Mendelssohn, Shakespeare, and a historic children’s opera

Saturday, February 29 | 7:30 PM | Thousand Oaks

Sunday, March 1 | 3:00 PM | Camarillo

At its next concert, New West Symphony is performing two of the most influential and powerful works of art - and you don't want to miss it.

Felix Mendelssohn's A Midsummer Night's Dream gave us the unforgettable Wedding March.

And Brundibár inspired hope in a generation of Czech Jews during a dark era of human history.

Mendelssohn reimagines Shakespeare

William Shakespeare wrote a play around 1596 called A Midsummer Night's Dream, a comedy involving eloping lovers, fairies, a magical flower love potion, a wedding, and a guy whose head gets turned into a donkey. In 1827, a German teenager named Felix Mendelssohn was so inspired by it that he wrote an incredible piece of music he titled the Overture to A Midsummer Night's Dream.

Usually an overture is the first piece of music in a full-length opera. By this time Felix had already written five operas -- no big deal for a 17-year-old, of course. LEARN MORE

Brundibár, the children's opera that survived the Holocaust

In 1944 the Nazis fooled the world. When Red Cross inspectors came to visit the Theresienstadt concentration camp, it looked like a peaceful and happy little town for Jewish people. The inspectors had no idea what life in the camp was really like.

In this strange "transitional" camp people starved, died of disease, and disappeared suddenly - but they were also allowed to have music. Orchestras, music lessons, and even jazz performances happened in the camp.

Most popular of all was a children's opera named Brundibár. Everybody wanted to see it, tickets were sold out, and it had a hidden anti-Nazi message. LEARN MORE

See it before it’s gone

Don't miss your chance to see both masterpieces live and in person at New West Symphony's next concert, with actors from Kingsmen Shakespeare Company and the Los Robles Children's Choir!

February 29 in Thousand Oaks and March 1 in Camarillo! Tickets start at $30 at newwestsymphony.org/dreams.