Wow! You guys had so many interesting things to say about Jennifer's family visit to the art museum. Some of you may know that I don't have any kids to take to events, but being aroung pre-schoolers on a regular basis gives me some experience with this!
Jennifer mentioned needs for museums (and, really, the symphony is a museum as well) to address people with all the senses (or modes of learning, if you will), while Chris defended the "quiet reverie" that people often adopt in a museum and Marcia suggested ways to make learning museum rules fun.
Symphonies and other music entities have adopted various ways of appealing to (and educating) family audiences, with kids' and family concerts featuring works such as Prokofiev's Peter and the Wolf and Tchaikovsky's The Nutcracker along with jeans and popcorn. Check out this 1946 Disney cartoon version of Peter and the Wolf. It's one of my favorite "children's" pieces!
Even as long ago as 1946, orchestras were trying to reach out to younger audiences. I like Fantasia, too. When I was in middle school, my school orchestra went on a field trip to see Fantasia 2000 in theaters. So far, I've mostly been talking about the ways that orchestras and composers change themselves to make their product more accessible to children (like "baby food") with jeans, popcorn, and cartoon characters.
Why can't you take your family to a "serious" orchestra concert, say, a Mahler performance? Or Stravinsky's Rite of Spring? As Jennifer and Chris noted, it comes down to our social conditioning: children traditionally "don't belong" in these settings, and orchestras are doing very little to make Mahler and Stravinsky fun for families.
My pre-schoolers love Stravinsky. When we listen to Rite of Spring during listening time, I set the scene and tell them the "story." (I just tell them it's a really fast dance - I leave out the part where the dancer dies at the end.) They LOVE screaming as loud as possible and dancing as fast as they can.
There are so many options out there for orchestras to make "real" classical music fun for families! Maybe our idea that kids will only like music that's been de-thorned and pre-packaged for them is contributing to the struggling classical music industry. It's definitely time to shake things up!
How would you shake up social norms of non-involvement in order to make classical music fun for families? Screaming and dancing to Rite of Spring? Clapping along with Terry Riley's In C?
We want to know!
Jennifer mentioned needs for museums (and, really, the symphony is a museum as well) to address people with all the senses (or modes of learning, if you will), while Chris defended the "quiet reverie" that people often adopt in a museum and Marcia suggested ways to make learning museum rules fun.
Symphonies and other music entities have adopted various ways of appealing to (and educating) family audiences, with kids' and family concerts featuring works such as Prokofiev's Peter and the Wolf and Tchaikovsky's The Nutcracker along with jeans and popcorn. Check out this 1946 Disney cartoon version of Peter and the Wolf. It's one of my favorite "children's" pieces!
Even as long ago as 1946, orchestras were trying to reach out to younger audiences. I like Fantasia, too. When I was in middle school, my school orchestra went on a field trip to see Fantasia 2000 in theaters. So far, I've mostly been talking about the ways that orchestras and composers change themselves to make their product more accessible to children (like "baby food") with jeans, popcorn, and cartoon characters.
Why can't you take your family to a "serious" orchestra concert, say, a Mahler performance? Or Stravinsky's Rite of Spring? As Jennifer and Chris noted, it comes down to our social conditioning: children traditionally "don't belong" in these settings, and orchestras are doing very little to make Mahler and Stravinsky fun for families.
My pre-schoolers love Stravinsky. When we listen to Rite of Spring during listening time, I set the scene and tell them the "story." (I just tell them it's a really fast dance - I leave out the part where the dancer dies at the end.) They LOVE screaming as loud as possible and dancing as fast as they can.
There are so many options out there for orchestras to make "real" classical music fun for families! Maybe our idea that kids will only like music that's been de-thorned and pre-packaged for them is contributing to the struggling classical music industry. It's definitely time to shake things up!
How would you shake up social norms of non-involvement in order to make classical music fun for families? Screaming and dancing to Rite of Spring? Clapping along with Terry Riley's In C?
We want to know!
Posts
December 18, 2009 at 8:16 AM
Using classical music along with creative and engaging visuals could be one way...I don't know too much about classical music, but I do know that when I hear it, I always imagine a narrative or some other visual (usually forest animals prancing around...).
By the way, speaking of Peter and the Wolf, has anyone seen this version?
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0863136/
it looks amazing!
December 18, 2009 at 8:17 AM
I don't think that children "don't belong" in the concert hall. I do think that parents should plan on the inevitable meltdown and be prepared to take care of it (removal-placation-return) for the sake of the other audience members. Preparation would include: well-rested little ones (no skipping naps before the concert), sitting next to a door, etc. I know that it is considered rude to come and go during a concert and trying to avoid this is important, but with a little bit of care it can be done respectfully.
Also, small doses are key for young people, especially ones raised on tv. Time is relative. For kids it is slower. Taking them to concerts that are geared toward their abilities and sensibilities is a considerate way to introduce them to classical music (save the Ring Cycle for a little later).
Outdoor "pops" concerts (don't cringe) are a good intermediary step too. These introduce elements of concert music without the "stuffiness." The important thing here is to not let "The Wiggles Live" be the only live music experience that little ones have (no disrespect to the Wiggles, Jeff is my personal fav).
Another great piece for kids (and adults too) is Saint-Saens Carnival of Animals.
December 18, 2009 at 9:02 PM
Well as a mom who knows nothing about music except that my little boy loves it. I wish it was "more appropriate" to take him to concerts. We don't do the wiggles I saw them sing a "fruity salad" song once before Blake was born and I developed a "No Wiggles" rule for my own sanity!
We do go to evening concerts on the square which may not be the best exposure but it is all I have been able to come up with because it allows for him to move and dance (and pretend to drum with two sticks) while he listens to the music....all of which is probably not going to cut it in a concert hall.
I still think though that the fact that 2 year olds and 5 year olds can't have fun in a concert hall is a problem....it means that many people can't have "fun" in a concert hall. What we are really saying is that music and museums shouldn't be "fun". No wonder the arts are suffering. There is a reason we are all sitting around trying to figure out how to advocate for the arts while football tycoons are figuring out how to spend their money...people have fun watching football!
I think we need to try to make the arts enjoyable for everyone not just for people who are over the age of 16 and already love the arts.
December 18, 2009 at 9:46 PM
I have to agree getting children the opportunity to move and dance and playing music in short bouts is probably best, but I'm far from coming up with an answer to this problem. i know Calvin's band as a hard time getting children into Jazz, he is always improvising and mixing hip-hop in with Jazz to keep the children engaged. I know some of the musicians might cringe but sometimes relating the music to somehting the children knows might give the an opportunity to see that instruments and live music is great.
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