As Philip Mann prepares to lead his first concerts as Arkansas Symphony Orchestra’s music director on October 2, the orchestra, based in Little Rock, posted a three-minute welcome video at its website. The video—created by the video team of Dave Craft, Katherina-Marie Yancy, and Neil Sommerlatte—gives a mini-tour of the state for Mann, sprinkled with often humorous welcomes from people ranging from Governor Mike Beebe to athletic coaches and cheerleaders, a cow, fishermen, and music students from the Arkansas Symphony Youth Orchestra. Visitors may also contribute written welcome messages for Mann; as of September 28 there were 68 messages at the site. Mann moves to Arkansas from San Diego, where he has been serving as assistant conductor at the San Diego Symphony Orchestra through the League of American Orchestras’ American Conducting Fellows program. The ASO is based in Little Rock, where it performs classics and pops concerts at the Robinson Center.
Posted September 30, 2010
