In a previous post, I shared the thinking behind our purchase of season tickets to a symphony orchestra. Maybe you liked the idea but would rather not commit in advance for either scheduling or financial reasons. You still have lots of great options! While all performances are not likely to be neatly compiled in one location, you can probably fill your schedule by checking the following venues.
Colleges and universities offer the greatest variety in one location, and the performances you’ll find are perfect outlets for families. Depending on the size of the music department, excellent choral concerts, musicals, operas, orchestra concerts, jazz concerts and more are available at prices far, far below the “professional” performances. Finding performances is quite easy. In addition to online listings, you can call the music and/or theater department and ask to be put on their mailing list – or perhaps even accomplish this online as well. Most schools send out at least one brochure a year of their music, dance, and drama performances.
In addition to traditional evening performances, university music and theater departments may offer less formal performances during the day. Each academic year, our local university offers regular performances about once a month over the lunch hour. Audience members may bring in food, and there is a much less formal atmosphere than in the evening.
Finally, if the department as a whole is putting on the aforementioned types of performances, then there will likely be dozens of student recitals each semester. Any student studying music performance, instrumental or vocal, must give at least one recital along the road to graduation. This translates into plenty of performances every few months, all of which are free and have open seating. These performances would certainly be listed with the department secretary but are likely listed online.
Community theaters, bands, orchestras and youth orchestras can be slightly more difficult to find but are still worth the effort. These groups often attract excellent, highly-trained musicians who simply are not making music their full-time career. They may advertise in public libraries or other civic buildings. Internet search terms such as “community band,” “theater guild,” “community arts council,” “music society” or any combination thereof will help get you started. Using the name of a city or suburb may help as well.
Even rehearsals are a possible option! Both college and professional performances may offer open rehearsals, especially the dress rehearsal – the last rehearsal before the opening performance. This will likely be every bit as good as “the real thing” – and if the rehearsal does stop for some reason, your children will see that perfection eludes even the accomplished. A homeschool advantage – these rehearsals often take place during the day, making parking and crowd maneuvering much easier. The box office for a professional group or the department secretary at a university will be able to tell you if attendance at rehearsals is permitted.
A great advantage of all these types of performances is their accessibility to children and young adults. Young audiences – elementary, middle school, and high school – are well served seeing people perform who are just a few years older than they are. If a child is, say, 13-16, nothing is “cooler” than seeing college kids perform. A 12-year-old may admire even high school students, in which case good high school productions may inspire. This approach may achieve greater effect than piling kids into economy seats (which we all must buy) in the back of a big concert hall with an orchestra full of 45-year-olds.
Now that you’ve decided to go, what should you see? Read our next post to help you choose what would be appropriate for your family’s tastes and interests.
