In the Leonard Bernstein tradition, Ben Simon continues his introduction to classical music for young children and toddlers, with his “Very First Concerts” series. Each is a 20-minute adventure complete with tumbling mats, audience participation, humor, and light explanation. The music theme in this concert: The Art of Listening.
“We’re going to teach children what a classical music concert is about,” Simon told us the other day, “what really good music is about, and we do that by getting them to close their mouths and open their ears.”
For Simon, listening throughout the culture has become a lost art, if only because we are besieged by the noise around us. “So this is about the art of concentrating on what’s coming in through ears and letting other thoughts go away so you can pay attention over an extended period of time. Part of the secret here is that this is live, and it’s a little like the difference between seeing a six-inch tall elephant in a book and seeing a real elephant at the zoo. You see the same reaction when a child first hears a tuba. And right away you’ve got them. My philosophy is always to get people, at whatever age, to listen inside the music, and to see that there are no two kinds of music, there’s just good music and bad.”
Jan. 19, 10:30 a.m., 11:10 a.m., and 11:50 a.m., Congregational Church of San Mateo, (Upstairs Youth Room); Jan. 21, 11 a.m. and 12 p.m,, The Crowden School, Berkeley, Very First Concerts.