Local school children have created art — inspired by Harry Potter — for the Alexandria Symphony Orchestra's Children's Arts Festival on June 12.
The maestro's baton will double as a magic wand when the orchestra presents its second annual Children's Arts Festival. The multimedia event will feature a live orchestral performance of "Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban: Children's Suite for Orchestra" by composer John Williams, combined with a visual display of art created by the area's school children. ASO conductor Kim Allen Kluge will lead this event on Sunday at the Rachel M. Schlesinger Concert Hall and Arts Center at the Northern Virginia Community College at 3001 N. Beauregard St., Alexandria.
Of the 50,000 participating children from the Alexandria and Fairfax County Public School systems 371 works of art, inspired by the musical score based on the Harry Potter movie, have been selected for the video exhibition. At 2 p.m., Kluge will raise his baton and take his audience through the musical story of junior wizard Harry Potter, who will join conductor and orchestra onstage. At the same time, images of students' artwork will provide a Fantasia-like video enhancement to the performance.
Students whose art appears at the festival include:
* From Fox Mill Elementary, Alex Gevirtz, Sheila Zhu, Hanna Borojeni, Michelle Park, Ian Purcell, Victoria Crawford, Richard Hortelano, Sara Asad, Sarah Burns, Heather Sasala, Alessandra Herman, Scan Odette, Jamie O'Brien, Andrew Larkin, Rachel Smith, Danielle Marsh, Joy Song, Cole Neuffer and Chris Larkin.
* From Neil A. Armstrong Elementary, Olivia Dunne, Maggie Middleton, Jacob Schenck, Jordan Gilley, Tarryn Chichester, Stephanie Brininstool, Christine Tran, Priyanka Srinivasan, Kendall Dishek, Noelle Muha, Ashley Murphy, Nick Capaaldini and Willi Wood III.
Families are invited to come early and create their own works of art inspired by the musical score starting at 1 p.m. Art stations will be provided with recorded versions of the concert piece, at which children can create their own masterpieces. There will also be a musical "petting zoo", at which would-be musicians can try out a variety of instruments.
Tickets are on sale for $7.50 for children and $15 for adults. Parking is free for concert goers.
For more information and to purchase tickets, visit the Alexandria Symphony Orchestra Web site at www.alexsym.org, call 703-548-0885, or send an e-mail to martinez@alexsym.org.