Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra is a great way to expose our children to the symphony and live music. I have fond memories of attending the symphony as a child and I wanted to continue this tradition with my children.
Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra offers children’s programming on four Sundays throughout the year known as Symphony Sundays for Kids. You can subscribe to the season or individual tickets. If you subscribe for the season then you end up with one concert free. Season tickets price range is $72-$87 for children and $105-$120 for adults. Single concerts are $35-$40 per seat. We are subscribers and the nice part of this is that we are offered our same seats each year before tickets go on sale to the public.
For best seats we recommend the dress circle left or right. My kids decided they prefer these seats over orchestra seats since they enjoy being able to watch all of the musicians throughout the concert and it is much easier to see the musicians from this vantage point. For my youngest, being in the dress circle means he does not have to sit for the entire concert, but can stand or calmly dance at his place without disturbing anyone.
This years offerings are: Kids at the Opera which was performed in September 22, The Hockey Sweater on February 2, Presto Mambo March 8 and Beethoven lives upstairs May 31. We are especially looking forward to Beethoven Lives Upstairs as this is a story we have listened to while travelling many times. It was a story I grew up listening to on long road trips and it was nice I could share it with my children. We are interested to see how they perform this.
The symphony is great for all ages. The conductor is very animated and engages the children throughout the concert. Some past performances have included Fred Penner, Gershwin’s Magic Key, Peter and the Wolf to name a few.
We highly recommend going early to visit the Instrument Discovery Zoo which gives children a chance to try a variety of instruments prior to the concert. This is where my son developed an interest in Violin which he has now been learning for the past two years.
Do you attend the symphony? Have you considered taking your children?
