More than 600 guests gathered on the spring-like afternoon of Feb. 28 to hear the Hanover Winds Symphony and Lakeland Youth Symphony perform at Memorial Junior School in Whippany. The ensembles played pieces chosen for the young and young-at-heart.

The Lakeland Philharmonia and Lakeland Strings Orchestra opened the concert with fingers flying and bows bouncing through favorite compositions of the Overture to The Magic Flute and “Trepak” from The Nutcracker, both conducted by LYS Music Director Petko Dimitrov.

The Hanover Wind Symphony, directed by Matthew J. Paterno and Kurt Zimmerman, began their portion of the concert with a fun arrangement of “Slim Trombone,” followed by excerpts from “Carnival of the Animals” by Saint-Saens with the light-hearted rhymes of Ogden Nash. Next, they followed Bilbo Baggins in “The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey,” with accompanying narration depicting the adventure of Gandalf and the hobbits.

They rounded out their program with “Companion of My Voice,” “Peter and the Wolf,” and the “Unexpected Song” from Song and Dance. Before closing this section of storytelling and music, the Hanover Winds played the “Star Wars Saga” incorporating many familiar themes of the movies.
For the last piece of the concert, Lakeland Youth Symphony joined the Hanover Wind Symphony on stage to perform “Music from Frozen.” Soloists played the different melodies throughout, highlighting the skill in both groups. The audience was enchanted, with many children dancing along in their seats.

Since 1957 the LYS has provided musical education and performance opportunities for young musicians in Northern New Jersey. The organization now offers four progressively challenging levels of orchestras for experienced students, and a wonderful Enhanced Suzuki violin program for beginners.

The LYS is a not-for-profit organization. Funding is provided through tuition, private donations and fund raising activities. For more information, visit www.lakelandyouthsymphony.org. Lakeland serves northern Morris County residents, as well as Caldwell residents and Essex County.