About the concert

Welcome to ChiFen Music Studio 2016 Spring recital, The Carnival of the Animals. The theme of this concert is designed to celebrate the amazing variety of the animal world and the many ways that animals enrich our lives and bring companionship and enjoyment. This concert also reminds us how deeply connected we are to the world of nature and how we must learn to respect and cherish the created world. As the opening song reminds us, you can own the Earth still all you'll own is earth, until you can paint with all the colors of the wind". My hope is that my students will experience how music can engage their imagination and connect them to the larger world of art, culture and humanity. Without this experience of the true heart of music, the achievement of technical skill has very little meaning.

The second half of the program features arrangement s of a number of movements from the world-famous Carnival of the Animals written by the French composer Camille Saint-Saens in 1886. This work was in 14 movements and was originally written for two pianos and nine other instruments. It has become an extremely popular piece with children everywhere in its humorous and colorful depictions of the animal world and even one movement imitating young piano students practicing scales. It is often performed with poetry introducing each movement.

In our three choir songs, imagine our children going off on a field strip and getting lost in the woods. They hear a forest drum calling them to follow its sounds. As they come out of the forest they meet a magical dragon named Puff and his friend Jackie Papers. The dragon takes them on his enormous back to an enchanted land where they encounter all the animals who teach them the way to F live a happy and fulfilled life.