Warm up with the NAC Orchestra Family Adventures Series!

Looking for some entertaining (and educational) activities to enjoy with your child this March? Check out the remaining two performances in the Family Adventures with the NAC Orchestra series. Geared to kids aged 5 and over, this fun and interactive series introduces children to the joy of orchestral music.  Each performance is accessible in either English or French,  lasts approximately one hour and features the NAC Orchestra with special guests who bring the music to life! Be sure to arrive 45 minutes early to participate in hands on pre-concert activities. Tickets start at $15 for kids and $20 for adults.

Upcoming Family Adventures events include: 

Freestylin’ Like Mozart
March 2 - 3, 2019 at 2:30 PM
Did you know that musical geniuses like Bach, Mozart, and Beethoven freestyled on the keyboard in improv competitions against other composers, fueled by suggestions from the audience?  Join us for an exciting and interactive concert experience that puts together comedy theatre Second City and the NAC Orchestra to demo musical improv and hear some of the classical masterpieces that came out of it! For more information or to purchase tickets for Freestylin’ Like Mozart visit https://nac-cna.ca/en/event/18699

Orchestra From Planet X
March 30 - 31, 2019 at 2:30 PM
An unwitting conductor only wants to trace the influences of the New World on European orchestral tradition when two aliens descend on Southam Hall with ideas of their own! With ideas and inventions for influencing "Earth Music" these mischievous extraterrestrials turn what should have been a straight forward orchestra program into a sci-fi musical thriller. For more information or to purchase tickets for Orchestra from Planet X visit https://nac-cna.ca/en/event/18700

**GIVEAWAY! We’re giving away four tickets to the March 30th performance of Orchestra From Planet X! To enter, simply leave a comment on this Facebook Post letting us know who you will take with you to this sci-fi musical! Draw will take place Friday, March 15th.

This blog post has been sponsored by the National Arts Centre Orchestra. All opinions are our own.

Green Eggs and Hamadeus: A Children's Theatre Review

Saturday February 9th was a very busy day in downtown Ottawa!  Winterlude was in full swing, the canal was hopping, and the sun was shining beautifully.  My son and I however were at the NAC for the performance of Green Eggs and Hamadeus, the second in a series of 3 performances that we purchased tickets for back in the fall.

This was a much more interactive performance (bilingual as well!) with audience participation!  The conductor of the orchestra broke down one of Mozart's pieces, Eine Kleine Nachtmusik, K. 525, Allegro, Romanze: Andante, Menuetto: Alegretto, Rondo: Allegro for the audience to explain how a piece of music was put together, the difference between the melody and they accompaniment, and how it all fits together in the end.  He explained that even the instrument, in this case it was the viola, with the most basic notes to play, was very important to the entire piece because they might have one "surprise" that stands out when the orchestra plays together.  He invited two children up onto the stage to conduct the orchestra after giving a little lesson on how it was done.

Then it was onto the story of Green Eggs and Ham.  It wasn't a very long performance, but it was well done, funny, the actors were very expressive which the kids in the audience loved!  There were a few times when the operatic singing was a little bit too much for the little ears, I did notice my son and a few other children a few times covering their ears.

As usual there were activities preceding the event, they had a large train set up for the little ones to look at, they were very strict about their "no touching" policy, which I could understand since the pieces were very delicate, but not exactly conducive to a bunch of kids who naturally want to explore with both their eyes and hands.

It was a lovely way to spend the afternoon!

http://nac-cna.ca/en/orchestra/event/2397

Amanda was born and raised in Ottawa where she continues to live with her husband and son “J”. Amanda is bilingual and interests include reading, blogging, socializing, and advocacy on children and teen issues.

Music Under a Midnight Moon: A Children's Theatre Review

I decided that for my birthday I would like to take my son to see some cultural and educational performances.  Naturally, I started by perusing the National Arts Centre website.  I was pleased to find a series of three performances including orchestral and theatrical components directed specifically to children.  Prices were also reasonable $20 per adult ticket, $12 per child ticket.  Total cost for us was just under $100 for 3 performances. This past Saturday January 12th, I took my 5 yr old to see Music Under a Midnight Moon at the National Arts Centre.  This was our first experience with children's theatre and we both could not have enjoyed it more!  We arrived a little early to ensure we could find parking, visit the washroom, and make a wish in the fountain.  We were prepared for a bit of a wait before the scheduled start time, but to my surprise there were activities for the wee ones set up in the lobby to keep them occupied!  At this performance there were tables set up with all kinds of homemade musical instruments. Kleenex box guitars, water bottle shakers, bottle cap percussion instruments, the kids could bang, strum, and shake to their hearts content!  It was kind of a mad house but so much fun!  Kids could also line up and take turns winding the wheel of a street organ!  My son thought it was the coolest thing ever and made me take his picture with it.

All too soon it was time to go find our seats for the main event! The lights dimmed, the orchestra played it's opening piece and the performance began.  It did not matter what language you spoke, this performance was all done in mime so language was not a barrier.  The players took you through each piece the orchestra played in a funny way that all the kids understood.  They played some fun pieces like "Take Me Out To The Ball Game" and "Turkey in the Straw".  Their focus was any kind of home made instrument that could be played by anyone.  Bottles of water, wooden spoons on flower pots, stomping with buckets on your feet.

I also found it very intriguing how the music affected my son's mood.  During up tempo pieces he was excited, dancing and bouncing in his seat.  At one point they played a lullaby and he was telling me how he was tired and wanted to go home soon!  Once the moved on to another piece of music, he was back to bouncing again.

The performance itself was exactly an hour.  Put that together with the activities in the lobby, it made for a perfect early afternoon outing.  We were home by 3:00 and enjoyed ourselves immensely!  We can't wait to see the next show in February, Green Eggs and Hamadeus.

Amanda was born and raised in Ottawa where she continues to live with her husband and son “J”. Amanda is bilingual and interests include reading, blogging, socializing, and advocacy on children and teen issues.

Win four tickets to see The Little Prince

The giveaway is now closed! Congratulations to our winner Barbara! Live theater is a great way to engage a child and capture their imagination. We have four tickets to give away to the Once Upon A Kingdom's English production of The Little Prince that starts this Thursday!

To be eligible to win the four tickets to the show of your choice (show times are here) leave a comment letting us know why your kid(s) would love to see this show! Please note that the production is for children ages 6 and up.

The giveaway closes June 8th at 6pm. Good luck!