Classics for Kids at Boston Children's Museum
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If this is a recurring event that will be happening again this year, please let us know.
| Dates: | Wednesday, February 17, 2016 - Wednesday, February 17, 2016 |
| Hours: | two performances: 1:30 PM and 3:00 PM |
| Ages: | Infants, Toddlers, Kids, Adults |
| In/Outdoor: | Indoor |
| Cost: | $$ see below |
| Category: | Music & Concerts |
The interactive 35-minute version of The Four Seasons is being developed for Boston Baroque by producer and youth arts leader Sara Stackhouse, of Stackhouse Creative.
These versions of Vivaldi’s beloved work will feature actor Brooke Hardman Ditchfield along with seven period-instrument musicians, all members of the Boston Baroque orchestra: Jessie Irons, solo violin, Sarah Darling and Julia McKenzie, violins, Lauren Nelson, viola, Colleen McGary-Smith, cello, Erik Higgins, bass and Michael Beattie, harpsichord.
An added Instrument Petting Zoo after each performance will allow children to experience a few hands-on elements of music making.
With these two activities, Boston Baroque looks to serve as a catalyst for future audiences and for potential musicians as well.
'These Classics for Kids children's programs will be interactive and participatory,' says Sara Stackhouse.
'And, in this case, using Vivaldi's Four Seasons, the performances will include listening to excerpts of each of the four seasons.
The level of art is incredibly high and all of the musical movements are based on sonnets also written by the composer.
To interact with the kids, we will cut down to the key elements using short sections that will engage children in the story and the sounds.'
'The program will be led by actor and teaching artist Brooke Hardman in collaboration with the musicians, who will engage children in listening for things like wind storms, barking dogs, insects, and thunder found in the piece, and then responding to them by creating a movement storm of their own, creating snowflakes for a flurry, or curling up to sleep by a winter fire.
The idea is to invite children to hear the music, explore the sounds made by each instrument, connect with the story, and respond to it using their senses.
It should be really welcoming and fun for children and families.' she continued.
Sara Stackhouse is the sole proprietor of Stackhouse Creative LLC, a project and consulting company which handles artistic projects, creative youth development and social justice work, advocacy, fundraising, marketing, and organizational development.
From 2004-2015, she was Executive Producer at Actors' Shakespeare Project (ASP) where she produced 48 professional productions and helped develop ASP's youth, education and community programs, including work with the Massachusetts Department of Youth Services and Boston Public Schools.
Prior to her work with ASP, she was the Supervising Producer of INSIDE This Old House for the A&E television network and Project Manager for cellist Yo-Yo Ma, where her work ranged from educational projects to scripting and staging to collaborations with artists such as Bobby McFerrin, Mark Morris, Toni Morrison, Torvill & Dean, Atom Egoyan and others.
With Ma, she served as Associate Producer on eight films, including Yo-Yo Ma: Inspired by Bach.
Sara was the first Director of Education for NPR's From the Top, produced A Taste of Chanukah for PBS, PRI, and Rounder Records, and was the Executive Producer of the MIT Media Lab's Toy Symphony.
She previously served as a consultant to The Berkshire Institute for Theology and the Arts and was the Board Chair of Tremendous Hearts, and is currently the Co Vice-Chair of the Board of Directors for MassCreative, Massachusetts' arts, culture and creativity advocacy organization.
Brooke Hardman is an actress, producer, and teacher based in Boston and Martha’s Vineyard.
She is the Founder and Artistic Director of ArtFarm, a sustainable theatre company on Martha’s Vineyard, the Co-Founder and Producer of New Writers/New Plays, a festival of new plays by emerging playwrights at Vineyard Arts Project and also the drama teacher at Martha's Vineyard High School.
As an actress, Brooke has performed extensively throughout the country with companies that include Steppenwolf, Court Theatre, Writer’s Theatre, The Huntington Theatre, New Repertory Theatre, Montana Shakespeare in the Parks, and the Williamstown Theatre Festival, where she appeared in over a dozen productions over four seasons.
Brooke is also a Resident Acting Company Member of Actors’ Shakespeare Project, Boston’s award winning and only resident Shakespeare company.
With ASP, Brooke has appeared as Desdemona in Othello, Imogen in Cymbeline, and Cressida in Tina Packer’s production of Troilus and Cressida.
As a teacher for ASP, Brooke has directed Shakespeare projects and productions at Charlestown High School for the last three years, in addition to Shakespeare intensives and workshops at high schools and elementary schools throughout the greater Boston area.
Brooke has also taught with NYC’s acclaimed 52nd Street Project, in addition to serving three seasons as an Artist-in-Residence for Chicago’s Court Theatre, where she taught and directed Shakespeare for underserved high schools on the city’s south side.
Most recently, Brooke created and directed a theatre and film residency for the 4th grade at the West Tisbury Elementary School.
Brooke holds a BFA in acting from Boston University’s School for the Arts and has trained with Shakespeare and Company and Chicago Shakespeare Theatre.
Classics For Kids is made possible through the support of The Abbot and Dorothy H.
Stevens Foundation, The Paul and Edith Babson Foundation, the John H.
and H.
Naomi Tomfohrde Foundation and the Massachusetts Cultural Council.
About Boston Baroque:
Boston Baroque is the first permanent Baroque orchestra established in North America, and is widely regarded as 'one of the world's premier period-instrument bands' according to Fanfare.
The ensemble produces lively, emotionally charged, ground-breaking performances of Baroque and Classical works for today's audiences, performed on period-instruments and using performance techniques that reflect the eras in which the music was composed.
Founded in 1973 by Music Director Martin Pearlman, Boston Baroque's orchestra is made up of some of the finest period-instrument players in the United States; they are frequently joined by the ensemble's professional chorus and by instrumental and vocal soloists from around the world.
The ensemble presents an annual subscription series consisting of five programs that are performed at New England Conservatory's Jordan Hall in Boston, Massachusetts, or Harvard University's Sanders Theatre in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
| COST | ↑ top |
Museum Admission Required
| WEBSITE | ↑ top |
| LOCATION | ↑ top |
308 Congress Street, Boston, MA, 02210 map
Phone: 617-426-6500
Boston Children’s Museum, 308 Congress St, Boston, MA 02210
| TIPS | ↑ top |
- Boston Children's Museum Admission
- Adults: $16
- Children (1-15): $16
- Children (Under 12 months): FREE
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