Contact:  Meg Whalen, Director of Public Relations
E: megw@charlottesymphony.org
P: 704-714-5114
W: www.charlottesymphony.org

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                                                                               June 28, 2010

CSO Announces 2010-2011 Lollipops Series
Family concerts feature puppets, mimes, dancers and Dr. Seuss

The Charlotte Symphony announces its 2010-2011 Lollipops Concerts Series, a set of four family concerts that introduce children to the wonders of live orchestral music. Performed on Saturday mornings in the Belk Theater, each hour-long concert is preceded by a pre-concert festival, which invites children to explore music in hands-on activities such as the Symphony Guild of Charlotte’s “Musical Petting Zoo.”

The season opens on October 2 with “The Emperor’s New Clothes,” featuring Charlotte’s beloved Grey Seal Puppets in the Hans Christian Andersen classic. A Halloween treat follows on October 30 with “Chills and Thrills,” conducted by the CSO’s new Music Director Christopher Warren-Green, with special guest Alasdair Malloy. The Dr. Seuss classic, “Green Eggs and Ham,” gets a unique musical treatment on March 26, and dancers from the N.C. Dance Theatre School of Dance will strut, pounce, and glide in “Carnival of the Animals” at the April 30 season finale.

This season, the Lollipops series welcomes the CSO’s new Assistant Conductor, Jacomo Rafael Bairos, who joins the conducting staff in September. A passionate advocate for music for children, Bairos recently developed and conducted education concerts in Portugal and was named Music Director for the 2010 National Youth Orchestra Festival of Portugal. As Director of Orchestras for the Baltimore School for the Arts (BSFA), he works closely with the Baltimore Symphony’s “OrchKids,” BSFA “Twiggs,” and Peabody’s “Tuned In” programs, creating side-by-sides and education workshops for children in underserved urban communities. He will lead three of the four 2010-2011 Lollipops concerts.

Subscriptions are on sale now. For more information, call 704-972-2000 or visit the Charlotte Symphony website at www.charlottesymphony.org.

Founded in 1932, the Charlotte Symphony is a cornerstone cultural organization in the Charlotte region. The CSO has been performing Lollipops family concerts since 1980. The Charlotte Symphony is supported by ticket sales, performance fees, generous individuals, The Symphony Guild of Charlotte, Inc., corporate sponsors, foundation grants, the North Carolina Arts Council, the National Endowment for the Arts, and by a basic operating grant from the Arts & Science Council-Charlotte/Mecklenburg. In September 2010, Christopher Warren-Green becomes the orchestra’s 11th Music Director.

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