Arkansas Symphony Orchestra Performs Children's Concert Friday

The Arkansas Symphony Orchestra (ASO) performs a children's concert in Little Rock on Friday.

The music begins playing at 10:00 a.m. at the Robinson Center Music Hall downtown.

"American Odyssey" will be under the baton of ASO Associate Conductor Geoffrey Robson.

Students in grades four through eight will experience the full 72-piece Arkansas Symphony Orchestra in concert playing American classics.

The one-hour educational concert will explore music from the "Beginnings of America" through the "Growth of Black Culture in America," to the "Influence of Hispanic Migration to America."

Program Details:

• Copland - Hoedown from Rodeo
• Joplin - Maple Leaf Rag
• Grofe - Grand Canyon Suite V. Cloudburst
• Dvorak - Symphony No. 9 "New World"
• Tyzik - Fantasy on American Themes
• Lay Rodriguez - Piata
• Gould - Tap Dance Concerto
• Sousa - Stars and Stripes Forever

Robson has been the Associate Conductor of the ASO since 2008. He has designed and conducted many of the orchestra's subscription series concerts, as well as its children's concerts and special events. As conductor, last season he worked with guest artists such as the Beach Boys, Lawrence Hamilton, Timothy Jones, Henrietta Davis, Christiane Noll, Doug LaBrecque, and Calvin Lee. He also performs as a violinist, frequently appearing in the Arkansas Symphony Orchestra's popular River Rhapsodies chamber series and directing educational outreach to schoolchildren across the state. In addition, Robson writes and produces At the Symphony, a concert preview radio series on KLRE Classical 90.5 in Little Rock.

The Arkansas Symphony Orchestra is in its 46th season under the leadership of Music Director Philip Mann.