PRE-PROGRAM PACKET
Welcome to Spring Tiny Tots! Get ready to blast off during this fun performance featuring music all about outer space. At the concert your little ones will get to ride on imaginary rocket ships, walk on the moon, dance around like silly aliens, and explore the planets before making a bumpy landing back on Earth. This packet will give you an overview of the program you’ll experience and also suggests fun activities to do at home before or after the concert. Some helpful hints on how to get the most out of this packet: • The title of each piece links to a YouTube video of that music. For most of these pieces, we will be performing just a small section, not the full piece as linked. If the piece has an asterisk next to it, it means we’ll only be performing an excerpt of the piece, but we encourage you to listen to the whole thing! • At the Concert: this section tells you a bit more about the piece of music. It may inspire you to dig further into its history or include facts you may want to share with your child(ren) as you listen to the music. It will also tell you how the music will be used in Tiny Tots and what activities children will be prompted to do to engage deeper with the music. • At Home: this section includes activities to bring the music and theme alive at home. Listen to the music as you complete some of the activities to make it a fully immersive experience. • Note: Check out the “At Home” activity for ET the Extraterrestrial. Children are invited to bring their space alien masks to Tiny Tots and wear them during portions of the concert. We can’t wait to go on this interstellar music journey with you and your little ones. For now, over and out! Musically, Sara Hare
Program Manager
Little Einsteins – Billy Straus At the Concert If you’ve watched the Little Einsteins TV show, then you’re certainly familiar with this music. The lilting bass rhythms and simple melody make it a fun and playful way for little astronauts to start their musical journey through space. At Home It’s been shown time and again that if children are encouraged and given the tools to imagine themselves in a specific profession, they are far more likely to add that profession onto the list of careers they believe they could aspire to. With that idea in mind, to encourage your child(ren) to think big, use this template to have them draw themselves as an astronaut or have them create their own astronaut helmet. The sky is the limit for your little one(s)!
*Symphony no. 4, Movement 4 - Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky At the Concert Tchaikovsky is said to have dedicated this symphony to his patroness and good friend, a woman named Nadezhda von Meck. The 4th movement is meant to spark joy with its bright melodies and fast-moving notes. Count down from 5 to 1 and blast off in your rocket ships as the music starts. At Home This piece contains all the excitement of a rocket ship blasting off into space. Before the concert, your child(ren) can experience that excitement by making their own rocket ship out of a few simple materials. Follow this tutorial and then get ready to blast off!
*Helios Overture - Carl Nielsen At the Concert Nielsen wrote this piece after a trip to Greece where he was inspired by the sun rising and setting over the Aegean Sea. In his own words, “stillness and darkness — Then the sun rises to joyous songs of praise — Wanders its golden way — quietly sinks in the sea.” Time to fly through outer space and look around at all the wonders in the sky. At Home This piece is all about the beauty of watching the sun rise. This this fun “sewing” craft is not only bright and cheerful, but it will help in the development of fine motor skills and dexterity.
*The Planets, Jupiter - Gustav Holst At the Concert Each movement of this seven-movement suite was written about a different planet, specifically the role of the planet in astrology (not astronomy). The Jupiter movement was also given the title of “The Bringer of Jollity.” It begins and ends with a frenzied, but happy, energy with a beautiful, full melody in the middle. During this slow excerpt, kids will pretend to hold the big planet in their arms and sway back and forth. At Home It can feel daunting to introduce the concepts of the planets and stars to young children – there is so much to know! We suggest you keep it simple and start with this fun and catchy song about the planets. Once that is stuck in everyone’s head, use this printable to have your little ones cut out and put the planets in order.
*The Blue Danube Waltz – Johann Strauss At the Concert Strauss is known as “The Waltz King” and this piece helped to solidify that nickname. It is so popular it has become an unofficial anthem of Austria. It was written to celebrate the River Danube that flows through Vienna. Kids will pretend to walk on the moon as the music seems to float through the orchestra. At Home This piece helps us imagine what it’s like to walk on the moon, which is very different from walking on Earth! Show your little one(s) this video of astronauts on the moon – it cracked us up to watch them have so much fun as they were walking around. If you made the astronaut helmets from the Little Einsteins activity, put them on and moon walk around your home while listening to the Blue Danube Waltz.
