Have you ever taken your kids to the symphony? The Toronto Symphony Orchestra caters to families with their amazing Young People’s Concerts created to promote music in an entertaining way for the little folks with a bit of education thrown in. As an adult, I must say that it’s a great break from the hustle and bustle of everyday life. It’s been particularly busy these past few weeks so the thought of an afternoon with my sister and her 6 year old daughter was bliss!
The most recent concert, EMILY SAVES THE ORCHESTRA, incorporated the talented actors and dancers from the Platypus Theatre.
The story follows a Emily, a 10 year old who gets pulled onto the stage by the orchestra playing the famous Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony. She’s captivated by the soothing sounds and ripples of colour that dances across the stage. However, soon enough she finds herself face to face with the darkness of music. A monster who wants music banished forever.
Emily discovers that the orchestra cannot play any more and in order to save the orchestra and music she must find a way to bring the song back from the screeches and imbalance.
She was given three warnings from the caw sounds. If she didn’t bring back the music then it will be gone for good.
To bring the orchestra back to it’s playing ability she enlists the help of Opus…who helps piece back the tune after breaking down the parts of what makes beautiful music. Aside from the instruments, Opus explains in a rather humorous way to our young symphony audience about rhythm, melody, and harmony as well as other components in making music. At each explanation, a costumed dancer or puppeteer would create the visual movement as well-known classical pieces were performed by the symphony.
The Platypus Theatre performers was a great enhancement to this concert bringing classical music to life. They have been performing since 1989 with over 60 orchestras around the world using puppets, masks and costumes that explore different musical themes that engage the younger audience.
This gives you an idea of how these two companies work together….
This was the last performance of the season. But the new season begins in September with another great concert. This is a great opportunity to introduce little ones to music other than pop music that’s on the radio. I was completely impressed with how my niece recognized the songs like Pachelbel’s Canon and Rossini’s William Tell Overture.
The next series begins in November with
IN THE GROOVE.
Tickets and series subscriptions to the Young People’s Concerts are available at www.tso.ca
Thank you to the Toronto Symphony for inviting us to this the wonderful musical experience!
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