Atlanta Symphony Orchestra presents
Students at the Symphony:
Midnight with the Mockingbird

Program Overview

The Atlanta Symphony Orchestra takes the audience on a musical adventure, performing symphonic favorites, including Danse Macabre and In the Hall of the Mountain King. Students will join Tweet, an Atlantan mockingbird, as they "tour" the Oakland Cemetery. From the characters Tweet meets throughout the tour, learn how composers use instruments to tell a story. This program aligns with state standards in Music, ELA, and Social Studies.

Preparing for your concert

Get to know the instruments of the orchestra and engage in classroom discussions to prepare for and reflect on the performance.

Click Here for Pre and Post Concert Activities

Concert Repertoire

Listen to musical selections from the concert and learn about the composers.

🔎 About the Composer: Modest Mussorgsky

🎵 Listen to the Music

🔎 About the Composer: John Williams

🎵 Listen to the Music

🔎 About the Composer: Camille Saint-Saëns

🎵 Listen to the Music

🔎 About the Composer: Edvard Grieg

🎵 Listen to the Music

🔎 About the Composer: Benjamin Britten

🎵 Listen to the Music

Classroom Connections

Explore the concert music and themes through these short, integrated lesson plans

Musical Storytelling

Explore how music tells a story and sparks imagination.

Musical Movement

Discover how composers use musical elements to create musical movement and communicate story and mood.

Musical Exploration through Thinking Routines

Respond to and connect with music through critical listening and creative routines.

Creating a Historical Monologue

Explore the Oakland Cemetery and learn about a historic figure through writing and performing a monologue.

Community Connection

Learn more about the Oakland Cemetery

Learn about the Oakland Cemetery landmarks and areas

Learn about the historical Georgian figures residing in the cemetery

Georgia Standards of Excellence

ELAGSE5W3: Write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or events using effective technique, descriptive details, and clear event sequences.

ELAGSE5SL1: Engage effectively in a range of collaborative discussions (one-on-one, in groups, and teacher-led) with diverse partners on grade 5 topics and texts, building on others’ ideas and expressing their own clearly.

ELAGSE5SL5: Include multimedia components (e.g., graphics, sound) and visual displays in presentations when appropriate to enhance the development of main ideas or themes.

SS5H6: Describe the importance of key people, events, and developments between 1950- 1975.

SS5G2: Explain the reasons for the spatial patterns of economic activities.

a. Locate primary agricultural and industrial locations between the end of the Civil War and 1900 and explain how factors such as population, transportation, and resources have influenced these areas.

ESGM5.CR.2: Compose and arrange music within specified guidelines.

ESGM5.RE.1 / ESBO.RE.1: Listen to, analyze, and describe music.

ESGM5.RE.3: Move to a varied repertoire of music, alone and with others.

ESGM5.CN.1: Connect music to the other fine arts and disciplines outside the arts.

ESGM5.CN.2: Connect music to history and culture.

ESD5.PR.4: Understand and apply music concepts to dance.

a. Demonstrate and create movement in response to a variety of musical selections.