Young children can and often do respond enthusiastically to concerts. Yet, if programs are not skillfully shaped and perceptively targeted, if there isn’t enough spectacle or scope for participation, and the program sags under the weight of a surfeit of lengthy ‘civilizing’ art music extracts; in a matter of minutes a slew of good-humored toddlers can shape shift into a whinging, wriggling mass.
Queensland Symphony Orchestra’s tinsel-splashed players got down and cuddly last week at a series of Kiddies Cushion Concerts presented at the Ferry Road Studios in Brisbane’s West End, the last series to be presented in this forum. From Maestro concerts at one end of the spectrum with Mozart, Mendelssohn and Mahler on the menu and at the other, a rousing rendering of ‘Shake Your Tail Feather’ in this concert, clearly versatility is paramount. The latter song delighted a dancing crowd of tiny tots and parents at this festive amalgam of Playschool and Sesame Street spiced with just a sprinkle of Kindergarten Cop.
Visually, there was much to see, the play list was seamless and cleverly paced, the players wore Christmas tree hats, flashing sun glasses, a twinkling Mohawk in the case of the Principal Percussionist, and the double bass flaunted a Christmas hat. The atmosphere was relaxed and approving toddlers contentedly cuddled up to parents on a floor scattered with colorful cushions for 50 well-used minutes.
Pitched at the under-sevens, conductor Peter Luff played for maximum laughs on the podium with an energized Vivienne Collier-Vickers driving the humor, working the participation spots, generally playing the fool in red tee and white dungarees, mostly avoiding a patronizing tone, and keeping the show’s delivery on track.
‘Rudolf the Red-Nosed Reindeer’, ‘Can Can’, ‘Jingle Bells’ with 40 children out at the front playing bells, all of the QSO players singing an a capella version of ‘Silent Night’ and a surprising rendering of ‘Holy City’ by violinist Tim Marchmont (who revealed a lovely tenor voice) were standouts of this winning show.
Sections of the orchestra were highlighted with bespoke arrangements of carols highlighting woodwind, brass and strings and individual instruments. One child wanted to ‘hug the harpist’ who played the haunting ‘Hedwig’s Theme’ from Harry Potter. A solo xylophone player impressed by firing rapidly rippled figurations. Concertmaster Alan Smith dazzled with a blaze of bluegrass fiddling.
The finale storytelling with orchestral sound effects and one to three second grabs of tunes wowed the littlies with Luff deliberately reversing what was required. On the cue going downstairs, the xylophone played an upward glissando; a still silence was represented by a thunderclap chord, and so on. Not subtle but the approach hit the spot for sure. The concert ended with the heartening sight of a four-year-old girl in a red-spotted dress commanding the orchestra with aplomb.
Kiddies Cushion Concerts: Carols with Cushions
Queensland Symphony Orchestra
Conductor: Peter Luff
Presenter: Vivienne Collier-Vickers
QSO Studio, South Bank
12 – 15 December
