Dan Brown: Wild Symphony (A Young People’s Concert). Toronto Symphony Orchestra, Trevor Wilson, TSO RBC Resident Conductor; Ramona Gilmour-Darling, Narrator. Roy Thomson Hall, March 3, 2024.
The Toronto Symphony Orchestra is no stranger to revered conductors, but ask any of the children at Roy Thomson Hall this past Sunday and they would likely champion one: Maestro the Mouse.
While a cartoon rodent didn’t technically conduct, remarkable as that may have been, the young aesthetes-in-training still got the message. After all, the intent behind Wild Symphony, a musical book written and composed by Dan Brown (yes, of The DaVinci Code), is largely to garner interest in classical music among children. The children’s poetry book, first released in 2020, tells the story of Maestro the Mouse as he gathers a group of musical friends from the animal kingdom to play in his orchestra. Among them are brilliant bats, dancing boars, and anxious ostriches — each with a complementary score.
The circular lobby of Roy Thomson Hall offers a bit of this wildlife in person. Wild Ontario, an educational program based out of the University of Guelph, is on-premises with Mowat the barred owl doing live demonstrations. Other pre-show activities include Long and McQuade’s instrument discovery zone and a special performance by Brampton’s Youth Orchestra.
The concert itself features 21 movements in total, none longer than two minutes. Trevor Wilson, the resident TSO conductor, leads the orchestra while Ramona Gilmour-Darling (formerly of The Big Comfy Couch) narrates the show. It’s uncommon to see a plush armchair on stage alongside orchestra chairs and music stands, but this is where Gilmour-Darling removes her heeled shoes and opts for a pair of fuzzy slippers. As she opens the book and begins reading, we’re transported to an afternoon storytime session.
Two screens project Susan Batori’s book illustrations to guide us from one animal to the next. The musical pieces are impressionistic — in “Woodbird Welcome,” hollow percussion reminiscent of woodpeckers and upbeat strings easily mimicked a bird chirping at dawn. “Clumsy Kittens” is a sly tune that inched forward like a cat ardently stalking prey. Brown particularly shines as a composer during the pieces devoted to underwater creatures. “The Ray” is stunning, with a gliding, sophisticated gait. “Wondrous Whale” does something similar, honouring the handsome cetaceans with a dramatic, almost ominous ballad. Movements like these are elegant and sophisticated, but Brown never veers too far from his audience. There are plenty of springy, trombone-heavy pieces (“Bouncing Kangaroos,” “Happy Hippo”). These are silly and whimsical. The kids eat it up.
Still, it’s generally hard to keep the attention of mostly four to eight-year-olds for an hour. While attention occasionally wavers, one particular movement stands out as the afternoon’s favourite judging by crowd response. “Eager Elephant” is an amusing illustration of a calf attempting to match the grandeur of a mature elephant’s fanfare. Each trumpet sequence is mimicked by a timid, shaky violin. The crowd erupts in laughter each time the violin makes another attempt at matching the register. Eventually, the young elephant gains confidence and girth, and the piece flies into harmony.
The end of the show is signalled by the winding down of tempo, almost as if the concert is scoring an entire day from morning to night. A dulcet, delicate “Swan In The Mist” leads into a reflective and somber “Cricket Lullaby.” If this were not a show for children, it would be a dramatic way to end.
But this is not that type of show. “Maestro Mouse Reprise” brings us back into one final swoop upwards. The symphony welcomes the crowd as part of the final movement with a decrescendo, making space for the audience’s rhythmic clapping. This is the fun — and even the point — of an interactive show. Gilmour-Darling reminds us that “life’s a symphony.” Go wild.
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