Page 9 - Virtual Benedetti Sessions Coverage Book

children’s opera is aimed at children over 5 and comes with dance- and sing-alongs, a pairs game,
colouring pictures and even a manual to build your own laser trap at home.

One of the loveliest jewels I found during my treasure hunt is Carnegie Hall’s Lullaby Project. It pairs
parents-to-be as well as new mothers and fathers with professional artists – although not strictly
classical – to write their own lullabies for their babies, aiding child development and strengthening the
bond between parent and child. But wouldn’t this be a wonderful idea for older children as well? Why
not write down some shared memories – anything from your last camping holiday to building a bed
linen tent in your living room – and encourage your children to do the same before setting them to
music together?! BBC Ten Pieces can help you with the composition process. They open up the world
of classical music to 7-14 year olds with exciting films, lesson plans, instrumental
arrangements and BBC Bitesize: composing where you can choose from film to minimalist music to
find inspiration for your lullaby.

For your mini-ballerina, Notes in Motions offers remote dance lessons for all grades. Join their
teaching artists as they lead you (and, of course, your child) through some fun activities to keep you
active and dancing. Dutch National Opera and Ballet offer short dance videos and a blueprint to build
your own ballet theatre at home. As a nice side effect, your children might take up Dutch and if they
become interested in the more technical side of the theatre, have a look at our own Behind the
Scenes section.

Slowly and steadily we are getting used to the importance of social distancing these days and to
online interactive possibilities instead. LSOPlay is a free interactive web app, allowing the viewer to
experience the LSO on stage at the Barbican (anytime, anywhere) by watching the orchestra from
four camera angles simultaneously. And there are more ways to make music together. Have your
children ever dreamt of playing with virtuosos? Not that your guitar skills aren’t up to Miloš’
standards… The app NomadPlay can isolate any instrument from a recording to give you the thrill of
playing in immersion with prestigious artists and ensembles. They offer a free subscription if you
download the app until 17th April. Another chance to take part in an online orchestra is Jess Gillam’s
Virtual Scratch Orchestra which will debut on 17th April. You can download the music and scores
from her website, record yourself and submit the video via email. The first work will be David
Bowie’s Where Are We Now?. If the live social element is missing, you can set up a virtual ensemble
lesson (or performance) with your children’s friends – Brentwood School, for example, has organised
an entire Chamber Music Concert with entrances from their students’ living rooms.

For longer distractions, there are countless full performances for children available online. Wigmore
Hall offers a couple of concerts – one with the very intriguing title Sir Scallywag and the Battle of
Stinky Bottom – and in the Digital Concert Hall of the Berliner Philharmoniker you can find endless
offers of family concerts, children's operas – it's almost impossible to choose! The Orchestre
symphonique de Montréal offers a lovely interactive concert Around the World in 80 Days (in French)
and the cellist Steven Isserlis is playing a weekly children’s concert in his living room, streamed every
Wednesday on Facebook. Your children won’t even miss out on opera. They can watch Jonathan
Dove’s enchanting The Adventures of Pinocchio from Opera North, available on Marquee TV, or not
one but two versions of The Magic Flute for children, either from the Wiener Staatsoper (in German
and only available with a subscription) or the Liceu in Barcelona (in Catalan). Both houses offer a
couple more operas for young audiences, including a child-friendly version of The Ring from Vienna,
in case you need an entire afternoon off! There will also be two free streams from the Staatsoper:
Alma Deutscher’s Cinderella and Wagner’s Die Feen. Once you’ve read Antoine de Saint-
Exupéry’s The Little Prince it will stay with you forever and light up your darkest days. In 2018, MuTh
(the concert hall of the Wiener Sängerknaben) commissioned Gerald Wirth to write a children's
opera based on the fable and it is now available to watch online. After having to cancel their opera
festival for children, the Opéra Comique presents a couple of productions online, including La
Princesse légère, a lovely tale about a princess enjoying the ease of being a child.

Pippilotta Victualia Rollgardina Peppermint Ephraim’s Daughter Longstocking – do you remember the
strongest girl in the world? The Swedish choreographer Pär Isberg choreographed a higgledy-
piggledy production of Astrid Lindgren’s favourite character for the Helsinki Opera House. The Royal
Ballet has two charming offers: Matthew Hart’s Peter and the Wolf and once your children follow Alice
down the rabbit hole into a wonderland world of bewitching characters, you can finally start your
Home Office day or put your feet up with a glass of wine and enjoy a grown-up performance in our
archive after a long day of music education...

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