Musical Arts for Families

Utah Mama Stephanie Peterson points out some of her favorite ideas to introduce your family to music.

Fieldtrips

The Children’s Theatre Tall Tale of Pecos Bill (www.tctheatre.org/pecos.html)

Like many tall tales, Pecos Bill stories involve combinations of super feats of courage and prowess such as riding a tornado whirlwind like a bronco and using a rattlesnake for a lasso.

According to the legend, Pecos Bill was born in Texas in the 1830’s. Pecos Bill was traveling in a covered wagon as an infant when he fell out unnoticed by the rest of his family near a river. He was taken in by a pack of coyotes who were said to have raised him.

Years later he was found by and old prospector who convinced him he is not a coyote, but a cowboy.

This production features a small western band and old fashioned music. It’s going to be a root’n toot’n good time!

The production runs February 11th through March 5th at The Children’s Theatre, 237 S. State. The performances are on Fridays at 7pm and Saturdays at 1pm and 4:30pm. Tickets are $12.

Ring Around the Rose (www.rdtutah.org/forkids)

Ring Around the Rose is Repertory Dance Theatre’s wiggle-friendly series of performances for children and families that explores the magical world of the arts, including dance, theatre, music and storytelling. Ring Around the Rose is made possible in part by grants from the Utah Arts Council, National Endowment for the Arts, Salt Lake City Arts Council, and the Salt Lake County Zoo, Arts & Parks program.

All shows begin at 11:00 am at the Rose Wagner Performing Arts Center, 138 W Broadway, Salt Lake City. Tickets are $5 for all seats (ages 2 and under free), and can be purchased in advance by calling ArtTix at 801-355-ARTS.

African Drums February 12, 2011 Black Box Theatre
Learn some dance moves, pick up a new beat, and really show your stuff
in their most hands on show of the year! www.djembedirect.com

Repertory Dance Theatre March 12, 2011 Jeanné Wagner Theatre
Explore the magical world of art and dance as RDT teams up with the UMFA!

Youth Theatre at the U April 9, 2011 Black Box Theatre
Utah’s premier young actor training program performs musical theatre hits!
www.youththeatre.utah.edu

Starry Eyed Puppets May 14, 2011 Black Box Theatre
With music, storytelling, and puppets this show will delight audiences of all ages!
starryeyedpuppets.com

Utah Symphony Lollipop Concert Series 2011 (www.usuoeducation.org/for_families)

This year, their two official Lollipops concerts are the Christmas performance and Peter & the Wolf. They host family music fairs in the lobby of Abravanel Hall in conjunction with these performances, with interactive projects and learning activities for children. Prior to the symphony’s Peter & the Wolf performance, families can participate in their annual instrument petting zoo. This is basically an opportunity for children to try playing all the different musical instruments – from strings to winds to percussion… The concerts are one hour long on Saturday mornings and are designed for children ages 5-12

They have four Family series concerts this year. Salute to Youth (where young musicians perform solos with the Utah Symphony) and the Halloween concert were this past fall, and coming up in the next couple of months is our Classical Countdown with Big Budah on April 26 and our All-Star Evening in May (where a number of young musicians perform side-by-side with our Utah Symphony musicians as part of their sections). The Classical Countdown, particularly, would also be a great event for families with children of all ages, because it will feature selections from some of the most popular and familiar works in the classical music repertory.

Imagination Place (www.imaginationplace.com/about)

As a music and movement center and store, they are passionately committed to providing adults and children affordable and playful music, movement, and artistic experiences of a high quality– including the tools necessary to do so.

Our mission is to educate, strengthen, and help create healthy relationships between families and communities through the use of the performing and visual arts.

Our family has been taking classes since my 7 year old was an infant. Four kids later, we have seen the benefits of having music in the home. We have now advanced to musical instruments, but attribute much of his success to classes taken at Imagination Place.

At Home Fun

Classical Kids – The series of CDs brings some of the world’s greatest classical composers and their music to life – in a way that engages the mind of kids. We have Mozart’s Magic Fantasy, Tchaikovsky Discovers America and our favorite being Beethoven Lives Upstair. Start playing these young and your little ones will have a love of classical music.

Impromptu Dance – Ever since my boys were really young we have had dance offs, they like to call them show offs. We put on our “yo yo” (rapper) music or our superhero themes and have a blast expressing ourselves. We love to dress up as our superhero or get our light saver ready for the Star Wars theme. I don’t see our kids ever outgrowing this!

Cooking with Music – I took this idea from our Music Together class. I gathered kitchen items or old containers, water bottles, spoons, whisks, and measuring cups and put them in a bin. I put on our Music Together soundtrack or any other music will do, and then pretend to cook to the beat of the music. Help your little ones recognize the difference of beats by pouring into a bowl on the long beat or stirring on a short beat.

Talent Show – Grab all the musical instruments in the house, gather all the family in the house. Now sit down and prepare the laugh. Each member of the family takes a turn picking out an instrument and then performing for the family on the fly!

Painting – Gather some paints and paper, don’t forget to cover the table and floor if needs be. See what your little ones can paint to the beat of the music you are playing. Will they do long strokes to go along with the beat or will they do dots for a short beat?

If you would like to be entered to win some free passes to some of the “field trips” Stephanie mentioned, you can access that information by clicking on utah.todaysmama.com