Learning Objectives

• Understand how companies use working rehearsals to transition from rehearsal to being ready for a big performance.
• Explore how music from a solo artist or band is adapted to be played by an orchestra.
• Learn how our brains receive and respond to music.
• Examine the building blocks of music in order to create a new work.

Education Standards Alignment

• Mu: Cr1: Generate and conceptualize artistic ideas and work.
• Mu: Re7: Perceive and analyze artistic work.
• Mu: Cn11: Relate artistic ideas and works with societal, cultural, and historical context to deepen understanding.

Common Core Standards

• CCSS.ELA-Literacy.SL.9-10.1c: Initiate and participate effectively in a range of collaborative discussions (one-on-one, in groups, and teacher-led) with diverse partners on grades 9–10 topics, texts, and issues, building on others’ ideas and expressing their own clearly and persuasively.
• Propel conversations by posing and responding to questions that relate the current discussion to broader themes or larger ideas; actively incorporate others into the discussion; and clarify, verify, or challenge ideas and conclusions.
• CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RST.9-10.2: Determine the central ideas or conclusions of a text; trace the text's explanation or depiction of a complex process, phenomenon, or concept; provide an accurate summary of the text.

(Social and Emotional Learning)

• Relationship Skills: The abilities to establish and maintain healthy and supportive relationships and to effectively navigate settings with diverse individuals and groups. This includes the capacities to communicate clearly, listen actively, cooperate, work collaboratively to problem solve and negotiate conflict constructively, navigate settings with differing social and cultural demands and opportunities, provide leadership, and seek or offer help when needed.
  • Practicing teamwork and collaborative problem-solving
• Responsible Decision-Making: The abilities to make caring and constructive choices about personal behavior and social interactions across diverse situations. This includes the capacities to consider ethical standards and safety concerns, and to evaluate the benefits and consequences of various actions for personal, social, and collective well-being.
  • Demonstrating curiosity and open-mindedness
  • Learning how to make a reasoned judgment after analyzing information, data, and facts

What to Expect

Performance

• The estimated duration of the rehearsal is two hours and 30 minutes with one 20-minute break. A 30-minute Q&A session will immediately follow the rehearsal.
• During the rehearsal, the music may be played through. But sometimes, the conductor may start and stop the music to work on any number of issues.

Performers

• The National Symphony Orchestra (NSO) is made up of 96 musicians who perform around 150 concerts each year.
• Singer-songwriter Cody Fry performs with the NSO.
• Two additional music groups perform with the NSO and Cody Fry. LANY (lay-nee) is a pop-rock group of two musicians who sing and play the guitar and drums. Sleeping At Last is a one-man band of a singer-songwriter, producer, and composer.

Sound

• Sometimes, the music is soft and slow. And sometimes, the music is loud and exuberant.
• Sometimes, all the instruments of the orchestra play at the same time. And sometimes, a single instrument or a few instruments play while the others are silent.

Lighting

• Sometimes, there is general concert stage lighting. Other times, there is dramatic lighting that uses color and movement across the stage and the Concert Hall to set different moods.

Audience Interaction

• There will be a 30-minute Q&A session with Cody Fry and NSO Principal Pops Conductor Steven Reineke after the rehearsal. Audience members can choose to leave or participate if they want.

What to Bring

• Please bring any tools that will help make the experience comfortable for you! Some suggestions are: noise-canceling headphones, sunglasses or visors, fidgets, and communication devices.

Resources

• Visit the Kennedy Center Concert Hall webpage to learn more about the performance space where the rehearsal will happen.

Look and Listen for

Before you watch the performance, check out this list of important moments and ideas:

• Attending a working rehearsal is different from attending a typical performance. During a rehearsal, the conductor, soloists, and orchestra work together to practice and perfect the music for an upcoming performance. This is an exciting time to be an audience member as you get a behind-the-scenes peek at the NSO—and see what it’s like to prepare a concert from start to finish.
• Orchestral music is work performed by a full orchestra, which involves brass, woodwinds, strings, and percussion. One hears orchestral music in concert halls and also in film scores, popular music, and even video games. For the rehearsal, you’ll likely hear selections from all of the pieces the orchestra plans to play at the concert; but unlike a concert, the selections won’t necessarily be played in order or from beginning to end.
• You might notice that during the rehearsal, the conductor pauses to give instructions, speak to an instrument section or soloist, or even repeat part of the music. The conductor may give portions of a piece more attention than others, even leaving some portions out completely. That’s because, though there’s an audience, a working rehearsal isn’t really a performance, but a practice. So, they may even leave out sections of already-perfected pieces entirely as the orchestra works together toward their goal of becoming performance-ready.
• During this rehearsal, you may see the three sets of featured artists performing with the NSO on their own and all together at times. For instance, Cody Fry may perform some music with the NSO alone, some music with Sleeping At Last and the NSO, and some with LANY and the NSO. Notice the changes that happen to how the stage is set and which instruments are on stage with each musical act. Since the artists are preparing for a concert that evening, you may notice that they don’t sing at full voice during the rehearsal to preserve their voice for the concert.
• After the rehearsal, the NSO Principal Pops conductor, Steven Reineke, and the solo artist, Cody Fry, will do a question-and-answer (“Q&A”) session for the audience. You might want to ask something based on your curiosity about a piece of music or instrument from the rehearsal, if you want to learn about the artists’ paths to music, or if there’s anything else that relates to the concert or the National Symphony Orchestra.

