Onward & Upward
Introducing Kids to Classical Music
August 4, 2007
By Martha Thomas
Photography By Bryan Burris
-
Email This Post
Print this article!
Digg
del.icio.us
Mahalo
StumbleUpon
YahooMyWeb
Determined to share her love of opera with her 6-year-old daughter, Kira, Paula Nersesian did her homework. She chose a kid-friendly show, she downloaded librettos from educational websites, she read over the story with Kira at bedtime. She even reviewed vocabulary terms such as “aria” and “bel canto.”
So how did Kira take to the actual opera, the Baltimore Opera Company’s production of The Bartered Bride? “She loved it,” says Nersesian, a public health consultant who lives in Washington, D.C. “She kept tugging at my sleeve and pointing out the characters she recognized, and she’s talked about it a lot since then.”
The Bartered Bride was also my daughter’s first opera. Unlike Nersesian, I didn’t prepare. The evening was a success, though. Mary, who is 7, could read the supertitles (if only by craning her neck). We sat in the third row, and many of the arias seemed as if they were being sung directly to us. The first act ended with a colorful and acrobatic circus. And on top of it all, a few of Mary’s friends from summer theater camp had walk-on roles in the production. Mary, too, has talked a lot about The Bartered Bride since then.
Introducing kids to classical music, like getting them to stick with a musical instrument, can be a tricky proposition. You need to press without pushing, encourage without nagging.
Marin Alsop, conductor of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, suggests starting children off with age-appropriate programs. Of course, there are plenty of kids’ concerts offered by the BSO, particularly the Saturday-morning family performances and the summer concert series (with fireworks) at Oregon Ridge. Many smaller orchestral groups offer children’s concerts that are a kind of “petting zoo” with instruments. The Hopkins Symphony has an annual family concert during which children are encouraged to mingle with the musicians.
But there’s nothing like the experience of a real symphony: Children can soak up the full glory of an orchestra, the energy of the conductor, the grown-up feeling of sitting in a seat surrounded by people who take their music seriously.
Alsop, who is a mother, agrees. “Some kids can handle more and should be encouraged to do so,” she says. When in doubt about children’s patience for a particular performance, she sits at the end of a row, “in case we need to run out.” She doesn’t worry about audience members’ resenting the presence of children. “People are usually thrilled to see young people giving symphonic music a try,” she says.
And well they should. One of the biggest worries among classical music administrators is the “graying of the symphony.” Organizations like the BSO are even adding circuses — see The Bartered Bride — to programs meant for adults, presumably to appeal to younger audiences.
During the intermission in The Bartered Bride, a gray-haired couple behind us smiled. The man told Mary that he wouldn’t mind if she sat on top of her folded seat to get a better view. The woman told us that they have a grandson Mary’s age who plays the piano and comes to concerts with them when he visits Baltimore.
This child-friendly evening was vastly different from the experience we had at a performance of Bach’s Christmas Oratorio. A scowling woman in our aisle lectured me for having brought Mary, saying people had paid good money for their tickets and would like to enjoy the show. Mary and I tiptoed up the aisle in shame. Never mind that I had paid my good money.
The only time Mary actually cried and stomped her feet over classical music was when I tried to leave during intermission at The Lord of the Rings, a symphony based on Howard Shore’s music for the films, performed by the BSO. The music was accompanied by projected images of sketches from storyboards created in the early stages of the film’s development. I assumed that a 5-year-old would weary, but I was wrong. When she stopped on the sidewalk, sobbing, and insisted we go back inside, I hesitated, wondering what to do. But I quickly gave in — I mean, how many little kids drag their parents to the symphony? I took the precaution of hastily trading our front-and-center seats with two Goth-attired high school kids sitting in an aisle near the exit.
Mary and I recently attended another BSO performance: Alsop conducting John Adams’ The Dharma at Big Sur with guest soloist Leila Josefowicz. I had told Mary about this beautiful young violinist after I saw her play a few years ago. I had described to Mary, then 4 and the owner of a child-sized violin, how the violinist’s slender, muscular arms were at one with her 250-year-old instrument, how her long blonde hair tossed as she played. I told her that Leila had started playing at 3 and now look at her. At the May performance, Mary, who prides herself on being mistaken for a boy in cargo shorts and T-shirts, was uncharacteristically charmed by Josefowicz’s clothes: a shimmering, bright orange sari-silk halter and long skirt with beaded flip-flops peeking from beneath. And Mary thought the electric violin was “awesome.” Something’s working here.
PARENTS KNOW THEIR OWN CHILDREN BEST. SOME KIDS MIGHT SCREAM AT SCRIABIN; OTHERS MIGHT GO WILD FOR WAGNER. HERE WITH SOME UNOFFICIAL ADVICE ON GETTING YOUR YOUNG ONES HOOKED ON CLASSICAL MUSIC.
- Choose your programs wisely. BSO conductor Marin Alsop notes that “loud, active, vibrant, stimulating music” and “lots of percussion” hold kids’ interest best. This, she says, generally means music written in the 20th century and later.
- Prepare by going over the storyline of the opera (and, if possible, the symphony). Tell your child about the performers or any solo instrument that might be featured.
- Take supplies. I allow Mary to bring along a book. She has learned to turn pages silently. I also hand her M&Ms throughout and keep a water bottle in my bag. (Another reminder: Use the restroom before the performance.)
- Make eye contact with the people around you and smile. The goal is to elicit their support in the worthwhile endeavor of introducing children to music.
- If your child needs to close his or her eyes, put a head on your shoulder or even climb onto your lap, there’s no harm. Goodness knows I’ve heard loud snoring at the symphony. And there’s nothing so lovely as nestling your cheek against your sleepy child’s warm hair.
- Be prepared to bail at intermission. If there is hope of making it through the second act, bribe your child with a treat from the concession stand (nothing too sugar-charged).
