Albany Symphony Orchestra to host Crawfish Festival fundraiser

ALBANY — On Friday, the Albany Symphony Orchestra will perform for around 600 area elementary students, joining Chicago-based Classical Kids in telling the story — mostly through music — of the “Black Mozart,” Le Chevalier De Saint-Georges.

The performance, an annual event for the orchestra, will reach the kids where they live: telling the story of the man considered the “first black composer” through his music and the music of Nina Simone and even a little rap thrown in for measure. The story will be told through the eyes of a student, part of the Classical Kids troupe, who is studying De Saint George’s life on her iPad. The tale becomes even more enchanting when she discovers the subject of her research also was a famous swordsman, leading to some choreographed swordplay during Friday’s performance while the music provides the background.

On Saturday, from 4-9 p.m. at the Thronateeska Heritage Center Train Depot, the orchestra will hold one of its primary fundraisers, the second Crawfish Festival and boil. Patrons will eat their fill of fresh, Louisiana crawfish, enjoy live music, take part in a 50-50 raffle, show off their skills in a crawfish shelling contest and enjoy a cash bar.

The tie-in for these two events is education. The funds raised at the festival will be used to finance the symphony orchestra’s educational outreach efforts, such as the show that will be presented Friday at the Albany Municipal Auditorium.

“The festival will be rain or shine; it will be held in a covered area at the depot,” ASO Musical Director/Conductor Clair Fox Hillard said. “It’s because of the support for our fundraisers like this that we’re able to have events like the children’s performance that introduces many young students to symphony music for the first time.

“We’ve worked with Classical Kids the last two years to bring a visual element to the production. They do a good job of providing a story that ties in to the music.”

Hillard said the students should be entertained by the story of De Saint-Georges, whose father took him to France for an education he thought might be elusive in this country. The musician was actually a contemporary of Mozart, Hillard said, and his music earned him renown comparable to other great composers whose works have transcended time.

Performances Friday will be held at 9:30 and 11 a.m.

“We really like this concept,” Hillard said of the performances for local students. “In fact, next year we’re going to present the works of Gershwin, and after we perform for students in the morning, we plan to perform for the general public later in the evening.”

Tickets to Saturday’s Crawfish Festival, which must be purchased in advance and are $65, are available at www.albanysymphony.org or by calling (229) 430-8933. Kids 10-under are admitted at no cost.