Unless you have a young girl in your house (as I do) you’ve probably shrugged your shoulders at an upcoming Dayton Philharmonic concert, “Barbie at the Symphony”. On September 27th, the DPO will be playing live while scenes from the Barbie films are projected above the stage. Now I know, I know, there are arguments about the unrealistic expectations we’re placing on young girls about beauty, etc., but given my daughter’s current “princess” stage, among other things, my wife and I have allowed her to play with Barbies and even watch some of the videos.

There are really many things to appreciate about the films. The ballet sequences are choreographed by Peter Martins of the New York City Ballet and classical music is abundant. It’s funny, but a few weeks ago, we even heard my daughter humming Tchaikovsky’s Waltz from Sleeping Beauty after she saw it in a Barbie movie. No, she has no idea she’s humming Tchaikovsky, but I still think it’s a positive. I know I first heard Rossini, Wagner, and Von Suppe in Warner Brothers cartoons before I even knew who Rossini, Wagner, and Von Suppe were. My only hope is that my Rebekah will see the familiar video, but also note the work involved for the DPO in making the music come alive. We can’t wait!

 –Shaun Yu, Program Director/ Classical 88.1

P.S. Here’s a link for tickets: http://daytonphilharmonic.com/content.jsp?articleId=1293