Reflections on Concerteenies

This piece was written by Emily Paul, a mother who has brought her children to several of Hallam Sinfonia's collaborations with Concerteenies - a Sheffield-based musical charity putting on concerts for younger children. Although originally aimed at children aged under 7, some of our recent collaborations, including March's "The Duck With No Luck", have targetted slightly older children as well!

Thank you Concerteenies and Hallam Sinfonia!

Concerteenies has played a big part in my children’s musical education. They are now seven and nine and playing in string groups but we haven’t outgrown Concerteenies’ events. The recent Musical Story ‘The Duck with no Luck’ was hugely enjoyed by all of us, and additionally, as usual with these Hallam Sinfonia collaborations, offered opportunities to hear a full orchestra and some other bite-sized pieces of ‘grown-up’ music.

Polly Ives and her creative videos were our lifeline in lockdown. The first time the children were told they were going to see her in person the response was ‘Polly’s not real, she lives in a screen’! It has been brilliant following the way Concerteenies has developed, enabling more and more young people to access real music.

It is such a pity that the Hallam Sinfonia’s Concerteenies concerts are not attended by more slightly older children. Admittedly the standard Concerteenies target audience is pre-schoolers but these orchestral concerts have so much more to offer and I really hope that the current toddlers will still attend when they too are older. Children’s picture books are works of art, add music and you have something extra special.

Events like these concerts are also a much-needed alternative to screen time. A recent school survey revealed that the majority of the children in my nine-year-old’s class spend upwards of three hours a day on screens. Let’s encourage more children away from screens and into a musical, magical world full of dancing, giggles and a good sing-song because we can do this in real life now!

Finally I want to say a personal thank you to Concerteenies and Hallam Sinfonia. For this latest concert, I found myself sitting on the mat at the front with the children, right next to the amazing Korky Paul, famous children’s illustrator, one of my own childhood heroes and sadly no relation! Please keep putting on these concerts – if the children do grow out of them I’ll come without them!