Princeton Symphony Orchestra Announces Visual Art LISTEN UP! Exhibit, 1/30

On Monday, January 30 at 4 pm, the Princeton Symphony Orchestra's PSO BRAVO! Listen Up! Exhibition at the Arts Council of Princeton (ACP) opens to feature student artwork and writing created in response to Sergei Prokofiev's Piano Concerto No. 3 in C Major, Op. 26. Participating middle school students will be on hand to discuss their works and their interaction with PSO guest artist Natasha Paremski, who met with the students and performed the concerto at the PSO's November 6 Impassioned Russia concert.

Ms. Paremski inspired students with that performance and by performing compositions for solo piano by Sergei Prokofiev and Frédéric Chopin at a Listen Up!workshop held at the Arts Council. She and the students discussed the history of the works and her creative and interpretive methods. ACP Instructor Susan Hoenig highlighted well-known visual artists who have created works in response to music, and guided the students in their artistic reflections. Over the course of several weeks, the students gave form to their own creative ideas in writing and visual art.

Thirty-four students from 9 area middle schools make up this season's Listen Up! artists and writers: Cambridge School - Jack Giacobbe, Patrick Murtland, and Andrew Morrison; The Hun School - Brianna Le and Dafina Fassu; John Witherspoon Middle School - Michelle Girouard, Emilyanne Shelley, Jane Lillard, Catherine Howard, Sephane Morel, Julia Zhang, Isabella Verge, Jessica Jia, Flossie Zhange, Julia Bigioni, Amanda Sun, and Hanako Moulton;Montgomery Lower Middle School - Miranda Qing, Scarlet Bailey, Virankha Peter; Montgomery Upper Middle School - Anika Chakraborti, Grace Johnson, Sophia Sapienza, and Emily Zhou; Princeton Charter School - Orin Bolitho; St. Paul School - JuliAnne Russell, Sophia Ortiguera, and Aria Tameze; Stuart Country Day School - Molly Missonis, Anita Liu, Lucrezia DeVincenzo, Hellen Jin and Grace LaNasa; Timberlane Middle School - Nadia Chasalow.

Now in its tenth year, Listen Up! is an art response program which encourages creativity through active listening. To date, it has engaged nearly 250 students. Online galleries featuring previous years' student artwork can be accessed via our website at princetonsymphony.org under PSO BRAVO! Listen Up!

All PSO BRAVO! programs are free to participating students and schools thanks to the support of generous sponsors who believe in the importance of the arts in education. To learn more about Listen Up! or other PSO BRAVO! education programs or to offer support, call the symphony office at (609) 497-0020.

The students' visual and literary works will be on display Monday, January 30 - Sunday, February 26 at the Arts Council of Princeton's Paul Robeson Center, 102 Witherspoon Street, during regular gallery hours. Both the opening reception and exhibit are free and open to the public.

ABOUT PSO BRAVO! EDUCATION PROGRAMS

The Princeton Symphony Orchestra's acclaimed PSO BRAVO! education programs reach more than 10,000 students each year. Meet the Orchestra!establishes PSO musicians in teaching partnerships at more than 30 public, private, and special-needs elementary schools throughout Central New Jersey, and stages full-orchestra performances for elementary school students each spring. At the middle school level, Listen Up! invites students to attend Classical Series concerts and create visual art in response to the music they hear. Advanced high school and college instrumentalists participate in public masterclasses with world-renowned artists. From kindergarten through college, PSO BRAVO! inspires the next generation of musicians and audiences.

ABOUT THE PRINCETON SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA
The Princeton Symphony Orchestra (PSO) is a cultural centerpiece of the Princeton community and one of New Jersey's finest music organizations, a position established through performances of beloved masterworks, innovative music by living composers, and an extensive network of educational programs offered to area students free of charge. Led by Music Director Rossen Milanov, the PSO presents orchestral, pops, and chamber music programs of the highest artistic quality, supported by lectures and related events that supplement the concert experience. Through PSO BRAVO!, the orchestra produces wide-reaching and impactful education programs in partnership with local schools and arts organizations that culminate in students attending their first live orchestral performance. With considerable community support and funding from the National Endowment for the Arts, the PSO is also a multiple-year recipient of the New Jersey State Council on the Arts' highest honors. The PSO has been recognized for its commitment to new music with an ASCAP Award for Adventurous Programming and a Copland Fund Award. The only independent, professional orchestra to make its home in Princeton, the PSO performs at historic Richardson Auditorium on the campus of Princeton University.

(Photo Credit: PSO)