Birdie Visits the Orchestra
My first concert of the year was on Saturday, April 20. I took Birdie to see her very first Cleveland Orchestra performance, sort of. For many, many years the Orchestra has been trying to attract a younger audience, and there's really not a younger potential audience than my daughter. To cater to the kids Birdie's age who aren't even old enough for the inevitable school trip to Severance Hall, over the last season they did three specific shows aimed at the 2 to 5 crowd. We weren't able to make the first two, but we did get to the "The Virtuous Viola."
For even more fun, the show was actually in Reinberger Hall, a smaller room on the ground floor that I had never previously been in. So technically, this kid's show was a new venue for me.
Birdie and I got there more or less on time. It was open seating, but my daughter was convinced that she wanted to sit in the very top row next to the exit and could not be persuaded otherwise. At least we were well positioned for a quick exit, but thankfully that wasn't necessary.
The show featured Cleveland Orchestra violist Eliesah Nelson. She was accompanied by Dianna White-Gould on the piano. My friend and long-ago ultimate frisbee teammate Jen Woda emceed the whole thing.
It was clear that a lot of thought and preparation had gone into the show and the intended audience. The whole thing lasted 30 minutes from start to finish. There was a little bit of "tell," all appropriately paced for 3-year-olds, and a whole lot of "show". My daughter repeatedly said "I'm bored" during the talking, but she danced up a storm during all the music. For all her complaints, Birdie did a lot better than many of the other attendees in terms of attention span. From an adult perspective, it barely counts as a concert, but if the orchestra does more of these events next season, I'm sure we'll be in again. On a side note, Baby Shark arranged for viola is still pretty meh.
Afterwards we chatted with Jen, who I hadn't seen before the start of the pandemic. Then we did a walk-through of the Cleveland Botanical Garden (we have a membership) followed by a solid 25 minutes going up and down the escalators at the Cleveland Museum of Art before we headed home. It was a solid afternoon in University Circle.