The Siletz Bay Music Festival will present a free children’s concert at 2:30 p.m. Sept.2, at Regatta Park in Lincoln City.
Organizers said the effort will fulfilling its mission to make music accessible to everyone in Lincoln County.
The Siletz Bay Music Festival offers professional musicians from around the globe will playing the greatest classical works of all time: music by Brahms and Mahler, chamber music and orchestral works, a Native American opera and jazz.
But one show – on Sept. 2 – will be for the kids and their families. The free outdoor show will feature a brass quintet that will accompany a live narration of “The Race,” based on the Tortoise and the Hare fable.
Even better, according to the festival organizers, is that the musicians will engage with the kids, explaining the music and their instruments to make the show more accessible.
The show, funded in part by a grant from the Pacific Power Foundation, reflects the music festival’s mission to provide free concerts for underserved communities around Lincoln City. The festival will also offer a free concert for adults.
The children’s concert will add a new twist this year, a reading of “The Race”, based on Aesop’s fable, “The Tortoise and the Hare,” narrated by Sue Parks-Hilden.
“There’s a large percentage of the population here living on a fixed income,” Siletz Bay Music Festival Production Manager Jim Sekuler said. “And there are a lot of families who can’t afford a big-city musical performance. So we try to keep ticket prices low and offer two or three free concerts every year.”
According to the festival’s executive director Shellie Stuart, small communities provide fewer opportunities to bring classical music to young people.
“Talking to the musicians and learning about the instruments might stir the soul of a budding genius,” she said. “It could inspire the next Beethoven or Beyonce.”
Monday, Aug. 28, 7:30 p.m.
Lincoln City Cultural Center: “Sights and Sounds,” a multi-sensory music and art performance.
Tuesday, Aug. 29, 7:30 p.m.
Lincoln City Congregational Church: “A Musical Feast” free chamber music concert.
Wednesday, Aug. 30, 7:30 p.m.
Pacific Maritime Heritage Center: “Siletz Comes to Yaquina” chamber music concert.
Thursday, Aug. 31, 7:30 p.m.
Lincoln City Cultural Center: “Welcome to the Club” Latin jazz performance with guest vocalist Jessie Marquez.
Friday, Sept. 1, 6:30 p.m.
Chinook Winds Casino Resort: “Benefit Dinner and Dance” featuring dance music by the Ne Plus Ultra Jass Orchestra.
Saturday, Sept. 2, 2:30 p.m.
Regatta Park Bandshell, “Free Family Concert,” program TBD.
Saturday, Sept. 2, 7:30 p.m.
Chinook Winds Resort: “A Night at the Symphony” with full orchestra.
Chinook Winds Casino Resort: “Sounds of the Americas” with full orchestra, storytelling and the ground-breaking symphonic poem, “How Can You Own the Sky” and Daniel Freiberg’s symphonic suite, “Northern Journey.”
See the Siletz Bay Music Festival website for performance and ticket details.
