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Silas's First Symphony

Levi was just shy of three and a half years old when I took him to the symphony for the first time. The Cincinnati POPS orchestra does a series of concerts for children every year, including activities with instruments beforehand and programs suited to young people. It was such a treat (for me!) to take my kid(s), expose them to good music, and experience Music Hall in Cincinnati.

Little Levi wasn't heavy enough to hold the fold-up seat down, 
and wasn't happy about it! (November 2012)

Owen came along for the first time just after he turned four. 

They wanted to wear matching fleece. :) ( January 2015)

Giggling about something! 

We don't have the luxury of the Cincinnati POPS anymore, but the St. Cloud State symphony orchestra puts on a Christmas concert for children every year. The Suzuki string studio, of which Silas is now a part, plays Christmas songs in the lobby for half an hour before the concert. Last year, we went just to hear the kids play, as our first introduction to the studio. This year, Silas got to play along (as much as he's able)!

They dress it up with bows on the violins and funny headbands.

Shaking jingle bells along with the Christmas carols.

Jingle Bells: the littlest kids learned just the first three notes of "Jingle Bells" within the song.

This year, we went to the concert afterwards as well. It was a bit long for a four-year-old (75 minutes), but Silas was engaged for about the first 35 minutes. It helped that his teacher, his teacher's husband (who owns the violin store where Silas takes lessons), and two of his group lesson teachers all played in the symphony. We read Zin! Zin! Zin! A Violin! often enough that he recognized instruments as I pointed them out. The opening trombone trio was especially fun, and all the kids got little jingle bells to ring through Sleigh Ride. 

Mesmerized at first.

Our view from the back (his choice).

Getting Silas to do anything is sometimes a challenge, and he's been quite resistant to the idea of playing his violin with/in front of other people (even though he has grown to love his Saturday morning group lessons). So we played it up big from the start and promised lunch (with a milkshake!) with Mommy afterwards. Bravery gets rewarded in our house!

Grilled cheese from Red Robin.

The promised milkshake. (Of course, I drank about 2/3 of it.)

And, of course, this one came along for the fun, too, and behaved beautifully all morning. :)

Sweet sleeping baby.

Comments

  1. AnonymousDecember 12, 2016 at 5:22 PM

    What a special time! (Calvin looks so sweet in his snowflake hat.) I am so glad you have this opportunity for Silas (and you).

    ReplyDelete

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