Today my daughter and I attended the Ann Arbor Symphony’s Family Performance of Magical Musical Tales at Michigan Theater.
My daughter loved the show. I was a little worried about how she would do since she was tired. We were out late Saturday night (at Into the Woods), but a 15 minute nap in the car was sufficient. The one hour performance was the perfect length for kids.
There were kids of all ages at the performance. I was a little worried that my 5 year old would be one of the younger children, but there were plenty of children younger than her there. I really liked the way the conducted, Arie Lipsky, introduced the pieces and spoke to the audience in language they could relate to.
The show featured three pieces.
The first was The Story of Babar, the Little Elephant. Arie Lipsky, the conductor explained how composer Francis Poulenc was asked to write music to match the book by his 5 year old daughter. The book is by Jean de Bruhoff. The performance was narrated by Dr. Patricia Green, Superintendent of the Arbor Public Schools. She did a great job with the narration. The narration and music was accompanied by cartoon images by Jane Larson that had been customized for this performance. The Big House and Michigan Theater sign were featured in the drawings.
Next was the Kindersymphonie (Toy Symphony) by Leopold Mozart, Wolfgang’s father. This part of the performance featured 8 children playing toy instruments to accompany the symphony orchestra. My daughter enjoyed seeing the kids playing the instruments. She was asking if she was going to get to participate next year.
The final piece was Sorcerer’s Apprentice by Paul Dukas. The Sorcerer’s Apprentice is best known to audiences from its performance in Fantasia with Mickey as the Sorcerer’s Apprentice. The Ann Arbor Symphony played this piece with an electronic interpretation on the screen behind the orchestra. The electronic display made this my daughter’s favorite part of the performance. The onscreen electronics remedied me of the BASIC programming we used to do when I was in school.
Prior to the performance today, the Hands On Museum was there with demonstrations and projects for the kids. We did not arrive early enough to take advantage of these activities.
Based on our experience today, I am definitely planning to bring my daughter to more Family Series performances by the Ann Arbor Symphony. They are having a Sing Along with Santa at Bethlehem United Church of Christ on December 10 at 4p. They will be performing Once Upon a Timpani on March 12, 2012 at 4p at the Michigan Theater.
Disclaimer: The Ann Arbor Symphony provided me with 2 free tickets in order to review the performance. All opinions are 100% mine.
