Covid is Back – Parents and children both need nurturing, both are tired of “online.”
Do you need something new?
All parents are worried about the time their children are spending in front of the screen and yet with schools closing down, either going fully remote of partially remote, what can you do? And, if you are a busy parent, you may be feeling slightly burned out.
Is this just the time for some music that young and old can both enjoy? Perhaps this is time for a good story that you don’t have to read yourself or a time when you yourself would like to learn something new. Or is it a time when you dream of exposing your children to something that will be a lifelong good memory from this time in their lives.
May I suggest that you give one of the recordings (CD or MP3) created by Maestro Classics? I am tempted to say, “Just go to MaestroClassics.com and click on a CD and listen to some samples," but perhaps you would like a little background.
Maestro Classics grew out of concerts at the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC where my husband and I wanted to introduce parents and children to classical music…together. The best way to introduce children to classical music has always been through stories. After all, Peter and the Wolf has been popular for almost 80 years! But after you introduce Peter and the instruments of the symphony orchestra, where do you go next?
We tried to answer this question by suggesting that you first listen to a work with a story, then learn something about when, where, and by whom the music was composed, and then to have the conductor talk about what he was hearing in the music. We always included some music in a different style to show kids that you could like classical music and lots of different
kinds of music as well. For example, we took a famous theme from Swan Lake and turned it into a work with electric guitar or included a silly sing-along song to the music of Handel. Fun and educational was always our watchword.
My hope is that at the end of an hour listening to one of the Maestro Classics recordings, you will be surprised at how fast the time has gone, that you have something new to talk about with your children, and that perhaps you yourself will have learned something new. But my great hope is that you will have relaxed with your children and fostered their imaginations as they have been given the time to create their own images to go with the musical story.
- Bonnie Ward Simon, Executive Producer and Creative Director, Maestro Classics