Twin Symphonies

There comes a time in a parent's life when you get to witness your child's first trip to the symphony.  The music, at that point, becomes irrelevant, and what you are really paying attention to is your child, or, in my case ( I have five-year-old twins), children's reaction to the grand event. 

The San Francisco Symphony does their darnest to engage yound minds in the 35-minute, "especially-for-kids," performance.  The conductor, Donato Cabrera , turns around to address their predominantly young (with the exception of the few gray-haired parents like us) listeners, encouraging them to clap and even shout to some of the pieces. 

Despite the Symphony's earnest college try to entertain elementary school students, many kids, especially those whose feet cannot reach the ground from the fine upholstered chairs,end up being fascinated by the seat's up and down rocking motion.  The kids' mass is just not heavy enough yet to keep the darn "flip-flop" seat down the adult mass can.  My advice to the Symphony:  have the kids rock in those chairs to music!  Surely, there must be a classical kids that can accommodate that tempo.  May be Liszt's "Grand Galop Chromatique?"

The school did a fine job in preparing the youngsters for the big day.  They've been playing the Symphony's CD in class for weeks and giving tips on what to do during the concert.  Apparently my daughter's teacher told the kids that they could close their eyes to enhance their enjoyment of the music.  My daughter took that advice to heart.  Not only did she close her eyes, but she assumed a meditative yoga position, sitting cross-legged on the flip-flop seat with her palms facing up.  I guess those yoga classes at the J didn't go to waste after all.

I could not sit in-between my twins per school's instructions.  The adults were to spread their presence among children.  My husband sat next to our son at the other end of the row behind us.  Every once in a while I would twist my neck to see how he (my son) was handling his first exposure to live symphony.  For a kid who can't sit still, he did great!  No flip-flopping on the chair for him.  He was all ears.  My husband later told me that my son recognized and named one of the musical pieces.  Hurray!!!!