The Virginia Symphony Orchestra presents “The Music of Star Wars” Thursday May 4 at the Ferguson Center for the Arts

PressRelease

HAMPTONROADS,Va

TheMusicofStarWarsperformance will be held Thursday, May 4, 2023, 7:30 p.m. at the Ferguson Center for the Arts in Newport News This high-energy show brings together exciting compositions from some of your favorite Star Wars movies and shows Some of the most popular compositions from Star Wars that will be included are Star Wars: The Phantom Menace, Disney’s The Mandalorian, and Rogue One: A Star Wars Storyamongmanyothers American conductor and Norfolk native, Anthony Parnther, will conduct. Anthony has forged a singularly unique careerthatmeldshisloveforthemusicofallgenreswithhis prowess asaconductor,bassoonist,operasinger,producer storyteller comedian,andactivist.

On the scoring stages of Los Angeles, London, Nashville, Budapest, and San Francisco, Anthony has led and conducted recording sessions for many of the top international feature films, television series, and video game franchises in the world RecentprojectsincludeBlackPanther: WakandaForever,Avatar:TheWayofWater,Tenet,Ghostbusters:Afterlife TheAdamProject Slumberland,TheWay Back, Cheaper By The Dozen, Lost City, Little, The Hunt, Encanto, Turning Red, Ice Age: Adventures of Buck Wild, Diaries of a Wimpy Kid: Roderick Rules, Star Wars: The Mandalorian,StarWars:BookofBobaFett,Fargo,TheNight Of, 4400, League of Legends, The Lamplighters League, GuildWars,AmericanDad,Arcane,andmanymore

As the Music Director of the San Bernardino Symphony Orchestra in San Bernardino, California, Anthony has also conductedalonglistoftheworld’sgreatestartistsinvirtually every genre, including Joshua Bell, Jessye Norman, Yundi Li, Lynn Harrell, Frederica von Stade, Roderick Williams, The Canadian Brass, Rihanna, Jennifer Holliday, Kanye West,ImagineDragons,OmarApollo,RyX,Zedd,andAlan Walker His recent guest conducting appearances include theLosAngelesPhilharmonic,AtlantaSymphonyOrchestra, SimfònicadeBarcelonaiNacionaldeCatalunya Jacaranda - Music at the Edge, the World Opera Forum in Madrid, Spain, and many more. Anthony studied at Northwestern UniversityandYaleUniversityandresidesinLosAngeles Tickets start at $25 and can be purchased in advance by calling 757.892.6366, visiting www.virginiasymphony.org or visiting the Virginia Symphony Box Office at 150 Boush Street, Suite 201, Norfolk, VA 23510 from 10 a.m. 4:30 p.m., Monday Friday. For group sales of 10 or more, call 757.213.1431

(PHOTOCOURTESYOFUNSPLASH)

Attract backyard birds with the right seeds

FromFamilyFeatures

While almost all bird seed may look pretty much the same to you, it doesn’t to the birds you’re feeding Knowing what kinds of seeds different birds like can help you attract a variety of fine feathered friends to your feeders

Consider these popular seed types and the common backyard birds they attract: Sunflower - Black sunflower seeds attract blue jays, goldfinches, woodpeckers purplefinches chickadees titmiceand nuthatches Stripedsunflowerseedsappeal

Surfers Healing

from Page 1 to chickadees, doves, grosbeaks, northern cardinals, nuthatches, titmice and woodpeckers Sunflower hearts (also known as “hulledsunflower”and“sunflowerchips”) attract chickadees common redpolls juncos, doves, finches, goldfinches, grosbeaks,nuthatches,pinesiskins,titmiceand woodpeckers Nyjer -Theselightweight, tinyseedsare a favorite of goldfinches Put nyjer seeds in a hanging feeder with tiny holes so the small seeds won’t get blown away Nyjer alsoattractsredpolls juncos doves,indigo bunting and pine siskin.

Safflower - These white seeds are slightlysmallerthanblacksunflowerseeds Because they are bitter grackles blue jays starlings - and squirrels - don’t like them. However, they do attract doves, purple finches, chickadees, titmice and downy woodpeckers White millet - Good for scattering on the ground, white millet attracts ground feeders such as juncos, sparrows, indigo buntings, towhees and mourning doves.

Crackedcorn-Popularwithgroundfeeders cracked corn appeals to doves, crows, jays sparrows, juncos and towhees Avoid gettingfinelycrackedcornasit’svulnerable to rot and can quickly turn to mush. water on a board surfing, we were connecting, we were justlikeanyotherfatherandson Itwasheartwarmingand created a relationship, we bonded and we started Surfers Healingbytakinghisclassoutsurfing Itwasmaybesixkids, asaspecialdayprogram.Ienlistedsixguys,myoriginalsix, thenwetookoutanothersixkids,andthatwasover27years agoinSantaOnofre California.

When choosing a bird seed mix, pay attention to the ingredients list on the package Bird seed is required by law to list ingredients in order of content. Some cheaper mixes have filler seeds such as wheat, red milo, red millet or “assorted grainproducts.”Mostbackyardbirdswon’t eat those, and your seed mix could end up wasted on the ground.

Learnmoreaboutmakingyourbackyard an oasis for birds of all kinds at eLivingtoday.com.

Y: How did you put such an amazing, diverse team of volunteers surfers workers together to give up their time money and everything else not just for Virginia Beach but theotherlocationstoo?

IP:Theyknowtheyaredoingsomethingincredible Last year was the biggest endeavor we’ve ever had We did five states and seven camps tours, greater than anything we’ve everdone Theyaregoinghomeafterbeinggonefor2weeks andwillstruggletopayrent Theydon’tmindbecausethey aresointothis Theyareverygratefultobeletintothelives of parents with autism. It means so much to the surfers to beapartofthatandyoucanhearmyguysandgalssaytothe families,thankyouforlettingmebeapartofthisandtaking your child out to the water to ride those waves together Andthat’stheworldtome,itwarmsupmyheartandthat’s whatmakesmecrywhenIheartheloveandpassionthatmy guysandgalshaveforwhattheydo Idon’tcallthemsurfers anymore,theyarehealers It’smorethanaserviceorasport that can be misconstrued as trivial. There’s so much magic that happens with acceptance and healing, an awakening that the family needs as they continue this long life with autismthatwillbedifferent.

Y:HowdidSurfersHealinggrow?

IP: We did summer programs, then we did North Carolina19yearsagoandMalibuandSanDiagoanditjustgrew fromthere.Ialwaysworryabouttakingchildrenoutinasafe wave Butconditionschangeinthewater.Alsoourgroupof volunteers got better and their length of time volunteering got longer Bucky, one of the surfers has been volunteering for 17 years and Blake for 13 They are maestros on the waterwiththechildrentothepointwheretheyareripping They are not just standing up and riding in, but ripping it withanautisticchildonaboard.Thatmomentonthebeach is elevated with excitement and you can hear the roars on the beach when either one of them takes off When I hear whistlingandscreaming,Iknowit’sthosetwo.Mygoalfor every child is to have only real hero surfers take them out, likeIdidmyson.

Yiorgo is an arts, entertainment and sports writer A stage, TV and movie actor, he is also a sports entertainer, educator, motivational speaker, writer, storyteller and columnist.

ABOVE:

Participants in a previous Surfers Healing event (PHOTOS BYROBBIE HICKMAN)

LEFT: Surfers Healing founder Israel“Izzy Paskowitz (front) and his son Isaiah. (COURTESY PHOTO)