Strauss to perform at Ventura mission

Actor Peter Strauss, an Emmy award winner and Golden Globe nominee, will join Nuvi Mehta and an ensemble orchestra to narrate the tale of Peter and the Wolf at 2 p.m. Sat., Dec. 9 in a free performance at the Serra Center at San Buenaventura Mission, 211 E. Main St. in Ventura.

A 23member ensemble orchestra conducted by Ventura Music Festival artistic director Nuvi Mehta will perform.

Each character in the story is represented with a specific instrument and tune from an orchestra member. As the tale unfolds with Strauss' narration accompanied by the orchestra, imagery and imagination are enhanced through a blend of music and voice.

Sergei Prokofiev wrote the piece in 1936 to introduce children to the instruments of the orchestra.

The story tells how young Peter ventures into a meadow with his animal friends and captures a wolf. He hands the captured wolf over to hunters, and all of the characters come together in the finale where the wolf is taken to a zoo in a procession.

The concert is presented in association with the San Buenaventura Foundation for the Arts "Arts Explosion" Series. Sponsors are The Julius Guis Foundation of the Ventura Rotary Club and Mainstreet Architects + Planners Inc.