Last Sunday, on 12 May, my family and I went along to Birmingham’s Town Hall to watch a lovely Family Concert from the CBSO, conducted by Olivia Clarke. This was all about music from Classic Cartoons – both older cartoons and cartoons that I have no doubt will be referred to as Classics in the future, yes I am talking about Bluey.
So, for anyone who doesn’t know, the CBSO are the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra. They are a world class orchestra whose base is right here on our doorstep. We have been to a few events that the CBSO do for families – we went to another Family Concert in Symphony Hall last October which we all thoroughly enjoyed, and just before the pandemic we went to see one of their fantastic Notelets series of concerts aimed at very young audiences.
City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra Notelets series concert review: Crash Bang Wallop!
Where the Notelets series of concerts is aimed at bringing music to a very young audience and their families, the Family Concerts series is aimed at families far more generally, and is suitable for the youngest member of the family right up to the oldest. They are short concerts, lasting approximately an hour with no interval, and there are craft activities available, themed to the concert itself, in the foyer or bar area (depending on where the concert is taking place) prior to the concert. On Sunday we made our way to the Town Hall’s lower bar area where the craft station was set up and were given a brief guide on how to make flip book animations. We were then sent off to find space to make our own flip books – something my children both loved doing! There was a performance by the CBSO Youth Chorus on in the Town Hall before the main concert, but unfortunately we did not arrive in time to see this.
Once we found our seats (and I should quickly say here that the Town Hall have plenty of booster seats available for children who need them), we spent a little time pointing out the different instruments which were already laid on the stage waiting for their players. My children were particularly interested in the musical instruments they are learning to play, my son spotting a trombone or 2 very quickly, and my daughter impatiently waiting for the violinists to come on stage. The orchestra arrived on stage dressed in their coloured T-shirts denoting which family of orchestral instruments they belong to, and began their tuning up before the conductor Olivia Clarke arrived on stage in a very sparkly rainbow jacket which was quite splendid, along with the concert’s host, Tom Redmond, in a very fun highly pattered suit! I should also note, here that the host’s words were all BSL interpreted throughout the show.
The Family Concerts are a rather informal concert with the host introducing almost every piece of music. Sometimes with a fun story about the piece of music, sometimes narrating over the music, and on more than one occasion trying to get the audience to join in and even almost dance – I believe he referred to us as being Live Animation for this concert of Cartoon Classics. It’s a very fun atmosphere, where they find creative ways to get the audience moving. Let’s face it with an audience full of children there is going to be quite a lot of moving around from the audience, and the CBSO embrace that with these concerts. You absolutely do not worry about your child not sitting still or making a little bit of noise in these concerts, because it is aimed at families. And also children need movement, embracing that need for movement and building it into the concert helps to keep your children engaged in the concert and so listening to it and enjoying it. It’s a great way to give your children their first experiences of music and concert going, and you as their parents can relax knowing that a little movement and noise from your children will be OK.
As far as the music is concerned, the concert was themed on Cartoon Classics and we heard music from cartoons like Bluey, The Simpsons, animated film The Incredibles as well as older classics that have been used in lots of different cartoons like William Tell Overture by composer Rossini, The Ride of The Valkyries by Wagner and an extract from The Firebird Suite by Stravinsky. It was a very varied programme of music of many different styles and genres played by a world class orchestra. And the audience really enjoyed themselves. My children could not pick out their favourite piece of music. My son had arrived at the concert saying he was looking forward to The Simpsons theme most of all, by the end he enjoyed the whole thing.
I would highly recommend going to a Family Concert, especially if you have young children who have never been to see any music in a concert hall before. Yes you can listen to all of the music played at home, but the atmosphere of being at a live concert, actually watching musicians play in front of you, and having to be there with no other distractions lets you listen to, concentrate on and appreciate the music so much more.
Tickets for the Family Concerts are reasonably priced, especially compared to some of the big shows and events at our largest venues in Birmingham. We paid £12 per ticket, and while I know that is not as cheap as some concerts, given that you are watching the CBSO performing and that tickets for many of their other concerts at Symphony Hall can cost £30-£70, I think it is very good value indeed. I would highly recommend taking your family to a CBSO Family Concert and given that the next Family Concert in November (which is not yet on sale) is Music from the Movies, you may well see us there!
I shall leave this review with a few highlights of the show just to whet your appetite for the next Family Concert:
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