Stepping into a new and unknown world, Pinocchio is hoodwinked by Wolf and Cat and persuaded to disobey his father by skipping school in order to meet Dr. Dulcamara, a loathsome puppeteer.

Dulcamara detains Pinocchio with the intention of having him perform with his miraculous mechanical doll, Olympia. The puppet and doll become friends, and when Dalcamara breaks Olympia in a fit of rage, Pinocchio runs home to admit his disobedient behavior and ask his father’s forgiveness.

Pinocchio and his dad lead the authorities to Wolf, Cat and Dulcamara, and the bad guys are run out of town. As Pinocchio resolves to always tell the truth and share his problems with trusted grownups, he and his father head home to repair Olympia and begin life anew as a family of three.

Learning to always tell the truth and relying on responsible adults is a lesson that all children need to learn.

The Children’s Outreach Program of the Natchez Festival of Music will be presenting Pinocchio to children at a number of area schools, including Franklin County Lower Elementary and Franklin County Upper Elementary in Franklin County; at Brookhaven Elementary, Lipsey Middle, Brookhaven Academy and the Mississippi School of Arts in Brookhaven; at Vidalia Lower, Vidalia Upper, Ferriday Lower and Concordia Parish Academy in Concordia Parish on April 13-17; and to Natchez students at Adams County Christian School, Cathedral Elementary, Frazier Primary, McLaurin Elementary, Morgantown Leadership, Morgantown College, Morgantown Arts,  Robert Lewis Magnate School, Trinity Episcopal Day School, Wilkinson County Christian School, West Primary at Braden Auditorium April 20-24.

The education outreach program through the Festival of Music reaches out to all communities of children.

Pinocchio is an operatic version of the children’s literary classic, Pinocchio, by Carlo Collodi. It is based on scenes from operas composed by W. A. Mozart, G. Donizetti, J. Offenbach and G. B. Pergolesi. John Davies, libretticist for the opera, Pinocchio, created the words for the opera while using arias from famous operas.

The artists for the presentation are professional musicians auditioned by Dr. Jay Dean, Natchez Festival of Music, artistic director, in New York City.  They are Sophia Benedetti, Jonathan Dauermann, Jonathan Hill and Julie Silva. The artistic director and accompanist for the program is Jonathan Levin. The stage director is Diana Glaze. Stage manager is Landon Henry.

Public and private schools in Adams County share performances together.  Many of the children from all strata of society experience a medium of music that they have never experienced. Children in kindergarten through sixth grade are targeted. There is no charge for the performance. Nineteen performances will be presented in the two weeks with about 6,000 students in attendance.

The public is invited to attend any of the performances at Braden. The performances will be at 9:30 a.m. Monday-Friday and 12:30 p.m. Monday and Friday at Braden. The halls will be ringing with music and laughter.

 

Bobbye Wynn is a retired music teacher from the Natchez Adams School District and serves as chairman of the Children’s Outreach Program for the Natchez Festival of Music.