Toronto Symphony Orchestra - Young People's Concerts

THE WHAT: TSO Family Day

THE HOW: “The Listener” – Toronto Symphony Kids, TSO Harpist demo in lobby, Backstage “Meet and Greet” and refreshments with members of the TSO.

THE REVIEW: Walking through the doors of the Roy Thomson hall there was a craziness in the air. The kind of craziness that mixes a foyer full of excited children, anxious parents, loud voices, children crying, children laughing and harp music all together. It was quite overwhelming, but with an element of serenity that kept one from succumbing to the crazy.

Julie Spring of the TSO was playing a large some-hundred year old harp in the foyer of the auditorium prior to the show. She talked about different parts on the harp, its history and the different sounds and melodies that can be played. From there the focus moved to finding one’s seat in the auditorium and hoping that the kids behave. From the beginning of the show to the end, my kids (girls ages 5 and almost 3) were captivated. The 2 mimes throughout the show who were part of the ‘Magic Circle Mime Company’ helped keep most of their attention. They interacted comically with the symphony orchestra members and especially the conductor, Mei-Ann Chen.

The music play list kept the rest. Some of the songs played such as Bizet’s “Toreador Song” and “Dance of the Swan” from Swan Lake by Tchaikovsky were recognizable from shows like the Little Einstein's and the Wonder Pets. Other songs lent themselves to stimulating imagination, giving the feeling of flying through the sky or chasing after animals across the desert plain (yes my kids and myself have vivid imaginations…and the music certainly helped).

Although my kids are too young to truly appreciate the whole The Star Wars saga, the theme music for these movies by John Williams that was performed worked on it’s own merits to take my 5 year old from happily pretending we were floating in outer space to covering her ears and cowering in fear because the sounds made her think of ‘scary things about to happen”. That’s the essence of music. It evokes emotion.

I found this concert to be entertaining and educational for both myself as a parent and for my kids. The grandness of the spectacle, being in the auditorium, the whole orchestra on the stage, the larger than life sound was quite an experience to behold. Having the added bonus of going ‘backstage’ for the kids to see some of the instruments up close; play percussion instruments, work the bow on a huge upright bass, and even try their hand at expressing an emotion (such as anger and excitement) with the help of the mimes was loads of fun (especially for those watching).

This is definitely an experience I would love to make a tradition. It brings many elements of classical music and it’s appreciation together which is something that gets missed in everyday educational life. I sincerely appreciate this opportunity and assure you I would definitely do it again.
(Parent Club Test Panelist and children aged 3 and 5)