Brief description

Since 2008, Bamberg Music Centre has been putting on a special series of up to four concerts every year for children aged between three and ten years. These “concerts for young ears” are targeted at families and also at kindergartens and schools. The music is embedded in a story, which makes sophisticated music accessible in a playful and interesting way to the young audiences. Practicing an open conception of music, the MZB ensemble plays a selection of highest-quality music of a wide variety of styles in the “concerts for young ears”, with a particular focus on contemporary music. The young audiences are involved in the concerts in musical improvisation. All concerts are performed by professional members of the MZB ensemble in changing line-ups. The Bamberg actor Ursula Gumbsch narrates the story and is the event’s compere. Artists from other fields join the musicians in selected programmes. The performing line-ups deliberately include only a small number of performers to make sure children are not overwhelmed by the size of the experience. Our young attendees particularly enjoy the encore at the end of the concert, when they have the opportunity to try out instruments themselves.
The concept’s great success speaks for itself. On average, about 120 children and their parents attend each concert, gaining the opportunity to find their very own access to classical and contemporary music. The series “concerts for young ears”, unique in Bamberg, has subscribers at around 300 addresses. The repertoire is continually expanded: Joshua and the Magic Flute (2008), Mail for the Tiger (2009), Oh, How Beautiful Is Panama (2010), Pinocchio (2011), A Thousand Boots (2011), The Princess on the Pea (2013), The Happy Lion (2014), The Tale of the Swineherd (2014).

The Hans Thomann Foundation’s donation

The Hans Thomann Foundation has supported the project “Concerts for Young Ears” with a donation of 400 euros.

Further Information:
musikzentrum-bamberg.de