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Every member of the A.W.S. is under 30. Boudreau wants to excite the musical imagination of children by giving them a closeup of professionals at work. Last week he downed gangplank at Point Pleasant, W. Va., and the youngsters swarmed aboard and watched in wide-eyed bliss as orchestra members demonstrated their instruments.
∙JACOB'S PILLOW DANCE FESTIVAL (June 25-Sept. 1) is Biblically named after a round, imposing rock that still rests on the grounds of this once abandoned Lee, Mass., Colonial farm. Dancer-Founder Ted Shawn, 71, recalls that 50 people attended the first performance in a rustic barn-studio, and 45 of them were friends of F. Cowles Strickland, who inspired Shawn with the idea of starting what would become the leading U.S. dance festival. For this year's 70-performance season, an audience of 25,000 is expected. In the early days, Jacob's Pillow was a somewhat spartan and impromptu affair. There were no dressing rooms, and dancers sometimes had to make costume changes in the nearby bushes. Nowadays, a deceptively barnlike facade encloses a comfortable modern theater that seats 630; it is one of some 30 buildings occupied by students as well as performers.
Two dance groups are making their U.S. debuts: England's Western Theatre Ballet, a young, fresh-minded troupe that experiments with psychological dance drama, comedy and jazz as well as purely classic styles, and stars and soloists of the Paris Opera, who include Juan Guiliano, the versatile dancer of the now extinct Grand Ballet du Marquis de Cuevas.
∙CINCINNATI'S SUMMER OPERA FESTIVAL (June 19-July 21) is as casual and unpretentious as two of its most popular intermission refreshments—beer and popcorn. The unique setting may have something to do with it; the hilltop opera pavilion is located at the city zoo. "It isn't often you see grand opera next to the monkeys," says the opera association's president, John Magro. The animals make their presence and their preferences known. The ducks on the large lake directly behind the pavilion are partial to the death scene in Travia'a and last season quacked right along with Soprano Mary Curtis-Verna all through it. The lions were so fond of roaring along with the sopranos that the lion house had to be moved to another part of the zoo. Despite the comic relief, the "Zoo Opera" is a fairly venerable institution—it was founded in 1920.
Met singers Licia Albanese, Barry Morell, and Frank Guarrera have been on hand for the current season, which opened with Tosca and closed with Rigoletto. One of this year's highlights: a sellout performance of Cavalleria Rusticana by four Italian opera singers from Milan in honor of Composer Pietro Mascagni's 100th anniversary.