Youth symphonies to present concerts

Topeka — Three Topeka youth ensembles — the Debut Orchestra, the Youth Philharmonic and the Youth Orchestra, sponsored by the Topeka Symphony — will perform a winter concert at 2 p.m. Sunday at White Concert Hall, 17th and Jewell streets, Topeka.

Breta Bloomberg conducts the Debut Orchestra, composed of musicians from area elementary schools, and the Youth Philharmonic, composed of area middle school musicians. Steven Elisha conducts the Youth Orchestra, which includes area high school instrumentalists.

Tickets are $5 for adults and $2 for students and can be purchased at the door.

For more information, contact Kathy Maag at (785) 232-2032.

New book addresses colliding cultures

New York (ap) — Holiday-themed school plays and picture books often focus on the positive: The coming together of European settlers and American Indians for the first “Thanksgiving” meal.

A new children’s book by National Geographic, however, doesn’t gloss over the sometimes difficult relationship between the two groups.

In “Cultures Collide: Native Americans and Europeans 1492-1700” by Ann Rossi, young readers can see a page-by-page comparison of what life was like in North America before and after horses, trans-Atlantic trade and the desire to own land arrived on these shores.

Rossi examines how some Europeans tried to force their culture on the Indians — and how the Indians often rebelled.

But the book also notes what the two cultures learned from each other, including new foods and crops, architecture styles and how to fight disease.