And good morning, good morning, good morning, and welcome, welcome,
welcome time now for our community connection with ok Man. I gotta tell you
we've got a big fortieth anniversary coming up here. It's hard to believe it's
been around that long. Hey did Marilyn, I'm great, Tom, Good
morning, how are you doing? Super We've got all things to consider here
because we're kind of doing a retro thing. We are. We're taking it
back to our very first, our fortieth, our first of our fortieth festival,
and we're very excited. It's a three day special festival. This year,
however, the kids portion leading into it is the traditional very week long
jam packed with over eighteen showcase events for kids, all of which are free
except for the tea, which is also very affordable. So can I start
off with the kids that Okay? You know something, We better start off
with the kids, because I got to tell you. One of the missions
of Okay is education. As these programs since I've been here for five it's
mushroom death and it grows, it grows every year. And yes, one
of our mentions is music education and making music accessible to all, and that
includes our little guys in the community and we are so tickled pink. This
season, Friday, we kick off out at SunFest with Native American hoop dancers
and so we're so excited to bring them back. Every child will receive a
hoop, so they need to come out dance. I think last year we
had over two hundred kids. It was crazy. We're very excited to say
that Chevron Phillips has partnered with us and so they'll be out there. They'll
help us volunteer, help pass out those hoop to the kids. On Saturday
is our beloved Winnie the Pooh tea. Of course, it's always a tee.
This year it's themed Winnie the Pooh, so I'm very excited about that.
I like Tigger, e Or and Winnie the Pooh. That will be
at Saint Luke's Church then Saturday evening, and it's actually been moved to I
think First Presbyterian if I'm not mistaken. Kiley Droja's little brother is getting married
and so Saint Luke's had to move us and that was absolutely fine on our
part. We love it that Kielle, who partners with us all the time,
is having a special occasion that day, so we'll be moving over to
First Presbyterian and we'll be doing a very special keyboard orchestra, and so two
weeks leading up there will be lots more details coming out very soon. We
will have an amazing keyboard orchestra that for the first time ever, kids will
learn how to play a keyboard if they don't know how to play a keyboard
piano, but then they'll also learn how to use it very specially to make
the sounds that you would find in an orchestra, so brass instrumentation, string
instrumentation, and we're very excited about that. Kathy Stewart and Lisa Steele are
helping us put that on and they are phenomenally amazingly talented and so they're sharing
their knowledge to help put this on. Sunday night, we will then have
Twinkle Little Stars piano recital, which again Lisa's teels students will perform for us
and they are amazing. Then we will also I'm sorry that was actually in
the afternoon. That night, we'll have Boogie Bingo, which of course we
partner with no other than Bartlesville Radio, so with you guys, so that
will be exciting. Every family can come pick up their beinga cards at the
okm Office four fifteen soft Dewey, and then they will also get a free
pizza to take with them. I'm home and have that. Then we will
start off on Monday starts off our story and music experiences and we'll have Frederick
the Mouse Violinist that will be presented at the library and every child will get
a book. They will also get a violin, so they should come definitely.
They'll be taught a little bit about the instrument and of course hear the
story about Fredrico. Then we'll follow that on Monday, June third, at
one pm My Amazing Mozart, which is also another really fabulous story about Mozart
and what a genius and blessing he was to the world with all of his
wonderful, beautiful compositions and just and sort of sense of humor. He had
a very silly sense of humor, and I think kids will find that very
amusing. That again will be at the Bartlespee Library. Then followed in the
afternoon, we will have a Yukulele Dreams experience, which is also a story
about a little girl who really wants to play the ukulele but keeps getting sort
of torn apart by you know, she wants to go play outside, she
wants to go to the mall and shop. She just can't quite get herself
in check to do these ukulele lessons. Finally she does and learns to play
beautifully and falls in love with it. So again every child will receive a
ukulele and that book, so we encourage them to come out for that.
I think it's a really cute story. Tuesday, we kick off in the
morning with a book that is adorable called Riise and Shine. It's also about
a little mouse and instrumentation, and so again every child will get a book
and an instrument. On Tuesday, at one we have a wild Symphony music
experience about all these animals who want to form a symphony, and so that
should be kind of a jungle, sort of crazy type of experience. So
that will also be at the Bartlesville Library. Then on Tuesday evening we do
the Twinkle Big Stars, which are Lisa's older kids a little bit more experienced,
who will also put on a piano recital. And again we know that
they're going to be amazing. These kids are just so talented. Tuesday evening
we will then go to Tulsa for our first puppet show, take Flight.
