The Columbus Symphony Orchestra is the second oldest orchestra in America. It has served as one of the major anchor arts organizations in Columbus, Georgia for generations – with performances dating back to the 1850's.
On Feburary 22, the CSO will celebrate a milestone as it brings back its Young People's Concert to the stage. Designed as an essential component of the orchestra's educational programming, the Young People's Concert aims to provide an opportunity for families to come and see a concert designed exclusively for young children.
Engagement with the arts is highly-beneficial for kids. According to Americans for the Arts, community-based arts education programs contribute to the development of essential life skills, including social and emotional growth, civic engagement, and college and career readiness. Additionally, their research shows engaging with the arts teaches children that purposes can evolve with circumstances and opportunities, fostering adaptability and complex problem-solving abilities. Need more reasons to take your children to arts events? In a study featured by Brookings, researchers found exposure to arts education has been linked to a reduction in disciplinary infractions by 3.6 percentage points and an increase in students' compassion for others by 8% of a standard deviation.
Kern Wadkins, Executive Director of the CSO, was kind enough to speak with us about the many reasons this concert is a must for families. Read on to learn all about the programming for this year's Young People's Concert, what to expect when you attend with your family, and why Wadkins is personally looking forward to sharing the experience with her own family this year.
Q: Why has the CSO chosen to build the Young People's Concert back into its season?
A: The Young People’s Concert has been a longstanding tradition for the CSO for many years, before being cut from the programming last season. It was so missed, both by our audiences and by our musicians, so it was a goal to restore it into our programming this season.
We believe that live music should be accessible to everyone, including the youngest in our community - even if they’ve never been in a concert hall before, even if they might make a little noise, especially if they want to point to all the instruments they know as they walk in!
It is a joy for us to program music that is geared specifically for young children and their grown-ups. We want them to hear music that might sound familiar, music they can respond to, and music that teaches them a little something about an orchestra. We also want them to feel comfortable and excited about the music we make in our concert hall.
Q: What educational elements are woven into the programming for the concert? For example, Mr. Smith's Composition has a narrator. How will this provide an exciting new classical music experience for kids?
Mr. Smith’s Composition is performed from the perspective of Mr. Smith himself, while he goes through the composing process and takes the audience along for the ride. The audience will get to see Mr. Smith sit down, sharpen his pencil, and hear how his ideas are brought to life by a live orchestra. AND they’ll get to help him finish writing the piece - it’s totally interactive. I’ll be excited to hear the ending, because we need the audience to help us finish it. We won’t know what it is until performance time!
This is an orchestral piece written specifically to make this kind of music approachable to young audiences. I’m hopeful there might be a few young composers in the audience with us this year who think, “If Mr. Smith can do it, so can I.”
Q: If you're willing, can you share why you're excited as a parent for your children to experience this concert? You are one of the first Executive Directors (if not the only) with children. I think leaning into that could be helpful for this concert if you're comfortable sharing your personal thoughts here.
I’ve been with the CSO for roughly eighteen months, so this is my first Young People’s Concert as Executive Director, and this concert holds a special place for me for personal reasons.
I was lucky enough to be with my then seven year old son at the last Young People’s Concert as an audience member, with no inkling that I would ever have the opportunity to work with the CSO – and getting to experience my son’s response to the concert was incredible. He was so engaged, loved that the conductor spoke to them from the stage, and came away feeling inspired to listen to a new form of music.
Now that I work at the CSO, he comes with me to almost all of the concerts, even though his favorite style of music at home is hip hop. He loves live classical music, and I don’t think he would have felt comfortable in our hall or felt welcomed to listen to orchestral music without the Young People’s Concert. It is an essential stepping stone to help our youngest patrons feel like this music is for them and that they belong here with us, too.
Q: Can you discuss what a ticket purchase means to the CSO?
Ticket purchases enable us to continue providing dynamic live music experiences to the Columbus community - they support our Masterwork concerts, Chamber concerts, and Pops concerts, but also support our educational and outreach initiatives like our Making Music Matters violin instruction program in collaboration with Girl’s, Inc. and Open Door Community House, Inc. and our Open Rehearsals. We do a lot and would love to invite you to our website at csoga.org to learn about the many ways we serve the community through music.
The Columbus Symphony Orchestra has been a cornerstone of the Columbus arts community since 1855. Your ticket purchase helps us to continue performing, creating, and serving for another 150 years. ◾️
If You Go:
What: CSO's Young People's Concert When: February 22 at 12:30PM Where: RiverCenter for the Performing Arts
It’s amazing to see the CSO investing in the next generation of music lovers.
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