In Friday’s (11/29) Wall Street Journal, Corinne Ramey writes, “The New York Philharmonic’s Young People’s Concerts are a musical institution. The concerts began in 1924 and several decades later, were enshrined by live television broadcasts with conductor Leonard Bernstein.… But lesser known, and now in their ninth season, are the Philharmonic’s Very Young People’s Concerts, designed for children ages 3 through 6.” Philharmonic violists Dorian Rence and Rebecca Young, who write and host the concerts, “have become a kind of modern Leonard Bernstein for the preschool crowd.… The Philharmonic does three sets of Very Young People’s Concerts a year, the first of which is on Sunday and Monday at Merkin Hall.… The two violists value the concerts as much as their young audience does. ‘It gets very serious around here,’ said Ms. Rence. ‘You start out with real love and passion for music, but just like any job, the freshness wears off. It’s so fulfilling to introduce these kids to what is a passion in our lives, and in giving that to them, we get some of that back.’ ” Symphony magazine reported on trends in concerts for young audiences in Summer 2013.
Posted December 2, 2013
