Foroud and the Song of the Castle

WILT Imagined Adventures Suite

I. Running on Rooftops
II. AutoBonn
III. March of the West River

POUPEL Childhood Memories (Persian Suite)
WILLIAMS Welcome to Jurassic Park
SILVESTRI The Avengers (Main Theme)
WILLIAMS Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone
POWELL “Test Drive” from How to Train Your Dragon
POUPEL Foroud, Overture for a Tragic Hero

"A storybook adventure where castles appear, heroes rise, and the orchestra becomes the storyteller."

Once upon a time, in a world not so far from our own, there was a castle that only appeared when the air was just right — when the clouds leaned low, when the moon felt brave, and when the wind carried the faintest hint of music. Most people walked past the hillside and never noticed a thing. But a few did. The ones who listened closely. The ones who still believed that stories can open doors. At the foot of the path, Kevin Wilt’s Imagined Adventures Suite sets the journey in motion — racing across rooftops, darting through dazzling machines, and marching toward distant horizons with all the thrill of a story just beginning. Then, as the path climbs higher, Farhad Poupel’s Childhood Memories (Persian Suite) unfolds like a treasured storybook — scenes of distant places, bright colors, and memories that glow like lantern light. And then…the gates swing wide. Beyond them waits the wonder of Welcome to Jurassic Park — towering, majestic, and filled with awe. Turn the page and you’re suddenly in a candlelit hall where magic is real and every staircase has a secret: music from Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone shimmers with spells, friendship, and daring. From there the adventure grows even larger, as heroes rise with the power of The Avengers and dragons soar through the sky in the exhilarating “Test Drive” from How to Train Your Dragon. But the heart of the tale is the one whispered about in every corridor of the castle: Foroud. In Farhad Poupel’s Foroud, Overture for a Tragic Hero, a hero steps forward — not perfect, not fearless, but brave in the way that matters most. The music becomes a legend: a song of courage, loss, and the kind of hope that refuses to disappear. Performed especially for kindergarten and first-grade students in Vero Beach, with young listeners arriving by school bus to experience the magic of live orchestra for the very first time, Foroud and the Song of the Castle is a place where stories open doors, heroes come alive, and the orchestra doesn’t just play music… it tells a story.

Children encounter stories long before they encounter symphonies.

They hear them in books, in movies, in bedtime tales, and in the games they invent for themselves. Long before they learn the language of melody, harmony, or orchestration, they already understand something fundamental about music: it helps tell a story.

That idea lies at the heart of Foroud and the Song of the Castle.

Throughout the program, young listeners are invited into a world where imagination guides the journey. Kevin Wilt's Imagined Adventures Suite captures the excitement of discovery, transforming the orchestra into a vehicle for exploration and wonder. The music races, dances, and surges forward, encouraging children to imagine rooftops, distant lands, and exciting new possibilities.

Farhad Poupel's Childhood Memories (Persian Suite) offers a different kind of adventure. Drawing upon Persian musical influences and personal recollections, the work demonstrates how music can preserve memories and emotions that words often struggle to express. Even listeners encountering these sounds for the first time can recognize the feelings behind them—joy, curiosity, nostalgia, and wonder.

The familiar worlds of Jurassic Park, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, How to Train Your Dragon, and The Avengers reveal another important role music plays in storytelling. These scores help audiences understand what characters are feeling before a single word is spoken. A soaring melody can suggest courage. A mysterious theme can create anticipation. A powerful brass fanfare can announce the arrival of a hero. By listening carefully, children begin to discover how composers use musical ideas to shape the stories we love.

At the center of the program stands Foroud, Overture for a Tragic Hero. Inspired by a character from the ancient Persian epic Shahnameh (The Book of Kings), the work introduces students to the idea that heroic stories exist in every culture. Although Foroud lived in a story written more than a thousand years ago, the qualities he represents—courage, honor, kindness, and sacrifice—remain meaningful today. Through music, children encounter a hero not through dialogue or narration, but through the emotional power of the orchestra itself.

Perhaps most importantly, this program introduces students to the unique experience of live performance. Many of these children will hear a symphony orchestra in person for the very first time. They will discover that every instrument has its own voice, that dozens of musicians can work together to tell a single story, and that music possesses a remarkable ability to transport us to places that exist only in our imagination.

