August 26, 1996
MINNESOTA ORCHESTRA RELEASES ANIMATED "STORYCONCERT"
VIDEO BASED ON THE AWARD-WINNING CHILDREN'S BOOK "ON THE DAY YOU WERE
BORN"
On the Day You Were Born first an award-winning children's book by
Debra Frasier, then a specially-commissioned symphony composed by Steve
Heitzeg (and premiered by Associate Conductor William Eddins and the Minnesota
Orchestra in 1995)-will be officially released September 25, 1996, as a
unique 30-minute animated video that weaves together a symphony and a story.
Priced at $19.95, plus a $3.95 shipping and handling fee, the video is available
by calling toll-free 1-888-MN-NOTES.
On the Day You Were Born is the first in a series of "StoryConcerts"
for children the Minnesota Orchestra plans to release under its trademark
"NotesAlive!" Narrated by the popular book's author, Debra Frasier,
the video features an animated cast of characters ranging from a herd of
reindeer to a tiny child.
Frasier's acclaimed book is a celebration of the natural world that features
the family of sun, moon, oceans, rain, trees, animals and people welcoming
a child to Earth. Published in 1991, it has sold nearly 600,000 copies to
date and has won numerous awards, including the gold Parent's Choice Award.
The video brings the storybook to life through music, entwining shots of
animated characters with Minnesota Orchestra musicians as they perform and
merging the On the Day You Were Born story with a concert experience. Produced
by award-winning producer Tacy Mangan, the video also offers behind-the-scenes
footage of Frasier at her childhood home on the Atlantic Ocean and Heitzeg
on his family's Southern Minnesota dairy farm, illustrating how the places
where the creators were born influenced the story they told. Minnesota Orchestra
Associate Conductor William Eddins conducts the performance and hosts the
video.
Matching the tone of Frasier's book, the video celebrates the earth and
earth's creatures, showing respect for the natural world. Heitzeg's score,
in order to evoke the natural elements and a certain wild freedom, calls
for musicians to play nonstandard instruments such as stones, llama hooves
and shell wind^chimes.
"I think it is a refreshing change from what kids are used to,"
says education specialist Steve Petersen of ARGO & Associates, who tested
the video with 170 Minneapolis and St. Paul children last spring. "It
is paced differently, sounds different and the animation is different. The
video challenges kids to see and hear things they normally wouldn't."
The project marks the beginning of a new venture for the Minnesota Orchestra,
which plans to release a series of similar videos on the NotesAlive! label
in upcoming years as part of the Orchestra's expanding educational initiatives.
Each video will feature an originally commissioned classical music setting
of a children's book that will be animated to create a product parents and
teachers can rely on to be entertaining, educational and of high quality.
"Quality of visuals and music has been our top priority from the start,"
says Orchestra Vice President E.B. Gill, who is executive producer of the
video along with Chief Marketing Officer of Minnesota Orchestra Visual Entertainment
(MOVE) Bruce Becker.
Orchestral footage for the project was captured by five Juntunen Video cameras
during a three-hour On the Day You Were Born recording session in January
1996. Animators from the University of Maryland's Imaging Resource Center
then synced movement to music, taking care to retain the simple look of
Frasier's art, which she had originally constructed with only paper, scissors
and glue. Although they used a computer to animate, "the finished product
doesn't have a typical computerized look," says Dan Bailey, director
of animation. "The child is the only character that moves smoothly.
The others move as though they are paper cutouts."
Every child loves to hear about the day he or she was born and this weaving
of a story about each of them with music that captures the world around
them may be unlike anything they've seen before. "Debra's book is not
about who is going to do what to whom," says Bailey. " It honors
the world that we live in and, in the video, the animation tries to stay
true to those environmental concerns and emphasize the music. It is very
spiritual, both the book and music."
The Minnesota Orchestra premiered Heitzeg's 18-minute composition at two
well-received Adventures in Music concerts on October 22, 1995, with William
Eddins conducting and actress Jane Alexander narrating. The work was commissioned
by the Minnesota Commissioning Club, a group of private citizens who have
been commissioning classical music by emerging American composers since
1990. Since its premiere in Minnesota, the work has been performed by the
Central Kentucky Youth Orchestra, Cedar Rapids Symphony, Cincinnati Symphony
Youth Orchestra, San Diego Symphony and San Francisco Bay Philharmonic,
and in November it will be played by the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra.
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