The Wheeler Family Adventure: Hooked on Classics: A Trip to St. Paul for the SPCO

When I was in college, my roommate listened to some way-out music. It was called "classical." I wasn't sure how she could keep each composition straight when they all sounded the same and had no words with which to differentiate themselves. The only one I could identify was Beethoven's Ninth.

Since then, I have discovered Itzhak Perlman, Vivaldi, and instrumentals by Phil Keaggy, and that seems to have made all the difference. I still have difficulty remembering which piece has what name, but I enjoy listening to the rich tones of the instruments and appreciate the skill and ability of those that play them, although I still have a somewhat short attention span if I'm giving the music my full attention and not just using it as background noise.

But I had a really good experience recently when I attended a St. Paul Chamber Orchestra family concert. These concerts, sponsored by Target, are free to families. We were going to be in the Twin Cities on one of the family Saturdays, so I ordered some tickets for us online.

The concerts are designed for families with children aged six to 12. The one we went to was Orchestravaganza! which was about an hour long and featured the overture to the opera The Barber of Seville along with original compositions by composer and music educator Bruce Adolphe. Adolphe has composed for Perlman and Yo-Yo Ma, among many others.

The opening piece was Rossini's overture which had more instruments than the concertinos. The piece was fun and the sound was so calming; I found myself closing my eyes, smiling and just soaking it all in.

Adolphe, who had flown in from New York for the event, was then introduced and narrated the five concertinos we heard. Each piece was for a different section of the orchestra: strings, woodwinds, percussion, brass, and then the whole chamber orchestra. Adolphe gave an explanation of what made each instrument section unique and how it benefitted the orchestra.

Adolphe narrating between the pieces helped keep my attention, and I enjoyed the education as it's been awhile since I've been in music class.

While my kids didn't enjoy the whole experience as much as I did, I think they were excited to see some instruments they hadn't seen before like the bassoons and the marimba along with the acrobatics of the singular percussionist as he jumped from timpani to marimba to cymbals and so on. Annika, my fifth-grader, was glad to see the flutists as she could now relate to them after her one year of experience in Mrs. Tenney's band. Lauren, my third grader, was weighing whether she wanted to take up the violin, viola or cello when she is old enough to join orchestra. Emily kept herself occupied with some paper and a pen from my purse.

Overall, I was happy that, although they were admittedly a little bored, my children followed concert etiquette fairly well and let me enjoy myself. I should confess that my youngest did stay at home with her daddy.

Other audience-goers included young families—some with infant boys dressed in sweater vests and ties and dancing on Daddy's lap, kids sitting in box seats and moving to the music, and senior citizens who didn't have the added distractions of little ones tugging on their shirtsleeves.

For me, it was a great and affordable experience, and I would do it again, although I'm not sure my kids will want to join me.