The Parnassus Club met at the home of Darlene Boley for the December meeting. Coralie Button, club president, led the business meeting. Plans for the spring auditions for voice and piano students were discussed. This year’s auditions will be March 7, at BCC. This annual event, held in the Fine Arts building, is an opportunity for students to perform before friends, family and a judge. The winners are given an award and in April perform for the members of the Parnassus Club.
A presentation of the story and music of ‘Peter and the Wolf’ was given by Sharon Jones. This children’s work was composed by Sergei Prokofiev and is an example of a tone poem. The imagination of the listener is guided by various musical instruments as a narrator tells the story of Peter and his encounter with the wolf. Prokofiev was a composer, pianist and conductor. His preference was composing and it is said that he would compose several works simultaneously. He was famous the world over and led a comfortable life. He was one of the early twentieth century composers that introduced dissonance in their compositions. This sound was not readily accepted at first. Born in Russia, he lived in the United States, Germany and France. He had returned to Russia where he died at the age of 62.