Learning Objectives

• Identify the four sections of the orchestra and describe how the instruments in these sections look and sound.
• Understand how instruments are made to produce sound
• Explore how the instruments and sections, despite their contrasting features, come together to create unity in sound.
• Make connections between the visual projections in Philharmonia Fantastique and the music to discover how pictures and sound work together to create understanding.

Education Standards Alignment

• MU: Cr1: Generate and conceptualize artistic ideas and work.
• MU: Re7: Perceive and analyze artistic work.
• MU: Cn11: Synthesize and relate knowledge and personal experiences to make art.

Common Core Standards

• CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.3-6.2: Determine central ideas or themes of a text and analyze their development; summarize the key supporting details and ideas.
• CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.3-6.4: Present information, findings, and supporting evidence such that listeners can follow the line of reasoning and the organization, development, and style are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience.

(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)

Click to see notes for teachers & grownups about Philharmonia FantastiqueClick to hide additional notes

What to Expect

Performance

• This performance features the National Symphony Orchestra (NSO), animation, and a magical animated character named Sprite.
• The concert includes six music pieces. The first five pieces are performed by members of the NSO and feature different sections of the orchestra.

Performers

• Violinist Marissa Regni is the host who helps guide the concert. The host changes her costume slightly during the performance.

Visuals

• For the last piece, Philharmonia Fantastique, the NSO plays along to animation that is projected on a large screen above the musicians.
• The animated images spin, swirl, vibrate, and pop in and out of the screen’s frame. Some of the animated shapes come together to create the main character of the film, Sprite! There are also moments in the film when bright light shines through the animated instruments.

Sound

• The music in this concert is often exuberant and may be loud for some!

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. If you need to borrow a pair of headphones or a visor, a limited number will be available for use in the Concert Hall Lobby.

Music Performed

1. “Allegro” by Francesco Maria Veracini, solo violin
2. “Toybox Escape” by Keeghan Fountain, Percussion Section
3. La Péri – Fanfare by Paul Dukas, Brass Section
4. “Nimbus 2000” by John Williams, Woodwinds Section
5. “Starburst” by Jessie Montgomery, Strings Section
6. Philharmonia Fantastique by Mason Bates

Look and Listen for

During the first half of the concert:

• how the conductor’s movements are related to the kinds of sounds you hear
• the different sizes and shapes of the musical instruments and how they are played—and how that affects their sounds (you can review our Instrument Spotter’s Guide as a reference)
• the violin’s light, detailed, and fancy melodies in the opening solo piece (“Allegro”)—typical of the Baroque time period (1600–1750) this music came from—contrasted with the string instrument section playing together later in the program in “Starburst” (written in 2012)
• the swirling and fluttering sound of the flutes in “Nimbus 2000”
• the variety of percussion instruments and sounds in “Toybox Escape” by Keeghan Fountain, a recent college graduate and the youngest composer on the program
• when the orchestra tunes to the A note given by the oboe—this important step lets the musicians adjust their instruments to sound good together and play as one “super-instrument” (what composer Mason Bates calls the orchestra)

During Philharmonia Fantastique:

• the different colored lines and images and how they represent each instrument family (hint: blue=woodwinds; green=strings; yellow=brass; and red=percussion). Also notice those colors in the scarves host Marissa Regni wears as she introduces each family.
• the different instrument parts that make up Sprite (look to the colors for clues!)
• the different musical themes or styles of each instrument family—how would you describe them?
• the film’s action scene during the brass instrument section and what makes the animal running through the trumpet change its direction
• when Sprite conducts (with the small stick called a “baton”), and what happens when the instrument families all play faster and louder at the same time
• how the string instruments make percussion sounds
• when the instrument families begin playing each other’s themes and finishing each other’s musical patterns (like a person would finish another person’s sentence)
• how conductor Enrico Lopez-Yañez keeps the orchestra in perfect time with the film (he makes it look easy, but it requires intense focus)
• the flowing lines that suggest sound waves, the usually invisible ripples formed when an object vibrates, such as a violin string

Think About

• What was your favorite piece, and why?
• How did you feel during each piece of music on the program?
• What did the music make you think of or imagine, and why?
• What surprising things did you learn at the performance?
• In describing the moment when the orchestra tunes, Mason Bates said, “As this super-instrument brings its marvels of engineering together into a single pitch, we are witnessing both art and science.” What do you think he means? How can it be both art and science? Do you agree that the orchestra is a “super-instrument”? Why or why not?
• The title Philharmonia Fantastique was inspired by French composer Hector Berlioz’s Symphonie Fantastique (1830), which was groundbreaking for its dream-like storytelling. “Philharmonia” can refer to a symphony orchestra, and it comes from Latin and Greek words that mean “loving harmony.” Do you think Philharmonia Fantastique is a good title for the piece? Why or why not?
• One of the big ideas of Philharmonia Fantastique is how the diverse families of instruments fail when they don’t cooperate, but create harmonious music together when they listen to and learn each other’s “language,” or musical themes. What examples of this idea can you think of in your own life?

Compose Music

Mason Bates says the best thing about being a composer is that it “…allows me to build all kinds of different worlds: symphonies, operas, even films.” Mason composed his first music around age 7, and you, too, can build musical worlds. One way to start is to think of a favorite short story. Then imagine the music that could tell that story without words. Try to “hear” your story’s music in your head and then hum, sing, or describe your music to friends and family. If you know music notation, write the music down. And have fun giving your musical piece a title.

Ready to take it up a notch? Use some of the tools in (Google Doc) to make your music even more expressive.

Create a Visual Accompaniment

Like the animators of Philharmonia Fantastique, plan your own animation or video to express music. Choose a short passage from a classical music piece you like. What short story could you tell with this music? Write down a few ideas and draw some pictures—or make an actual video if you like—showing how you would bring the story to life. Share your ideas with others, explaining how the music inspired the story and how your story goes with the music.

Build Your Own Orchestra

With a few friends or family members (or your class), find different instruments you can play—either actual instruments or ones you make yourself. First, let all participants take turns playing their own musical themes. Then, each musician should try to learn the theme of one other person. Finally, work together to play as an orchestra. Decide on one or two themes that everyone can play or choose new patterns that sound good together. Afterward, discuss the challenges you faced and how you overcame them to make music together. Check out this resource in our library for ideas: Strike Up the Band: Creating Homemade Instruments.

Imagine a Fanfare

Composer Paul Dukas wrote La Péri - Fanfare as the opener to his 1912 ballet La Peri, using the blares of trumpets to signal to the audience that the ballet was about to begin. This piece features the entire brass section of trumpets, French horns, trombones, and the tuba. You may know Paul Dukas best from his composition, The Sorcerer’s Apprentice, and the much-watched animation short in the movie, Fantasia. If someone asked you to write a fanfare, who would you write it for or for what type of event? Why? What message would you want the music to convey? Try writing down, humming, or playing on a musical instrument your main opening melody.

Guide to the Orchestra

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

Philharmonia Fantastique Resource Guide

The Philharmonia Fantastique is a comprehensive teaching guide to the music and film.

Sprite’s World

The Philharmonia Fantastique website and the accompanying kid-friendly space, , is an interactive site for learning more about Sprite and the musical instruments.

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.