Princeton NJ Schools Press Releases

Princeton Symphony Orchestra Exhibits Students’ Music-Inspired Artwork

Princeton, NJ—Over the past month, 20 middle school students participating in the Princeton Symphony Orchestra (PSO) program Listen Up! have worked to translate the music heard at an orchestra concert into visual art. Listen Up!, a part of the PSO’s acclaimed music education program, BRAVO!, engages middle school students in the appreciation of classical music, by inviting them to attend a PSO concert free of charge and create art inspired by the music they hear. This year’s participants came from Princeton Charter School, John Witherspoon Middle School, Montgomery Upper and Lower Middle Schools, Stuart Country Day School of the Sacred Heart, and a special class at the Arts Council of Princeton.

Listen Up! students attended the PSO’s January 23 Classical Series concert, Juxtapositions, which featured the East Coast premiere of American composer Pierre Jalbert’s Concerto for Marimba and Orchestra. It was this particular composition that served as the inspiration for the students’ artwork.

The reactions of the students varied greatly, with their artwork reflecting everything from fairies, to the ocean, to the changing of the seasons. “Pierre Jalbert’s Concerto for Marimba and Orchestra made me think of danger and suspense,” says Noa Attali, an eighth grade participant from John Witherspoon Middle School, who painted a chase between two wild animals set against a desert background. “It was rising and falling, almost like a drum roll, leading up to something. It made me think of a chase, with a predator hunting prey.”

The art will be displayed at the PSO’s upcoming Classical Series concert, Ethnic Explorations, which takes place March 20 at 4:00 pm, at Richardson Auditorium. The Listen Up! exhibit will also be displayed at the Paul Robeson Center for the Arts from Thursday, March 3 through Friday, March 18; an opening reception, sponsored by the PSO and the Arts Council of Princeton, will take place at the Paul Robeson Center for the Arts on March 3 from 4:30 to 6:00 pm.  The exhibit is free and open to the public. The artwork will then be transferred to Richardson Auditorium for display at the March 20 concert, and will make it’s final stop at The Bedens Brook Club on Saturday, April 16, where it will be on view throughout the evening during the PSO’s annual gala to support BRAVO!.

Listen Up! participants gather for a photo after the PSO’s January 23 concert, along with guest soloist Svet Stoyavov (very back row) and the marimba he performed on.

Top Row (Left to Right): Samuel Henry, Trevor Robbins, Kimberly McDonough, Sheriel Henry, Thais Calvarin, Evgenia Dementyev, Stephanie Ren, Noa Attali, Anna (Yunzhe) Wu

Bottom Row: Vivian Loomis, Claire McHugh, Alexandra Herscovici, Ava Hejazi, Landis Hackett, Eszter Bentch

Not Pictured: Paulina Enck, Rosalind Stengle, Lauren DiDonato, Sarah Richardson, Claudia Orostizaga