AMARILLO, Texas (KAMR/KCIT) — The Amarillo Symphony announced that from Oct. 25-26, it will present its Symphony Kids program, a biennial educational program.

According to Amarillo Symphony officials, the Symphony Kids program is a biennial educational program geared toward late elementary through early middle school students. About 4,100 students from the Amarillo area and beyond, including rural communities of the Texas Panhandle, will attend the Symphony Kids performances at the Globe-News Center for the Performing Arts in downtown Amarillo on Wednesday, Oct. 25, and Thursday, Oct. 26, at 9 a.m., 11 a.m., and 1 p.m.

Amarillo Symphony officials said it has a long history of providing concerts designed to engage young people of the Panhandle. Symphony Kids gives students access to the Globe-News Center for the Performing Arts, the exhilaration of hearing and seeing a live orchestra, and the incomparable feeling of uniting with other students through music.

Officials stated that the goals of Symphony Kids are to enable the students to:

• Experience a live orchestra performance
• Develop and apply a music vocabulary
• Evaluate and listen critically to orchestral repertoire
• Connect musical learning with other areas of study, including STEM
• Participate in an interactive concert experience

Officials stated that with this year’s program, “students will explore the wonder, beauty, and strength of water in nature by traveling through the daily water cycle from sunrise to sunset.” Paired with music that depicts the life of water, children will be exposed to classical composers who wrote depictions of water in its many forms.

Officials also said the Amarillo Symphony will be led by guest conductor Gerald Karni, who received a silver medal and special mention at the Third International Antál Dorati Conducting Competition in Budapest in 2021 and was one of 20 Conductors selected to participate in the Eighth International Jorma Panula Conducting Competition in Vaasa, Finland.

“Symphony Kids offers a full symphonic experience to youth throughout the Panhandle in tandem with the Symphony’s other educational programs,” said Irma-Esther Borup, Education and Community Engagement Director for the Amarillo Symphony. “For any attendees, this is their first and maybe only time to attend a concert at the Globe-News Center for the Performing Arts. This year’s program, Water in Nature, features a tie to STEM with a science-based program, teaching students about the water cycle and how composers depict extra-musical ideas through works by Beethoven, Debussy, and others.”

Officials stated that Symphony Kids is one of two field trip concerts presented by the Amarillo Symphony. The other program, Kinderkonzerts, is suited for Kindergarten through second-grade students and is presented biennially in October.

Officials further mentioned that the Amarillo Symphony provides classroom materials and direct support throughout the year for partner teachers. Most of the cost for this program is covered by donors who support the Amarillo Symphony and its mission to spread the love and appreciation of music throughout the Panhandle.