There are a lot of brilliant ideas out there about involving children in classical music, but San Francisco Chamber Orchestra can stake a claim for one of the most original: conducting paired with circus clowns. The premise of the orchestra’s next family concert, on April 17, is a dissection of the conductor’s job, and comes complete with children conducting parts of Mozart’s Eine kleine Nachtmusik, as well as performances by members of a local troupe, Circus Bella.
Sure, some disgruntled musicians would identify most conductors as clowns, yet when it comes right down to it, haven’t we all imagined ourselves conducting an orchestra once in a while? I remember my college theory teacher showing me his baton collection and telling me he liked to conduct recordings as he played them. I was relieved, as I thought I was the only one who did that. But lots of people learn music that way, including composer John Adams, who describes fantasy-conducting in the opening chapter of his autobiography, Hallelujah Junction. It’s the classical equivalent of air guitar.
So the SFCO idea is surefire entertainment. Says Music Director Benjamin Simon, “We had a concert last year called ‘Meet the Orchestra,’ where we featured players from different sections of the orchestra. And at the end of the program a couple of parents came up and said, ‘Hey, you talked about everybody but you. What’s the role of the conductor?’ And so I thought, ‘OK, we can do a program about what a conductor does.’ But then I thought that, since we always try to involve young musicians in our family concerts — young soloists, youth orchestra members playing side by side with the orchestra — how fun would it be to let a kid conduct the orchestra?”
And how do the clowns fit in? “It was a mixing of two ideas,” say Simon. “Our new executive director, Colleen Marlowe, had seen the Circus Bella, and one of the clowns does a wonderful conducting shtick with their band, so she had the wonderful idea of including them in this concert. And what the clowns are going to do is be our interrupters, making it impossible for me to conduct the orchestra. And finally the only kids who are going to be able to control the orchestra are these kids. And it turns out that one of the clowns is quite a talented musical-saw player, so we’re doing the Song of the Swan with him playing; then we’ll play some [Scott] Joplin, and they’ll do some juggling with violins.”
There you have it. What more would you need to convince you to see this show? It's free, there’s no suggested age limit (meaning you can take your 8-year-old and your 3-year-old), all performances take place on a weekend afternoon, all three venues have nearby parking available and are accessible by public transportation, and the concert runs about an hour long, making it perfect for kids. If you plan on going, send Grandma with a lawn chair to stake out a place on line for you early. It’s probably going to be a crowded event.