With a goal of igniting a lifelong love of music, a popular children's summer concert series is returning to London Public Library branches throughout the city.
London Symphonia, a professional symphony orchestra, will host the first of four Family Cushion Concerts happening in the city at Jalna Branch Library at 1119 Jalna Blvd. on Tuesday. The free concerts, first launched in 2019, are geared toward kids aged three to seven. Attendees are encouraged to bring their favourite cushion from home to sit on while taking in a wide range of musical styles.
"When it comes to small kids a lot of them have had little or no exposure to orchestral instruments and rather than bombarding them with a wall of sound of orchestral music we break it down into small bite-sized chunks," said London Symphonia Artistic Producer and Violinist Andrew Chung. "Small groups, introducing them to the instruments, how they make sound with short music selections. It keeps their attention level up as we move from one musical style to the next."
This year's performance is called 'A Musical Time Machine' and takes kids through 400 years of music in a 40 minute session by a string duo made up of a cellist and violist. Kids will hear everything from classical, to rock, to country music.
"This show is pretty fun. It comes complete with props, hats, and wigs. These two musicians in particular are silly and engaging," said Chung.
Space for the concerts can be limited depending on the library branch, seating anywhere from 25 to 75. Other branches scheduled to host upcoming concerts are the Beacock Branch Library at 1280 Huron Street at 10:30 a.m. on July 29, the Sherwood Branch Library at 1225 Wonderland Rd. N at 6:30 p.m. on August 9, and the Bostwick Branch Library at 501 Southdale Rd. W at 10:30 a.m. on August 12.
"We hope these budding young musicians are left feeling really curious about the music they have heard and want to investigate a little bit more," said Chung. "We are planting the seeds for future musical exploration at home."
