Introducing children to classical concerts - less doesn't have to mean lesser

[Guest]

Bristol Choral Society has written a blog on our thoughts & experiences of introducing a concert for children - essentially a 'Mini Messiah'. Full article is long, the gist is below (plus link to full thing):

'It's one of the perennial questions asked by those involved in promoting classical concerts: how do we get more young people (and indeed children) coming to hear how wonderful classical music is live, and to instil in them a real love for concerts and music in general?

There are, of course, several works written specifically for children (most based around a story), but to this writer, they seem very much to be an adults idea of what they think children want to hear, and after a performance, most children can be heard referring to part of the story as their 'favourite bit', rather than being that excited by the music itself.

We thought there must be a way to introduce families to classical music in a way that is only less in terms of quantity and not lesser in quality, without being at all condescending, or having any kind of gimmicks – letting the music speak for itself and letting the music become what the children go away remembering. idea of Mini Messiah came to us – how about picking out 10-12 varied numbers and squeezing them into an afternoon concert lasting under an hour, to make a family-friendly introduction to Messiah capable of exciting and holding the attention of all?...'

You can read the full blog here: http://bristolchoral.wordpress.com/2...o-mean-lesser/

Would be interested in your thoughts/comments..

[salymap]

Welcome scchoir. I am nothing to do with teaching children but think your ideas are sound. In the past many childrens' concerts and classes appeared to patronise the young, and I know how I hated being talked down to.
Even with the Courtauld/Sargent concerts years ago,Malcolm Sargent was guilty of setting words to popular orchestral works and suchlike gimmicks.
Aslong as your children and parents don't find the complete Messiah too much for them when they hear it
one day it sounds a good idea.

[french frank]

Tickets £5 and children free? Sounds like a snip!

I've certainly seen very young children who are prepared to listen to a concert for up to 30-40 minutes and who don't come back after the interval. And that's also fine if the the music didn't outstay its welcome as far as the children were concerned. Bite-sized chunks seem to me to be fine to introduce children to a different sound world - and to the excitement of live performance

I wonder whether the bigger difficulty isn't in persuading the parents to bring them? No problem, of course, if they (the parents) are among the minority who themselves love the music: you're providing just what they need to instil a love of the music in their children.

The family context has an advantage in possibly attracting parents with a love of the music, but it excludes the families where no such love exists. Schools might step in and organise visits, the disadvantage being that the 'school visit' syndrome can involve misbehaviour and unhelpfulful attitudes. I wouldn't want to be a teacher picking out the children most 'suitable' to be chosen to attend, but very small groups might be the answer.

Yes, family concerts aren't uncommon - St George's has them too. You are all doing wonderful work!


Edit: Just thought - maybe offer each local school a very limited number of free seats? The children who want to go will understand they're very lucky to get chosen to go!

[Mary Chambers]

I think it's an excellent idea, and I'd certainly have loved it when I was young (though I'm not sure how young). The orchestral concerts we were taken to (by school) when I was a youngster never really engaged me or excited me, but the first Messiah I went to at the age of fourteen bowled me over. Even at an earlier age I think I'd have liked it, but then singing was always my passion, and much of the music was already familiar to me from records. I think it's very important that in these pop-dominated times children know there's another way of singing!

The other way music really affected me in childhood, from a very young age, was through ballet. I did enjoy Peter and the Wolf as well.

My own children heard lots of classical recordings, and came to a few concerts with me, though they ignored that side of music in their teen years. It sank in, though - they like it now! The important thing is that children know it exists.

[scchoir]

Thank you all for your comments.

Tickets £5 and children free? Sounds like a snip!

I wonder whether the bigger difficulty isn't in persuading the parents to bring them? No problem, of course, if they (the parents) are among the minority who themselves love the music: you're providing just what they need to instil a love of the music in their children.

The family context has an advantage in possibly attracting parents with a love of the music, but it excludes the families where no such love exists. Schools might step in and organise visits, the disadvantage being that the 'school visit' syndrome can involve misbehaviour and unhelpfulful attitudes. I wouldn't want to be a teacher picking out the children most 'suitable' to be chosen to attend, but very small groups might be the answer.

Yes, family concerts aren't uncommon - St George's has them too. You are all doing wonderful work!


Edit: Just thought - maybe offer each local school a very limited number of free seats? The children who want to go will understand they're very lucky to get chosen to go!

Absolutely a snip - this was an advantage (and to me a key point) in presenting the concert as family entertainment, very much with your second point in mind - it makes it cheaper than a trip to the cinema, or even an hour wandering the shops, probably - thereby opening up your potential audience to just about anyone with children. There is a huge demand for family stuff out there, and as long as you make it look like something that children will enjoy you have a good chance of bringing in those people: parents will do all sorts of things with their children that would never do as adults on their own (panto, children's films etc). We also wanted to make it much cheaper than the existing children's concerts (which can be more than £30 for a family of 4).

We attracted nearly 1,000 to the last year's debut - unfortunately we have no audience data, but I would be amazed if all (or even most) of these fall into the category of those who have a love for the music already - and that was very much the 'feeling' in the Hall on concert day.

We did consider the school trip idea, but the main problem is our concerts are on a Saturday afternoon (and last year's was the day after schools finished for Christmas, meaning a close to 0% chance of teachers wanting to organise such a thing!). We did of course concentrate on schools and asking teachers to encourage parents that it might be something they would like to do as a family activity.

[scchoir]

My own children heard lots of classical recordings, and came to a few concerts with me, though they ignored that side of music in their teen years. It sank in, though - they like it now! The important thing is that children know it exists.

I think you have to prepared to 'lose' some for 10, 15 or even 20 years or more - my own theory though is that those who have already experienced something in childhood won't feel intimidated or shut out of something (any really bad experiences aside!), and therefore more likely to come back to it in adulthood when they're ready than those who come to it fresh.
Like you say, the important thing is that children grow up knowing it's there, and that it's nothing to be scared of.

[2nd Violinist]

Great Music

I think the best way to introduce the young to great music is with a great performance. I am always disppointed that most British Orchestras do not have concerts for young people with their best conductors, frequently bringing in cheaper alternatives and paying lip-service to education.

If they really want to do a children's concert get someone who relates to kid's to introduce it (if the conductor is not one of them) and get a really great conductor. How about Daniel Radcliffe introducing a concert with Gergiev conducting?

[MrGongGong]

I think the best way to introduce the young to great music is with a great performance. I am always disppointed that most British Orchestras do not have concerts for young people with their best conductors, frequently bringing in cheaper alternatives and paying lip-service to education.

If they really want to do a children's concert get someone who relates to kid's to introduce it (if the conductor is not one of them) and get a really great conductor. How about Daniel Radcliffe introducing a concert with Gergiev conducting?

I took a group of teenagers to an LSO rehearsal with Gergiev once
an interesting experience for us all
but I take the point
that's not always the case though !

Tony Pappano does some great things in this area