February 22, 2007
The Maryland Symphony Orchestra Family Concert Features Musical Storytellers Tales & Scales® in “Just Beyond the Junkyard”

The Maryland Symphony Orchestra and Music Director Elizabeth Schulze presents their annual Family Concert on Saturday, March 3, at 5:00 pm at the Maryland Theatre, featuring the exuberant musical storytellers of Tales & Scales® in “Just Beyond the Junkyard.” The nationally-acclaimed troupe joins the MSO to weave contemporary words and music into a memorable “musictale” for children and family audiences.

An adventure full of humor and drama, “Junkyard” tells the story of nine-year-old Renny Hall, a little girl whose big imagination is always getting her into trouble. Her home is an apartment building near an inner-city junkyard, where all it takes is a little resourcefulness and a vivid imagination to enter a kingdom of magical transformations. When events conspire to threaten both the junkyard and her home, Renny brings all of her creative resources and ingenuity to bear as she learns how to pair her imagination with responsibility to help those around her.

Prior to the March 3rd concert a special children’s event will be held at the Discovery Station in downtown Hagerstown from 3:00 - 4:30 pm. The MSO, in partnership with the Washington County Museum of Fine Arts, the Washington County Free Library, and the Discovery Station, will host "It's not Junk, It's Art!" children's workshop. Participants will choose a variety of objects from an array of found and recyclable materials to create a sculpture using their imaginations and creativity. The workshop reinforces the ideas expressed by the main character in "Just Beyond the Junkyard," which follows the event. Children ages 5 to 12 will enjoy the creative process of making "something out of nothing," while younger children and their parents can take advantage of the Discovery Station’s interactive exhibits. Snacks will be provided and the children will display their artwork in the lobby of the Maryland Theatre prior to and during the Family Concert. There is a $5 materials fee for children who are participating in the pre-concert workshop.

Tales & Scales® was founded in 1986 to fulfill a need for quality arts programming for children and family audiences. In a mission to ignite imaginations through the performing arts, the group of instrumental musicians creates a combination of music and movement built around new and traditional stories that they term ‘Musictelling.’ Each year, working in collaboration with emerging composers, writers, and theatre directors, Tales & Scales® creates a new ‘Musictale, giving over 200 performances in schools, at performing arts centers and with symphony orchestras. Tales & Scales has brought its Musictelling to the Boston, Chicago, Detroit, Indianapolis and Atlanta symphonies, to NYC's New Victory Theater, the Smithsonian Institution’s Discovery Theater and the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, the Annenberg Center, the Chautauqua Institution, and schools across the United States and Bermuda. The troupe has been featured on National Public Radio’s Morning Edition and Talk of the Nation, and in several national publications. T&S also works with educators and students through Tales & Scales Workshops designed to partner the arts with education and thus bring imagination and creativity through the arts into every child’s life.

Platinum Sponsors for the MSO Family Concert are First Data, JLG Industries, Inc., and the Washington County Gaming Commission. Gold Sponsor is the Maryland Symphony Orchestra Guild. The Maryland Symphony Orchestra is also supported by a grant from the Maryland State Arts Council, an agency funded by the State of Maryland and the National Endowment for the Arts.

Tickets for Just Beyond the Junkyard are $20 for adults and $12 for children 12 and under. The MSO also offers “Family Four-Packs” where patrons receive one free ticket for every four purchased. The new MSO Box Office at 30 West Washington Street in Hagerstown is open Monday through Friday, 9:00 am to 5:00 pm. Tickets can also be purchased by calling the Box Office at 301-797-4000.

The Maryland Symphony Orchestra, under the direction of Elizabeth Schulze, is currently celebrating its twenty-fifth season as the area’s premiere professional orchestra, dedicated to providing musical performances and programs that educate and entertain while enhancing the cultural environment of Western Maryland and the Quad-state region.