The Melrose Messenger

Melrose Symphony Orchestra Celebrates Baseball in Family Concert

By Ellen Putnam

On Sunday afternoon, the Melrose Symphony Orchestra played to a packed crowd of families and young children who had gathered in Memorial Hall for the symphony’s annual family concert.

This year’s concert was baseball-themed, in tribute to the first Boston Red Sox home game of the season, which took place last Friday at Fenway Park. The concert featured Randol Alan Bass’s 2001 musical accompaniment to Ernest Thayer’s 1888 poem, “Casey at the Bat” and a rendition of “Sweet Caroline,” along with the finale of Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s 1812 Overture.

As they have done in the past, the Melrose Symphony Orchestra (MSO) set up an “instrument petting zoo” in Memorial Hall before the event, where children could try out instruments, ranging from violins and cellos to trumpet and french horn to bass drum. The instruments were provided by Timeline Music in Wakefield, and MSO players helped children try out the instruments. Snacks were on sale, and children played and chatted with friends before the concert.

The concert began, in MSO tradition, with The Star Spangled Banner. Then Sean Going, former Red Sox mascot and the MSO’s longtime stage manager (“that voice who tells us to turn off our phones,” he called himself in his bio) took to the stage to recite “Casey at the Bat,” accompanied by the orchestra playing Randol Alan Bass’s piece. “Like all good baseball stories,” said Going, “this one is a metaphor for life.” The orchestral music took off on “Take Me Out to the Ball Game” for an exciting and stirring rendition of the poem.

At the piece’s conclusion, Going returned to the stage with giant cue cards to lead the audience in a singalong of “Sweet Caroline,” bringing the feeling of Fenway Park during the eighth inning into Memorial Hall - but with top-notch live music instead of the familiar recording.

Finally, Music Director and Conductor Yoichi Udagawa used a short passage of the 1812 Overture to demonstrate the sounds of different instruments to the audience, “so you can see which instrument you’d like to play,” he told the children. Showcasing each section - strings, woodwinds, brass, and percussion - on its own, then layering it back into the whole, Udagawa was able to make the sound of each section apparent for the audience. (“If your kid chooses the drums, God help you!” Udagawa quipped.) The 1812 Overture’s finale provided a rousing end to the concert that led into an encore performance of John Philip Sousa’s Stars and Stripes Forever.

The concert was short enough that even the youngest children could sit for it, but provided young community members with a window into orchestral music that may be a stepping stone into a lifelong appreciation for classical music.

For more information about the Melrose Symphony Orchestra and to purchase tickets for the season's final concert, May Pops Finale, on Saturday, May 3rd, visit their website.

Posted April 7th, 2025