That'll be at the Hardest Ya Library and that's always a huge event. It's
wonderful. We usually have over three hundred kids who come in. Hardesty partners
with us to help us put that on. It's fantastic. Rose Dad and
our interns go over there and get all these kids and see an amazing puppet
show. Then on Wednesday we bring the puppet show up to Bartles. That's
a lot of moving. That is at ten am we'll have Kira's Song,
which will be at Father Lynch Hall is a puppet show, and then that
afternoon we'll have mostly Mozart the puppet show and if I understand correctly from this
puppet company coming to us, Mozart, Little Mozart will be I'm seeing both
events and so we're very excited to meet him. We're very excited to see
him, and we think it's pretty special that they've created a puppet just for
Okam music. This puppet didn't exist before this season and so he's a brand
new puppet. I like you, so yeah great, it is a very
exciting. Thursday, we move over to my favorite which is art, and
so we have an art and music immersion over at Boots and Brushes at ten
am, so every child we'll get a canvas, we'll do some painting,
we'll listen to some classical music, and we'll talk about both. So it's
an educational but fun while you're learning. You don't even know's yes, it
would be awesome. And then we have another Boots and Brushes session that afternoon
at two, So if you didn't get enough painting the first more in the
morning, you just come back for a little bit more. That night,
we have a very special tribute and I'm very excited about this. We have
a rock and Roll ice cream social honoring and paying tribute to our hero John
Bond, who we miss dearly, but you know, we know he'll be
with us. He just he loved music, he loved kids, and he
really loved ice cream. So I don't want to put any of those in
anyone specific order, but that will be at Unity Square that evening weather permitting.
If not, we'll try to move it indoors into the Community Hall at
the Community Center. And then lastly, we will have Melody's Most Musical Day
that will be put on by Jenny Lynn in Tulsa at Kasha If for those
of you who aren't familiar with Kasha. That's a school at private school in
Tulsa. It's beautiful. I call it the Hogwarts of Tulsa. It looks
sort of like Hogwarts from Harry Potter. And she will be performing that children's
concert via piano, of course, she's a pianist, and we'll be performing
later that night for our festival. But you know, we're very fortunate to
have her perform that. And I think I mentioned before in one of our
other sessions that I hope she's bringing her daughter. We have not gotten to
meet her daughter since she was born, and so I think she's probably like
three year of four now, so we're probably so we're really hoping that she
will do that. Rose of course, always wants me to stress that these
these events are free, but they are ticket into the sense that you have
to reserve a spot. So we ask everyone to go either come into the
office at four fifteen Seft Dewey, call the office at nine one eight three
three six nine nine zero zero, or go on to our website okmusic dot
org and go to the children's section and reserve your spot. For those please
put in the parents' name and then of course all the children's name, so
we know all who's coming and who's what age and so on and so forth,
so we ensure that we have the proper spots for everybody. And you
know, people don't show up and they can't attend because it's sold out,
and they really do fill up, and usually they do. They do sell
out. So sellout is a different word in the sense that doesn't cost anything,
but out they do. They fill out. That's a better word.
They populate. So please again, go okammusic dot org. Come by the
office four fifteen self, Dewey or at three three six nine nine zero zero
and Rose or Mary, Lynn or John will help you get your tickets.
Why do I get this feeling this little mozart guy is not a one and
done. I get the feeling he's got to be hanging around along, I
hope. So I'm like so excited to get to see that little guy take
on almost a life of its own. We've got stuff with the big people
too, now, don't wait, We absolutely do. So after we finish
all of that craziness and funness with the kids Friday, we will kick off
with our beloved concert out at wool rock, and so of course, in
typical fashion, it will be a beautiful evening with lots of music, lots
of wonderful food, just selldps in our very own intern who's returning, and
his intern for us all throughout being at the university or at Oklahoma State University
has been working hard helping us get ready for all of this. But she's
going to come. Last year, you kind of heard her pop rocket as
Alicia Keys, a little bit of country. I think she did a little
bit of Reba and I'm trying to remember how she did she did. Oh
my goodness, that girl woo. I always trying to get her dressing at
the office and she just kind of smiles at me, like, I like,
really, really, I don't think Josh, I don't think she quite
understands just how good she really is. No, she she is amazing,
very amazing well, and not only amazing in her talent vocally and through playing
her violin, but just an amazing go get her. In fact, she
texted me and emailed me earlier this week and said, Hey, I've reached
out to all my professors, I passed out posters. Can I get you
to help send this email to the rest of my professors, just inviting them
to come. I've already drafted the email for you. All you need to
do is just copy and paste and sent it. And I was like,
Jessella, I love you so much. So this kid, this kid is
amazing and it's great, it's awful, it is and it's the interns,
you know that we have every summer and all season long that really truly make
Okay, I'm successful. We absolutely could not do it without them. So
Jesselle will be opening up. She's going to be singing I Believe opera and
then also playing her violin, which we are so excited about. So this
year it will be very different than last season, but she's equally talented in
whatever she does. It will be then followed by the Manhattan Chamber Players,
which is an amazing orchestral ensemble. All of these guys went to late Juilliard
and various colleges together, have performed together, and then just decided these guys
are all friends, that wouldn't it be fun if they performed and formed their
own ensemble, And so they have and they perform all over the world,
and I just we're ecstatic to have them here. I think it's going to
be a beautiful evening. Of course it will be followed by fireworks. I
will give one sneak that prices meat Market's going to be out there, so
he always has amazing food. We have a lot of other good food trucks
coming too. Yeah, but I always have to give price to or Diana
shout out because he just, oh, his food is delicious. So I
don't know what he'll have yet, probably some Hamburger's hot dogs, but he
always has and it was always going to be good. On Saturday, we
head a south a little bit to cash A Hall again where Jenny Lynn will
perform her children's recital in the afternoon Melanie's Missley Music, and then we'll do
an evening concert where Tulsa Baroque Orchestra will perform for us starting at six,
and then Jenny Lynn and Adam Tindler. Jenny Lynn is a Steinway artist,
Adam is a Yamaha artist. They both will be performing on the piano.
