The New York Philharmonic Very Young People’s Concerts (VYPCs), for children ages 3 to 6, will begin its 12th season Monday, January 9, 2017, at 10:30 a.m. and Sunday, January 15 at 12:30 and 3:00 p.m. at Merkin Concert Hall, 129 West 67th Street.
The program, titled “Strings,” is the first installment in Philharmonic Families, the season’s theme that presents an overview of the entire orchestra. Philharmonic Associate Principal Viola Rebecca Young is the host. The “Strings” program will feature Philharmonic musicians performing selections from Rossini’s La gazza ladra Overture and from Dvořák’s Serenade for Strings, as well as “We Are the String Family” to the tune of “Pop Goes the Weasel” and an excerpt from Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 4. The program will feature Philharmonic violinists Kuan Cheng Lu and Kerry McDermott, violist Judith Nelson, cellist Ru-Pei Yeh, and bass Max Zeugner. Designer Doug Fitch, with whom the Philharmonic has collaborated on several acclaimed staged productions, will create illustrations for the original story created to accompany Dvořák’s Serenade for Strings.