One of the things that I love about living in Ann Arbor is the wide variety of activities and entertainment that are available. This weekend, my daughter and I were invited by the Ann Arbor Symphony Orchestra to attend Beethoven Lives Upstairs, the first concert in their 2013-2014 Family Concert Series which was held at The Michigan Theater.
Disclaimer: The Ann Arbor Symphony Orchestra provided me with two free tickets to the performance to facilitate our review. All opinions are 100% ours.
While the performance began at 4p, there were pre-show activities from 2:30-3:30p. As we sat in our seats waiting for the show to start, I noticed my daughter was sitting very quietly. When I asked her what was wrong she said “I am worried the concert is going to be boring.” It turns out she had nothing to worry about – the show was anything but boring.
Beethoven Lives Upstairs teaches kids about Beethoven through Christoph’s experiences while Beethoven rented an upstairs room. The story is told through a series of letters between Christoph and his uncle. The story is acted out by Christoph and Uncle. The symphony provides background music from Beethoven including his Ninth Symphony, Ode to Joy, and many other famous works.
The show was very entertaining and my daughter had several favorite parts. She loved when Christoph and the Uncle sent the letters flying in the sky (which was done several times).
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| Flying Letters |
She also loved it when Christoph laid on the ground to show how Beethoven laid on the ground to play the piano so that he could “hear” it through his body.
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| Playing Piano on the Ground |
The pre-show activities were also a big hit. The last time that we attended one of the family concert series events, we did not arrive in time to participate in the pre-show activities. This time, I made a definite effort to be there before the show, arriving around 3p. There were 3 activities setup in the main lobby with additional activities in the balcony lobby. In the lobby, there were activities from the UM Department of Pediatric Audiology and Otolaryngology. There my daughter learned how sound travels using a slinky.
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| Watching Sound Waves |
Then, she headed over to the Mathnasium table. They were attracting kids with a bean bag toss which resulted in them giving the kids a related math problem. They also had worksheets for the kids to do. My daughter was hooked and did three worksheets.
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| Doing Math Worksheets |
Finally, she moved on to the Hands on Museum table where she had time to experiment with a few of their sound shakers with different objects and see how sound can travel via string. She would have loved to explore some of their activities longer, but it was after 3:30 and they needed to pack up so everyone could make it to their seats.
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| Feeling Sound Wave Vibration |
We didn’t have time to make it upstairs to the balcony which is where the instrument petting zoo was. (As an engineer, I am not going to argue with a child who wants to do math). I am not sure if there were any other activities upstairs.
There are two more upcoming concerts in the Family Concert Series: Sing Along with Santa on Saturday, December 7 at the Bethlehem United Church of Christ and The Planets on Sunday, March 23 at Michigan Theater. When she saw that music from Star Wars is included in The Planets, she definitely wants to attend that concert this spring.
We definitely enjoyed both the show and the pre-show activities and look forward to attending future shows. Check back tomorrow for a giveaway of a family 4 pack of tickets to attend the Ann Arbor Symphony Orchestra’s Sing Along with Santa on December 7 or the Holiday Pops concert on Saturday, December 13 at 8p.
