes to the artwork, DeGennaro said she was impressed to see how creative the students were. Each year the kids are given a series of scenes they use to inspire the artwork. Since Appalachian Spring is a ballet, DeGennaro said, there were more options for scenes.
“We give them scenes, so they picked which ones they wanted to draw,” DeGennaro said. “There’s some of the bride, some of the duel for the bride…. Lots of brides and farmer pictures and it’s really cute.”
Drawn to the Music isn’t going to be the only competition where winners will celebrate, said conductor and music director Mark Latham. Evan Huang, a high school senior at Phillips Academy in Andover, Mass., will be performing Piano Concerto No. 2 by Frederic Chopin.
“It’s very romantic and full of various emotions; he plays it extraordinarily sensitively,” said Latham. “He deserved first place of the competition.”
Huang was the grand prize winner of Sempre Music Competition in 2022, a national competition in which students of all ages compete for a chance to solo with the New Hampshire Philharmonic, among other prizes.
While classical music can seem intimidating at first, Latham said his main goal with the Phil is to make it more accessible to every generation.
“Some think classical music is stuffy and my philosophy is try to make it a great time,” Latham said. “If [kids] want to jabber or applaud at the wrong time, if you let loose on how you feel about something, that’s excellent.”
After the concert, kids will be invited on stage for “touch an instrument,” the Phil’s take on touch-a-truck, to help expose young children to music and to make it more inspiring, DeGennaro said.
DeGennaro said that Drawn to Music is one of her favorite events, not only to see young people engaged with classical music but also because of the awe and excitement that she sees on kids’ faces.
“We are so kid-friendly, if kids are running around in the halls, that’s great. We’ll drown them out with the music,” DeGennaro said. “Just the sound of the 70-piece orchestra in that little concert hall is mesmerizing. It’s a great experience for them.”
Drawn to the Music
When: Saturday, April 15, and Sunday, April 16, at 2 p.m.
Where: Siefert Performing Arts Center, 44 Geremonty Drive, Salem
Price: Adults are $30, seniors are $25, students are $8, and students of Salem are $5
Visit: nhphil.org
Featured photo: Drawn to the Music projection 2018-2019. Courtesy photo.
