Jocelyn Son-Hing

This week, members of the Dallas Symphony Orchestra’s Teen Council have been making the case on the blog for classical music – how they got into it, and why you might want to give it a shot.

The Teen Council is sponsoring a DSO performance Saturday, and will be transforming the Meyerson Symphony Center before and after into a club with lots of events to appeal to young people. It’s the perfect weekend to take a chance on classical music, and we can help with that, with a pair of free tickets to the concert, which will be led by Jaap Van Zweden, and feature teen piano phenom, Don-yeon Kim.

Our thanks to the DSO for making the giveaways possible this week, and to the members of  the Teen Council, for sharing their thoughts. Sign up for the giveaway below.

But first, read Jocelyn Son-Hing’s case for classical music.

Name: Jocelyn Son-Hing

Age: 17

School: Plano Senior High School, University of Houston

How I got into classical music: I grew up with relatively little exposure to classical music outside of the piano lessons my parents enrolled me in as a child. However, as I trudged through the painfully awkward time that is known as middle school, there were three distinct things that really got me hooked:

1)     The Trans-Siberian Orchestra. ‘Nuff said.

2)     The musical score of the Lord of the Rings trilogy.  Ten hours of awesome sauce.

3)     Video game music!

I figured that since I really liked those, it wouldn’t hurt to try going back to the roots. I started listening to Beethoven, Mozart, and Carl Orff, and soon, my iPod was filled with a pretty eclectic array of music! I always get a kick out of putting it on shuffle to hear things like “All These Things That I’ve Done” by the Killers, “O Fortuna” by Carl Orff, “I Kissed A Girl” by Katy Perry, “The Marriage of Figaro” (Overture) by Mozart, and “Bad Romance” by Lady Gaga all within the same hour!

Why you should give it a shot: I totally agree with Claire and Charles on this one! A night at the symphony makes for a really cool and classy date! There is a huge range of musical styles within the classical music genre, so there is a good chance that you will find something that you like! You don’t have to be a pro musician to like it, either. I’m a Biomedical Engineering major and a total martial arts fanatic – definitely not your typical artsy person! There’s just something really magical about sitting in a gorgeous concert hall and hearing the musicians perform the music live. You’ll see what I mean if you give it a shot!

Enter below for a chance to win tickets to Saturday’s show.

UPDATE: We have a winner! Hope everyone enjoys Saturday’s show.