Purchase Discovery Orchestra "Discover Vivaldi's Four Season's"
There was no Black Friday sale. Nothing special for Cyber Monday or even Small Business Saturday. But, there’s a brand new special gift item available this year, and The Discovery Orchestra® has just confirmed it will be delivered in time for Santa to slip into stockings or sneak under the tree.
That’s right! Production of The Discovery Orchestra’s Discover Vivaldi’s Four Seasons DVD has wrapped up just in time for people to wrap up a copy (or copies!) of the DVD and give the gift of classical music this holiday.
“For us at The Discovery Orchestra, there is no greater gift this holiday than being able to share this production with everyone,” says The Discovery Orchestra executive director Virginia Johnston. “From the live taping of the concert back in May to the final check of the digital menu on the DVD just last week, this has been a true labor of love for all of us involved and we cannot wait to deliver the joy and understanding of classical music to those who watch and listen to it.”
It’s been said that classical music is tough to “get.” Music is pretty much everywhere in today’s society — whether in radio or television commercials, or in movies and television programs, or piped through elevator speakers. However, for many those are the only places classical music lives — in the background where people never learn to truly listen to and experience this music.
The Discovery Orchestra is the only educational organization in America dedicated exclusively to teaching audiences how to listen to classical music. It transforms the classical music listening experience for millions of people — from students and curious novices to experienced concert goers and professional educators, people from eight to 80 years old — proving it’s never too late to connect with classical music.
About Discover Vivaldi’s Four Seasons
As the third installment in an already rich and award-winning collection of interactive public television programs through which Maestro Maull explores classical music compositions and encourages active listening, the Discover Vivaldi’s Four Seasons Discovery Concert® was taped before a live audience on May 19, 2012 at Drew University in Madison, New Jersey, as part of The Discovery Orchestra’s 25th anniversary celebration.
The Discover Vivaldi’s Four Seasons program was produced and directed by Jeff Friedman, director of the Dumont Television Center at Montclair State University and a producer/director/production executive working in the New York, Philadelphia, and New Jersey markets. Friedman produced and directed the orchestra’s Discover Beethoven’s 5th program — which received three Telly Awards and was nominated for a 2012 Emmy Award — and directed the orchestra’s first television show, the Emmy-nominated Bach to the Future.
During the concert, music listening “breakthroughs” — what The Discovery Orchestra likes to call “Aha Moments” — facilitated by Maestro Maull and the orchestra musicians, help those watching and listening connect more deeply and emotionally with the music, the way the composers intended.
In addition, Discover Vivaldi’s Four Seasons includes interviews with neuroscientist Jamshed Bharucha and birdsong expert David Rothenberg to highlight scientific connections between music and the brain. Elena Mannes, consulting producer/director of features for the program, created these segments to complement the live concert footage.
“More and more these days, we see people getting gimmicky with classical music, adding words to some of our most beloved compositions just to get people to listen to them,” says Maestro George Marriner Maull. “That’s not the kind of listening we recommend. What we do is use the music itself to teach people how to listen to it and connect in meaningful ways. If classical music is to have a future, it needs to gain a foothold as a positive force in people’s lives.”
Discover Vivaldi’s Four Seasons is being distributed by American Public Television and will be broadcast via public television stations nationwide beginning in Spring 2013.
About Discovery Concerts
Discovery Concerts feature a performance of the composition to be explored. Following the initial performance is series of stimulating interactions between Maestro Maull and the audience as the music is investigated. Audience members are cajoled to respond to questions that can only be answered by carefully listening to the musical excerpt that follows.
Another unique feature of Discovery Concerts involves the use of a printed Listening Guide. This simplified “picturization” of the score, with numbered musical events such as a crescendo or sequence, is referenced throughout the Discovery process. It also provides each audience member with a tool with which to visually follow and stay centered in the music. After the exploration, the entire featured piece is played straight through again.
A “second performance” of any music is a rare occurrence at a classical music concert, but is routine at Discovery Concerts. This second time through provides an opportunity for the live and virtual audience — having just become more aware of the musical detail — to engage in a very focused listening experience. Audiences rave that the “second performance” sounds so incredibly different and revelatory.
Note: Due to the length of Vivaldi’s The Four Seasons, the Discover Vivaldi’s Four Seasons program features each season with the exploration segment first, and then a full performance of that concerto.
About The Discovery Orchestra
Through intimate gatherings, live performances, and media programs, The Discovery Orchestra teaches the listening skills that help people emotionally connect to classical music. The orchestra began its life 25 years ago in Somerset County, New Jersey, as the Philharmonic Orchestra of New Jersey, a professional freelance orchestra founded to present classical concerts for the growing population in that region of the state. In 2006, the organization evolved its mission and changed its name. In 2010, The Discovery Orchestra introduced Discovery CHATS on YouTube and to date has produced over 80 of the bite-sized educational videos each focusing on a fun musical topic. Today, The Discovery Orchestra’s goal is to combine performance and interactive instruction to help individuals develop listening skills that enable them to receive powerful, aesthetic experiences from music. For more information about the Orchestra and to view Discovery CHATS, please visit www.DiscoveryOrchestra.org, connect on Facebook (TheDiscoveryOrchestra) and follow George Marriner Maull on Twitter @CatchMaullaria.
