Summertime is festival time. Wherever you look, there are stacks of cultural offerings, more often than not with top notch line-ups, and there is so much variety that it’s hard to narrow down your choices to just a few. So what’s to be done with the darling little ones? Babysitter? Cancelled. Grandma and Grandpa? Otherwise engaged. Bring them with? Unthinkable! With horror, your mind’s eye sees how the young one will react to the eagerly awaited revenge aria (“Mum, why is that woman screaming”), restlessly rustling around in their seats and finally, at the high drama of the death scene, with the rest of the audience holding its breath, the clearly audible whine of “that’s sooooooo boring”.
But is it really like that? Do all children find classical music boring? And if so, why? We’ve asked some of the biggest classical music festivals in Germany and Austria about their experiences with very young audiences, and how it’s possible to provide children with a positive first encounter with classical music. They gave us a fascinating insight into the ways in which a programme can be created. And while the answers from each festival were varied, they all agreed on one thing: the cause of our young audience’s lack of interest in classical music lies in its image. “Many are reluctant to consider classical music, and think it’s elitist and unapproachable”, says Stephanie Momper from Rheingau Music Festival. “With a bit of information, these inhibitions can often be dispelled.” Lena Oymanns from Beethoven Bonn Festival agrees: “It’s clearly the case that a lot of people – grown-ups as well as youngsters – simply don’t come across classical music in their everyday lives”.
So what can festivals do to change this? Is there a right way, in the festival context, to deliver the required musical education? Absolutely, say our interviewees, although it’s never straightforward, as Ulla Kalchmair from Salzburg festival explains: “Many people complain that only an “event” can drag the couch potatoes away from the TV and the computer. And several concert managers despair that so-called high culture seems to be ageing with its audience. Festivals have to take action.” And in this instance, “action” is the magic word. Children don’t just learn with their heads: first of all, they learn with their hands, by trying things out, joining in and taking part. Festivals know this, so they put on events targeted at a young audience, in which children can be at the heart of the action.
To achieve this, many festivals have devised specific programmes in which young people can play an active part. There are children’s festivals and family festivals for the youngest, with brightly coloured costumes and plenty of options to dance and sing along. Like this, kids experience a playful introduction to “grown up-music” at a very early age, leaving no space for any reticence to develop. There will be something for kids at all ages, a visit in class from a musician who's played a concert in thet area the night before, or are going to play one the night after. In all the childrens' programmes, however, the festivals' work isn't merely informational. A little more advanced young listeners can even get an idea of a possible professional field by interviewing musicians and organising a complete concert, for example.
An additional focus for festivals is the support of young people from an artistic point of view, through bursaries and programmes like Salzburg’s “Young Directors” and “Young Singers Project” or a yearly opera camp, in which children and young adults the to go backstage and breathe the air. Be it toddler or star of tomorrow, any one of these varied productions can be incredibly important. Lena Oymanns says “if young people are able to experience an emotional connection with music, that music will stay in their memory”.
In some cases, there has to be some background for such emotional engagement to be possible, especially for opera. So operas get abridged and their language gets simplified, in order to give very young kids an easy way into the works. To do this, festivals often work with specialist companies like Taschenoper (pocket opera) Lübeck, who produce kids’ versions of famous works. We wanted to know whether children and families have favourites, and it seems that besides popular content such as fairy tales, the evergreens of regular opera houses are on the top of the list. “The whole of our young people’s programme is always rapidly sold out, especially our cushion concerts,” explains Maria Gaul from Munich Opera Festival. “The productions that are guaranteed to be the most popular for kids and families are still The Magic Flute and Hansel and Gretel.”