They'll be performing together and then they'll be performing individually, and they are both
equally talented. Jenny has been around for a long time and it's just amazing.
She's been to the festival on multiple occasions. She is just amazingly talented,
just beautiful pianist. Adam is more up and coming, but still has
knocked it out of the park, has won all kinds of awards. Didn't
she kind of suggest he come along? She did? She she we had
talked to her. Gosh, probably about eighteen months ago she was here performing
at the Steinway Store actually in Tulsa. Invited Rose and I to come see
her, and we did. We took out today and then we talked about
her coming to this festival because it was very festival, you know, very
important fortieth anniversary. And then probably about six months ago, maybe seven months
ago, she reached out and said, Hey, how about if I bring
this young man with me. He's up and coming, he's amazingly talented,
he's won all kinds of awards. You're gonna really like him Adam. And
we were like, sure, absolutely, that's super amazing, and that's really
wonderful that we can have the diversity between them. They both tend to,
I think favor more modern compositions, but for this festival, because again it
is paying homage to Mozart, it is all classical, classical classical, so
are classic classical. So that's all Saturday again at Kasha Hall Tulsa Boroh Orchestra
followed by Jenny Lennon Adam Tindler, and then on Sunday we go over to
the Refinery and if you don't know the refinery, it's the Johnston Starah Building
and we will have the Tulsa Quartet will be opening for Usher Quartet. Usher
Quartet is returning to us from last year. They were so wildly received and
popular that many of our patrons asked if we could please have them back.
One of our patrons actually said, if I could afford it, I would
have them serenade me to sleep every night. They are just really, really
talented, amazing. The fun part is the two brothers of Extra Quartet actually
play in the Manhattan Chamber of Players ensemble too, so that's kind of fun.
So we'll get to have them here for the whole weekend and so we
really encourage people to come. We will have, of course, there'll be
food, more casual picnic type food out at wool Rock. We will have
some sort of finger food appetizers in Tulsa at cash A Hall, and then
again some more heavy appetizers wine at the Refinery prior to the concert. So
I think they all should be lovely concerts. You can't go wrong on any
of them. You'll have fireworks outdoor, wild animals, beautiful concert, beautiful
music, beautiful friends and people that you can come out and hang out with.
And then both for the two classical evenings again following it a little bit
more formal but equally beautiful, one at Casha Hall and then one at the
Refinery, So we ask everybody to come. You can buy tickets at okayatmusic
dot org, come see Rose and I in person at the office at four
fifteen South Dewey, or you can call nine one eight three three six nine
nine zero zero. Tickets are on sale, and we may have a little
bit of a Mother's Day special, so people should definitely check the website around
May tenth so for maybe a little Mother's Day gift. Hey, there you
go. I will also give a plug out to our sugar Plumb shop.
Let's do that. We have lots of amazing gift items that if you want
to come down and take a look at. We have bath products, we
have kitchenware products, we have beautiful items like jewelry. We have garden items,
so you can't go wrong. And it of course helps support all of
our children's programming. So if you come buy something for your mom, you're
also supporting the arts and it's a win win. I love it. Mary
Lynn, thank you very much for being with us today. Thank you so
much for having me. This is going to be big, a really big
shoe. Yeah, fifteen bazillion shows with the kids and everything else. Anyway,
go to the website, check it out, and then get tickets to
your arts content absolutely all. We've got news coming up, and do just a few