Orchestra planning hands-on evening

William Clarence Marshall will be the guest vocalist.

By GUY D’ASTOLFO

VINDICATOR ENTERTAINMENT WRITER

WARREN — Those who attend the Warren Philharmonic Orchestra’s next concert can meet the cats who make the music during an “instrumental petting zoo.”

The concert, entitled “Thanksgiving Special! A Family Feast,” will be conducted by Susan Davenny Wyner, music director of the WPO. She is the person behind the petting zoo idea.

“I think it is exciting for folks — grown-ups and children — to get up close to an orchestra,” she said. “Our ‘zoo’ invites folks to come up and meet the players, ‘pet’ the instruments, see how they work, and even to try to coax some sounds out of them. Squawks, grunts, squeaks, howls, growls, purrs and roars are welcomed.”

The experience might also increase concert-goers appreciation for the orchestra. “It is especially interesting after you have tried to play an instrument to watch the skill and teamwork involved when the pros do it,” said Wyner.

The “Instrumental petting zoo!” will take place during intermission of the concert, which will be Nov. 18 in Packard Music Hall.

Wyner noted that audiences who take in the WPO at Packard always get a unique view of the musicians. The orchestra plays on the floor of the hall, not the stage, with all seat looking down into the musicians.

Playing favorites

The Thanksgiving concert will feature guest vocalist William Clarence Marshall, a bass.

Marshall will sing favorite American songs and show tunes, including Gershwin’s “It Ain’t Necessarily So,” “I Got Plenty o Nuttin” and Jerome Kern’s “Ol’ Man River.” Marshall has appeared on Broadway, in Carnegie Hall, and on PBS’ “Great Performances.”

“The songs that [Marshall] will sing could only have been written in America — their texts and the flavor of jazz and swing are as American as Thanksgiving,” said Wyner.

The Philharmonic will open the concert with the festive “Crown Imperial Coronation March,” written by William Walton for the crowning of King George V. As the grand finale, the orchestra will bring to life Igor Stravinsky’s dramatic “Firebird Suite,” which tells the legend of a magic firebird, an evil ogre, a young prince and a captive princess.

“Stravinsky gets the most exciting colors out of the orchestra as he animates the Russian legend of the Firebird with its magic characters,” said Wyner. “What he does is truly spellbinding!”

As a special treat, the concert will also feature six young soloists from Warren’s Parkman Road Middle School, who will join the orchestra in “Toy Symphony,” which is by either Haydn or Leopold Mozart (Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s father). “This symphony has been an audience favorite for 250 years, but its real author still remains a mystery,” said Wyner.

She explained her motives in assembling the program.

“As I make programs, I always try to create surprises and story lines,” said Wyner. “In this concert, I love going from the grandness of the Walton march — with all the trumpets and drums — to the sweet silliness of the ‘Toy Symphony,’ which pits the strings against nightingales, quails, rattles and toys in the most delicious ways. It turns us all into children again.”