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Tartaglia to Host Young People's Concerts for NY Philharmonic, Starting Nov. 5

By: Oct. 12, 2005
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Avenue Q star John Tartaglia, who knows quite a bit about entertaining kids from eight seasons of "Sesame Street" and an upcoming children's TV show called "Johnny and the Sprites," will emcee the 2005-2006 season of the New York Philharmonic's Young People's Concerts.  The concerts will be held at Lincoln Center's Avery Fisher Hall at 2 PM from November 5th, 2005 through May 6th, 2006.

The Who Makes Music? series, over the course of four afternoons, will focus on "The Composer" on November 5th, "The Conductor" on December 3rd, "The Orchestra" on February 25th, 2006 and "The Audience" on May 6th.  The concerts will expose kids to a number of great classical and modern composers, with Leonard Bernstein's "Overture to Candide," Tchaikovsky's "Polonaise from Eugene Onegin," Wagner's "Ride of the Valkyries," Ravel's Mother Goose Suite and Britten's "Storm from Four Sea Interludes" as some of the featured pieces.  The Young People's Concerts have been an institution for decades; they were founded in 1924 by Ernest Schelling and popularized in the '50s and '60s with Bernstein as conductor.

"This season the Young People's Concerts take on a new kind of excitement, with one concert leading to the next, and with the irrepressible John Tartaglia discovering how music works, right along with the audience. We are aiming to spark kids' imaginations on educational, musical and theatrical levels, and ignite a lifelong love of music," stated Theodore Wiprud, New York Philharmonic Director of Education. 

Tartaglia is currently appearing in the Las Vegas production of Avenue Q, reprising his Tony Award-nominated performance(s) as Princeton and Rod.  He previously received the Theatre World and Clarence Derwent Awards for his work in the puppet-laden musical.  His children's TV show, Johnny and the Sprites, will premiere on the Disney Channel on October 9th.  An accomplished puppetr and veteran of children's TV, he previously worked on "Sesame Street," "Animal Jam" and others.  Other theatre credits include the benefit concerts of Hair and Children of Eden, and the Encores! staging of Carnival, a musical that also involves puppets. 

Tickets for the concerts range from $7 to $26; the entire series can be seen for $24 to $100.  For more information, call (212) 875-5656 or visit www.nyphil.org.  For more on Tartaglia, visit www.johntartaglia.com.




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