The Soraya in Northridge California will be hosting Disney In Concert, a Silly Symphony Celebration this March. Six Silly Symphony shorts will be screened during this concert with the CSUN Symphony orchestra playing live. Tickets are open to public and are on sale now.
What’s happening:
- Disney in Concert, a Silly Symphony Celebration, is a tuneful and colorful celebration of the 75 groundbreaking cartoons produced at the Walt Disney Studios.
- These films debuted between 1929 and 1939 eventually leading to the making of Fantasia (1940).
- Six of these innovative, entertaining, and classic films will be screened with the CSUN Symphony orchestra playing live, conducted by John Roscigno.
- Disney in Concert, a Silly Symphony Celebration will be offered on Sunday, March 10 at 3 pm.
- The program includes:
- “The Skeleton Dance” (1929)
- “Flowers and Trees” (1932)
- “Three Little Pigs”(1933)
- “The Old Mill” (1937)
- “The Ugly Duckling” (1939)
- Single tickets start at $30.
- For more information or to purchase tickets:
- Visit The Soraya
- Call 818-677-3000.
- Younes and Soraya Nazarian Center for the Performing Arts is located at 18111 Nordhoff Street, Northridge, CA 91330.
- Ticket prices subject to change.
Did you know?:
- With the Silly Symphonies, Walt Disney laid all of the groundwork that culminated in his first full-length film Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, using color, character, songs, and storytelling that became the basis of animated film up to today.
- Even the sources of music – from classical to pop to folk songs – is reflected in current musical mash-ups. And it has been said that Fantasia is the ultimate Silly Symphony.
- Walt Disney asked Carl Stalling, a theatre organist that Disney knew in Kansas days, to come to Los Angeles when he decided that Steamboat Willie, the animated short that introduced Mickey Mouse, needed a soundtrack and a musical score.
- It eventually included a fifteen-piece band.
What they’re saying:
- Film historian Richard Hildreth: “The most important innovation in “The Skeleton Dance” is that the musical score and the animated action were planned, designed, and executed in unison.”
- Hildreth on “Flowers and Trees:” “Technicolor’s new three-strip process provided much more accurate color representation but also demanded more exacting mechanics and processing … only the Disney studio was willing to experiment with the new process. Disney, who was the first cartoon producer to compel his staff to take art lessons, added color theory to the curriculum. The Disney-developed color palette became the model that Technicolor used in designing films for the next four decades. “Flowers and Trees” was met with amazement at its July, 15, 1932, opening at Grauman's Theater in Los Angeles.”
- Leonard Maltin, curator of the DVD release of the Silly Symphony series: “Walt Disney was a visionary. He used his Silly Symphonies to expand the medium of animation to the limits of his imagination. They are among Walt’s greatest achievements and deserve to be seen and enjoyed by a new generation.”
About CSUN Symphony:
- The CSUN Symphony is regarded as one of the finest University Orchestras in the Western United States.
- Under the direction of Dr. John Roscigno, the CSUN Symphony offers a full range of orchestral experiences for the career oriented student, including four major concerts a year as well as choral, opera and musical theater performances.
About John Roscigno:
- Dr. John Roscigno is Professor of Music and Director of Orchestral Studies at California State University, Northridge. He is also Music Director of the Thousand Oaks Philharmonic and the CSUN Youth Orchestras.
- His versatility as a musician has allowed him opportunities to conduct and perform throughout the world.
About The Younes and Soraya Nazarian Center for the Performing Arts (The Soraya):
- The 2018-19 Season marks the eighth year the award-winning Younes and Soraya Nazarian Center for the Performing Arts which has quickly become one of the cultural jewels of the greater Los Angeles region.
- The mission of The Soraya is to present a wide variety of performances that not only includes new and original work from the Los Angeles region but also work from around the world that appeal to all of LA’s rich and diverse communities.