Come Meet Mozart with the SSO!

If you were to meet Mozart, what would he be like and what would you ask him?

That is the premise for the latest edition of SSO's Concerts for Children. In Come Meet Mozart, conductor Jason Lai turns chat-show host as he interviews Mozart and allows the audience to experience Mozart's music, from his first-ever orchestral work to his last, as well as choice selections from his many operas and piano concertos.

The Associate Conductor for the Hong Kong Sinfonietta and as well the Principal Conductor of the Yong Siew Toh Conservatory Orchestra, Lai first came up with the idea for the concert for the Hong Kong Sinfonietta, with which it has been performed to great success.

Said Lai (in an interview in Bravissimo, the SSO's quarterly newsletter): "Mozart is a fascinating composer so when I was asked to put together a concert that had educational element I came up with an idea that would help bring across his extraordinary life as well as his beautiful music. Today we are surrounded by media and so I wanted to tap into this idea and borrowed the talk show format on TV to introduce Mozart to the world. Of course TV didn't exist in Mozart's time but I thought it would be fun to explore what would happen if we could magically make him appear on stage."

I don't know about you, but my kids are certainly looking forward to meeting Mozart! My 5-year old has been learning to music for the last 1.5 years and he's been introduced certain pieces by Mozart including recently the fascinating "Der Speigel" (also known as "The Mirror").

I asked my son what he would want to ask Mozart if he got to meet him and this is what he came up with:

"Why do you like to play the piano?"

"Do you sing the notes when you play?"

"What is your favourite song?"

"What is your favourite book?"

"Why is your hair like that - white, long and curly?"

Well, I don't know if they'd be addressing his questions at the concert talk-show -- guess we'll have to attend to find out! 

Come Meet Mozart will be on at the University Cultural Centre, NUS on Sat 31 May 2014, for two shows only at 11am and 1pm. Featuring Jason Lai (conductor) and Chad O'Brien (Mozart), each concert lasts about one hour and is suitable for kids aged 4 to 14. Tickets are priced at $30 and $25 with discounts available for family packages of a minimum of 4 tickets, and can be purchased from Sistic.

(Click here for our previous review of another of SSO's Concerts for Children: Carnival of the Animals)