Think About

After you’ve experienced the performance, consider these questions:

• How does the rest of the orchestra support the soloists? How does the conductor bring the sounds of the individual artists (and their different combinations playing with each other) and the full group (with the orchestra) together?
• How does the live concert or rehearsal experience differ from listening to the recordings of the artists featured in this program?
• Cody Fry orchestrated the music performed, which means he took his own music and the music of Sleeping At Last and LANY and wrote out what each instrument within the orchestra plays of each song. The goal of an orchestration is to adapt a piece written for a few instruments and expand it to be played by a full orchestra without losing any of the main melodic, rhythmic, and tonal qualities of the original piece. Why would an artist choose to adapt their music to be played by an orchestra? Does your impression and enjoyment of the music change in any way?
• This rehearsal is in preparation for a Pops concert. A Pops orchestral concert simply means that the music being played is from the popular or Pops music genre. The NSO uses this term more broadly to mean anything that isn’t generally considered classical. A Pops concert could include Broadway music, music from the American Songbook, music from films, and music by a contemporary artist. What type of music do you think could be performed in an NSO Pops concert? Do you think there should be a differentiation between classical concerts and Pops concerts? Is Pops the right word to describe the music on these concerts? You can see the full season of NSO concerts to learn how all the concerts are classified.

Symphonic Sounds of Cody Fry

Visit Cody Fry’s website . Musicians and aspiring musicians can access sheet music to his songs. Note that there is a fee for the majority of offerings.

Orchestra 101

The Guide to the Orchestra is a handy reference on everything to know about orchestras, their music, and their instruments.

Take a Video Tour of the Kennedy Center

Before you visit, watch this video from the Kennedy Center Education archives featuring former NSO Associate Conductor Emil de Cou to learn more about the Concert Hall, the space you’ll be in for the rehearsal.

More Cody Fry and the NSO

This program is the second collaboration between Cody Fry and the NSO. Check out these performances from 2022 and 2023.

• “Photograph” Cody Fry and the NSO
• “Brand New” Ben Rector with Cody Fry and the NSO

From Your Playlist to the Concert Hall

At this rehearsal, you heard Cody Fry and Sleeping At Last’s Grammy®-nominated work “The Sound of Silence,” originally written and recorded by the American folk/rock duo Simon and Garfunkel in 1964. Is there a song you listen to that you think would be great as an orchestral piece? Break down the parts of the song by melody, rhythm, and harmony. Now, decide which instruments will play what. Which instruments do you think will sound good on the melody? Which instruments might be best suited to play the rhythm and beat? Which instruments will harmonize well with the instruments playing the melody? In the Guide to the Orchestra, you can learn more about each instrument and their qualities to help you decide. If you need more inspiration, listen to Simon and Garfunkel’s recording of “The Sound of Silence,” followed by Cody Fry and Sleeping At Last’s version. Can you identify some of the decisions made in the newer version of the song?

Let the Music Move You

Go deep into the science behind the reasons that music affects our moods and motivations. Explore our resource “Your Brain on Music: The Sound System Between Your Ears” to learn how music travels from our ears to our brain, and which parts of the brain respond to music—leading to many results, including emotional reactions. Complete the activities to test your knowledge. Is there a type of music, a song, or an artist that helps you throughout your day? Is there a song you sing to remember a definition, a list of information, or specific names? This is music and your brain at work!

Kennedy Center Education

The Vice President of Education is generously endowed by the

Generous support for educational programs at the Kennedy Center is provided by the U.S. Department of Education.

Gifts and grants to educational programs at the Kennedy Center are provided by The Paul M. Angell Family Foundation; Bank of America; Capital One; The Morris and Gwendolyn Cafritz Foundation; Carnegie Corporation of New York; The Ednah Root Foundation; Harman Family Foundation; William R. Kenan, Jr. Charitable Trust; the Kimsey Endowment; The Kiplinger Foundation; Laird Norton Family Foundation; Lois and Richard England Family Foundation; Dr. Gary Mather and Ms. Christina Co Mather; The Markow Totevy Foundation; Dr. Gerald and Paula McNichols Foundation; The Morningstar Foundation; Myra and Leura Younker Endowment Fund; The Irene Pollin Audience Development and Community Engagement Initiatives;

Prince Charitable Trusts; Dr. Deborah Rose and Dr. Jan A. J. Stolwijk; Rosemary Kennedy Education Fund; The Embassy of the United Arab Emirates; The Victory Foundation; The Volgenau Foundation; Volkswagen Group of America; Jackie Washington; GRoW @ Annenberg and Gregory Annenberg Weingarten and Family; Wells Fargo; and generous contributors to the Abe Fortas Memorial Fund and by a major gift to the fund from the late Carolyn E. Agger, widow of Abe Fortas. Additional support is provided by the National Committee for the Performing Arts..

The content of these programs may have been developed under a grant from the U.S. Department of Education but does not necessarily represent the policy of the U.S. Department of Education. You should not assume endorsement by the federal government.