North State Symphony Special Children’s Concerts Include New “Little Ones Concert”

Bring your toddlers along to the theater when North State Symphony hosts a special concert just for preschoolers and kindergarteners this month, followed by the orchestra’s annual concert for older kids.

The North State Symphony will perform the “Little Ones Concert” on Thursday, January 22, at the Cascade Theatre in Redding. The 30-minute program begins at 9:15 a.m. and is geared for preschool through 2nd grade students. The full orchestra will perform The Story of Babar, Francis Poulenc’s 1940 musical interpretation of the famous children’s book penned by Jean de Brunhoff, with a narrator recounting the story of the little elephant in between musical passages.

Children will also enjoy hearing the first movement of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s Symphony No. 1 in E flat major, which the musical genius composed in 1764. “The fun thing about this symphony by Mozart is that it was written when he was 8 years old – just like some of the kids in the audience,” says Dr. Dwayne Corbin, North State Symphony Resident Conductor and associate professor of instrumental music at Simpson University.

Corbin says children’s early exposure to classical music offers them an opportunity to explore self-expression and develop a lifelong connection to music, either by laying the foundation for a child to pursue an instrument or to better appreciate music as a listener.

The second concert, a 45-minute program intended for children in first through twelfth grades, begins at 11 a.m. at the Cascade Theater on Jan. 22. The program will be repeated at 10:30 a.m. on Jan. 23 at Laxson Auditorium in Chico. Dr. Corbin says it was designed to present music “by, for and about children” and features North State Symphony Young Artist High School Division winner, Ellie Rose Lundberg, a high school student and flutist who will perform Karl Stamitz’s Concerto in G, Op. 29 with the orchestra. “I wanted to build a concert that would be accessible to youth so they could realize that people their own age can write and perform music,” Corbin said. The program also includes music by Georges Bizet, Gustav Holst, and Vaughan Williams.

North State Parent magazine is offering free tickets for the “Little Ones Concert” to the first forty people to email symphonyredding@att.net. School and large group discounts are also available by email. Regular tickets for individuals, families and small groups cost $5, plus a $2 handling fee, at the Cascade Theatre Box Office, (530) 243-8877.