In the fall of 2024, I watched as a friend’s husband tried to corral their young children while watching a concert that included Beethoven’s 9th Symphony among several other orchestral pieces. The chorus, of which my friend and I were members, was off-stage for the first half of the concert and doesn’t sing until the last movement of the Beethoven, so the little ones were struggling to keep their attention focused while their mom wasn’t on stage. I thought it was a shame that there wasn’t a way to keep young minds occupied long enough for them to figure out that the music itself was pretty awesome. If only there was something for them to DO.
I was lucky enough to attend a private high school where I got to work with passionate musicians who let us perform Bach’s “St. John’s Passion” and Carl Orff’s “Carmina Burana” and Gilbert and Sullivan musicals, so I was exposed to these fabulous pieces (and more) at a young age. At the same time, I think it’s hard to expose children to the great works because the expectation from the audience (and the performers) is that people will sit quietly through a long performance without disturbing the music or the people around them. Parents don’t bring their kids to classical music concerts because they don’t want to be the parent whose children disturb the sanctity of the occasion. What a shame!
Fast forward to the spring of 2025. An idea has been percolating for a while. What if there were a performance-specific “coloring book” (for lack of a better word) that had various activities for children to do – coloring, stickers, listening activities, etc. – that introduced them to the music they’re listening to? What are the instruments called? Where do the people in the orchestra sit? What are the words the singers are saying? How are the words reflected in the music? For each movement, there’s something to do. Maybe they have to listen for the flute solo. Or check off adjectives that describe how the music makes them feel. Or figure out where each section of the chorus sits so they can identify later on who sings first in the fugue in that middle movement.
I decided to start with a concert our chorus does each year – a performance of Handel’s “Messiah.” I tested the file below with three kids during our performance on December 6, 2025. There’s still a lot to work on, but I’ve got some feedback to absorb and a direction to go in, so I’ll continue to work on it into the future. You can see that it’s not as much of a “coloring book” as it is a set of small activities that can be done while listening. I’m still percolating on where to go from here, but the idea still has merit, I think.