Education ViVA

Beanbag Proms: Quack! Buzz! Moo!
Saturday 16th September 2006
Royal Concert Hall Foyer, Nottingham

Over 360 children under 6 and their families joined sinfonia ViVA, Beanie Bear and Alasdair Molloy for the launch of the innovative Beanbag Proms with Quack! Buzz! Moo!

"What a great way to introduce young children to real music. Thank you – we had a great time. All our children (6, 3 and 1) enjoyed it." - Parent

A buzz of excitement and anticipation filled the foyer of the Royal Concert Hall as children and their families were greeted by Beanie Bear and found a seat on one of the many brightly coloured beanbags ready for the concert. Musical Maestro Alasdair Molloy opened the performances with a medley of animal related tunes which introduced each section of the orchestra individually with musicians joining the fun from every corner of the building!

"We loved the entrance of each musician. Thought it was a great idea to let the children touch the instruments at the end. We really enjoyed the music throughout." - Parent

Beanie Bear then made her entrance, to the newly commissioned Beanie Bear's Song which will feature in all the concerts in the series. Beanie then took her place amongst the children to enjoy the rest of the performance. A chorus of miaows could be heard in The Waltzing Cat, laughter as the musicians fell off their horses at the end of A Musical Joke and bird calls during the Cuckoo Polka!

"Fantastic ideas, very professional yet fun and engaging for children - please do more!"

The Flight of the Bumble Bee was particularly popular with children and adults alike as the musicians each found themselves swarmed by the Bee at some point during the piece, with their fast fingers moving around the group! The children listened to the musical Tale of a Mouse and some played the xylophone and blue bottles during the Grasshoppers Dance. The concert finished with everyone on their feet, dancing to Under the Sea!

"Did I enjoy it? To be honest I felt like a kid again. It's really easy to get in with it and be a kid. It was lot better than I expected. I thought it was going to be one of those things that the kids enjoy themselves and the adults just wait until it's finished, but it wasn't. It was really good."

At the end of the performance, the children were encouraged to meet the musicians and have a go on some of their instruments. This was particularly popular as the children were able to see and in some cases play the instruments up close.

"I thought it was excellent - they were able to relate to the children extremely well."

The next Beanbag Proms will be Sparkle! Jingle! Cheer! on Saturday 9 December at the Royal Concert Hall, Nottingham.

The project was generously supported by John Lewis, Nottingham, The Royal Concert Hall, Nottingham and ViVA.

Images from the project...