In the end, Foroud and the Song of the Castle is about more than castles, dragons, heroes, or adventure. It is about helping young listeners discover that music is one of humanity's oldest forms of storytelling—and that every great story begins with the simple act of listening.

Farhad Poupel is an internationally acclaimed Iranian-born composer whose music has been performed by leading artists and orchestras throughout North America, Europe, and Asia. Now based in the United Kingdom, Poupel is recognized for his richly expressive musical language, vivid orchestral colors, and compelling sense of narrative, drawing inspiration from literature, mythology, poetry, history, and cinema.

His works have been performed by organizations including the National Symphony Orchestra in Washington, D.C., the National Orchestra of Iran, the Windsor Symphony Orchestra, and numerous youth and professional ensembles worldwide. Acclaimed musicians such as Peter Jablonski, Jeffrey Biegel, Margaret Fingerhut, Guy Johnston, and Kotaro Fukuma have championed his music, which has also been featured on BBC Radio 3 and international broadcasts.

A frequent collaborator with performers and orchestras across the globe, Poupel has received commissions for works ranging from solo piano pieces to large-scale orchestral and choral compositions. His recent creative focus has centered on stories from the Shahnameh (The Book of Kings), the great Persian epic, bringing its timeless heroes and legends to contemporary audiences through music.

Born in Isfahan, Iran, Poupel began his musical studies on the santur and piano before pursuing composition under the mentorship of renowned Iranian composer Saeed Sharifian. His music combines influences from both Eastern and Western traditions, creating a distinctive voice that is intellectually engaging, emotionally resonant, and accessible to audiences of all backgrounds.

Poupel currently serves as Composer-in-Residence of the Mithra Orchestra in Tehran and continues to build an international reputation as one of the most exciting emerging voices in contemporary classical music.

Kevin Wilt is a classical music evangelist. He composes music to introduce new audiences to the joy, drama, and adventure of classical music through familiar colors and lush textures, while engaging seasoned audiences with an underlying craftsmanship and sophistication. Composer John Corigliano praised his expert orchestration and beautiful writing, while the Bloomington Herald wrote, “[his music] has a keen sense of mood and tonal balance.”

Kevin’s recent commissions include AutoBonn for Michael Francis and The Florida Orchestra, and March of the West River, premiered at the College Band Directors National Association Southern Division Conference.

He was a resident at the Millay Colony for the Arts, and winner of the Music Teachers National Association Commission in Florida. He won the Fresh Squeezed Opera Call for Scores with his chamber opera, Prix Fixe, and the Musical Chairs Chamber Ensemble Composer Search. He was awarded a grant by the Atlantic Coast Conference Band Directors Association to create Urban Impressions, a multi-movement work for large wind ensemble. He was a recent finalist for the Kaleidoscope Chamber Orchestra Call for Scores, a finalist for the ASCAP/CBDNA Frederick Fennel Prize, the Symphony Number One Call for Scores III, the Hartford Opera Theater Call for Scores, and the American Prize in orchestra, band, and chamber music categories.

Recent performances include those by the Space Coast Symphony Orchestra, the Sydney Contemporary Orchestra, the Boston New Music Initiative, Fifth House Ensemble, the h2 Quartet, Project Fusion, the Apollo Fund, SHUFFLE Concert, the Mexico City Woodwind Quintet, ensembles at the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music, the University of Texas at Austin, Florida State University, the University of Kansas, the University of Oklahoma, Michigan State University, Kennesaw State University, as well as a reading by the Detroit Symphony Orchestra under Maestro Leonard Slatkin.

Kevin is equally at home composing for film and television, earning him a Michigan Emmy® Award Nomination for Best Musical Composition. Other film projects include The Inevitable, The Happy Couple, a string quartet for the short film Renegade, and The Wars of Other Men.

He holds a Doctor of Musical Arts in Composition and a Master in Music Composition from Michigan State University, where he studied with Ricardo Lorenz and Jere Hutcheson, and Bachelor of Music Composition and Theory from Wayne State University in Detroit, Michigan.

He is Associate Professor of Music, Composer-in-Residence, and Chair of the Florida Atlantic University Department of Music in Boca Raton.

His works are published by Whistling Vine Music and Murphy Music Press.