On the last day of September, before the lighting of the Starvation Gulch fires, The Artic Chamber Orchestra, conducted by Eduard Zilberkant, preformed the orchestral introduction piece "Peter and the Wolf."

The narrator was TV anchorman Bob Miller.

"Peter and the Wolf" garnered notoriety in 1946 when Disney made it into an animated film watched by many today. The piece is unique because it uses various parts of the orchestra to emotively represent various animals and characters in the story.

The waddling personality of the duck is evoked with oboes, whereas the flute is used for the more twittering bird. The effusive Peter's boyish mischievousness are aptly embodied by the entire string section, and the hunters guns boom through the drums. The colorful music fills pauses in the story after every sentence.

The same way children's books have pictures on every page that serve as visual representations of words.

"It is such an incredible piece," Zilberkant said, "because so many people know it and so few get to hear it live."

Kiernan Thompson, 7, agreed with the maestro.

"I liked it better than the cartoon because you got to see all the instruments and because someone was telling the story," Kiernan said.

Kiernan's brother Logan, 5, was willing to admit that he was scared during parts of the performance but claims "not on all of it"

The story is the tale of a young hero who craftily rids a meadow of a menacing wolf. Unlike the hunters coming for the wolf with guns, Peter captures the monster that gobbled the duck whole with a small bird and some rope. Miller made the most of his role and included the local reference of West Valley High School's mascot. His narration was engaging and the audience responded to his self depreciating humor immediately. The orchestra preformed superbly and, as usual, Zilberkant enthusiastically and deftly orchestrated it all.

Jenny Carroll, recalled her family's experience at the play with her daughters, Jeanetta, 8, and Lynneva, 5. "Both girls huddled against me when the wolf came," Caroll said.