GREG SMITH: VIBE – FAMILY CONCERT
The Festival’s cherished free Family Concert returns after a four-year hiatus. This year’s program starts with a special percussion ensemble performance and demonstration by Principal Percussionist Galen Lemmon and students in his studio and features the delightful VIBE, a lighthearted symphonic exploration by returning composer Greg Smith.
Renowned for his family-friendly compositions, his work is a mainstay in the genre, with many previous works premiered on the Festival stage. This interactive concert promises an engaging afternoon perfect for concertgoers of all ages.
It’s a perfect chance to introduce children to the magic of live music in a fun and interactive way. Enjoy our “Tour of the Orchestra” where families learn about instruments from members of our orchestra.
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About the Composer
The music of composer Gregory Smith covers a wide range of the musical world entertaining thousands every day and night at Disney theme parks while reaching millions on television networks throughout the world.
His family/educational symphonic works are among the most performed in the genre and have been honored with over 1,000 performances by more than 200 orchestras worldwide. Orchestras such as the Atlanta, Baltimore, Boston, Houston, Cincinnati symphonies, the Philadelphia Orchestra, and Rochester Philharmonic, along with numerous orchestras in the United Kingdom, China, South Korea, Germany, Canada, Greece, Japan, Australia, New Zealand, and elsewhere have embraced Smith’s blended style of entertainment and education. Many of his works in this genre were premiered at the Cabrillo Festival of Contemporary Music and conducted by his longtime champion, Marin Alsop.
Enjoying a long association with the Walt Disney Company, Smith has written themes, arrangements, and songs for their animated features, movies, and all of their worldwide theme parks. Notable among these is Wishes, the Walt Disney World Magic Kingdom fireworks spectacular that ran for 14 years. And Dreamlights, a reimagined symphonic version of the famous Electrical Parade now entering its 24th year at Tokyo Disneyland.
Smith’s broadcast credits include composing scores for the Star Trek TV shows, Warner Bros. Cartoons, themes for CBS, TNT, ABC, Headline News Sports, ESPN, and major sports teams including the NY Mets, the New Jersey Devils, and the Tampa Bay Lightning. On the grandest scale, Smith composed the music for the Salt Lake Paralympic opening ceremonies broadcast worldwide by ABC.
Recent projects include composing scores for a pair of shows at the newly opened Sea World Abu Dhabi, songs and arrangements for a live show at Tokyo Disneyland, and opening this Spring, an ambient, synchronized score for The Orlando Science Center titled Life.
As a conductor, Smith has recorded with orchestras in London, San Francisco, Prague, Salt Lake City, Seattle, and numerous studio orchestras in New York, Los Angeles, and Nashville.
Program Notes
VIBE (2019)
Greg Smith (b. 1957)
VIBE is a lighthearted, symphonic exploration of the incredible world of sound. A study of how sound is produced, and how we hear it.
With the assistance of the orchestra, the narrator leads the audience on a symphonic journey of discovery as to how energy vibrates air and forms sound waves, how our ears receive the waves, why it’s so important that we have two ears, and how our voices and musical instruments produce sound. The journey also includes a demonstration of how echoes work, how sound behaves in air, water, solids, and outer space.
Audience participation is an important part of the soundscape and the author hopes that by the end of the adventure, the audience feels a sense of collaboration. VIBE aligns with the S.T.E.A.M. (science, technology, engineering, art, math) approach to education, in this case focusing on the stunning relationship between the science of sound and the art of music.
Happy vibing!
– Greg Smith