for annual YES Concerts
For 65 years, the Fort Collins Symphony’s Youth Education Series (YES) concert has enchanted and entertained 4th and 5th grade students and their families in Larimer County. The YES concert is the first opportunity for most students to experience a live performance of professional symphonic music. The concerts have become a flagship music education program in Northern Colorado with many students acknowledging the concerts inspired them to join band or play in an orchestra.
Each year, the Yes concerts reach over 3,500 on school field trips, and the additional evening performances for the public reach hundreds more.
The 2019 YES concerts featured the premiere of a newly commissioned work for orchestra by composer Greg Smith. VIBE is a lighthearted and often funny musical exploration of the science of sound. During the course of the 32-minute orchestral piece, the narrator guides the audience on a journey to discover:
- how energy vibrates air molecules, forms sound waves that travel to our ears, and is decoded by our brains
- the speed and behavior of sound in three mediums (gas, liquid, and solids)
- how echoes work,
- and the significance of having two ears
Using various FCS orchestra instruments, they demonstrate how sound is created. Recurring audience participation creates a collaborative and fun experience.
An exploration of sound, VIBE is driven by
ScienceTechEngineeringArtsMath.
Learn more about VIBE and Greg’s other education pieces on his website, and learn more about all of the Fort Collins Symphony’s commissioned works here.