*The Planets, Jupiter - Gustav Holst At the Concert We’ve already heard the slow middle section of this movement but it starts and ends with fast, upbeat runs from all around the orchestra. This music sounds like shooting stars – use your hands to show sparkling meteors shooting through the sky. At Home Holst’s Jupiter movement is such an amazing piece that we’re going to perform two sections for you at the concert. If you and your kiddo(s) want to learn even more about this music, check out these lesson plans all about Jupiter by Holst. There are even additional lessons for any older kids in your life.
Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star We won’t be having a whistler at our concert but check out his amazing skill in this version of the classic song!
At the Concert Twinkle, Twinkle is a popular English lullaby based on a poem titled The Star written in the 1800s, sung to the tune of an old French melody. There are actually 5 verses to this song, though only the first one is widely known. Time to get silly with this song! You’ll get to sing it with tiny voices like far away stars, then with big voices like giant planets, and then one last time however you choose. At Home One of the best ways to learn about outer space is simply gazing up at the twinkling stars above us. But if the city lights keep you from seeing the stars at home, you can make your own toddler-safe glowing stars out of just a few ingredients by following these instructions.
*Symphony no. 41, movement 4 – Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart At the Concert This was Mozart’s longest and final symphony. He brilliantly weaved five different themes throughout in fugato style, which means the themes repeat many times in different ways in relation to each other. Watch as a dancer from the Hannah Kahn Dance Company joins us during this piece. At Home When Mozart wrote this symphony, he didn’t actually name it the Jupiter Symphony – it didn’t get that nickname until 40 years later until the next generation of music listeners and critics heard it and created their own story. Let your kiddos use their imagination with some of Mozart’s other music! Listen to different pieces on this playlist and have them come up with their own creative titles or stories. If you kids need extra direction, brainstorm as a group to come up with adjectives describing what they hear first.
*Theme from ET the Extraterrestrial – John Williams At the Concert Written in 1982, Steven Spielberg and John Williams worked together to create this iconic piece of music. Kids can put on the space alien masks they brought from home and dance around like silly extraterrestrials. At Home Ooh, outer space, the great unknown! There’s so much we have yet to discover, like whether there is life on other planets and what that may look like. Let your little one(s) be creative and turn themselves into their versions of space aliens with these other-worldly masks. Have them bring their mask to the Tiny Tots concert so they can wear it while they dance like silly beings during the piece.
O Sole Mio - Eduardo di Capua At the Concert This piece is a famous Neapolitan song – Neapolitan is its own distinct language spoken in parts of Italy. This is a very well-known opera classic, so popular that Elvis Presley made a cover where he used the same melody but changed the words. A singer from Central City Opera will join us for this piece. At Home The name of this piece in English is “My Own Sunshine.” Have you ever wanted to capture your very own piece of the sun? Now your kids (and you as well!) can when you make this creative sun catcher craft.
*Symphony no. 5, Movement 1 – Ludwig van Beethoven At the Concert This movement is one of the best-known pieces of classical music ever created. It took Beethoven 4 years to write this symphony. The four notes this piece is famous for are known as a motif: a short fragment of music repeated many times in different ways. Get ready to come back down to Earth for a bumpy landing. At Home In 1977, NASA launched The Golden Records into space on the Voyager probes. These records contain images, natural sounds like the ocean and birds chirping, greetings in 55 different languages, and 27 pieces of music from around the world. Movement 1 from Symphony no. 5 by Beethoven is one of the pieces included on the record. Learn more about the Golden Records here and then get together as a family to create your own golden record – a time capsule of your family as it is right now to be opened in the future. Create a file with your kids’ favorite music. Record their voices saying “hi” or “I love you.” Scan in their art or make prints of their hands.
What A Wonderful World – Bob Thiele and George David Weiss At the Concert This piece was first recorded in 1968 by Louis Armstrong and topped the pop charts in the UK when it was released, though it wasn’t immediately popular in the US because they didn’t market it heavily. It has been covered many times, but Armstrong’s version is by far still the best-known. Dance or sing along together about what a wonderful world it really is. At Home Daydreaming about outer space is always fun, but this song reminds us of all the beauty that exists on our home planet. Help your kid(s) plant their own trees of green and red roses too by making this Earth-themed seed paper! These can also make perfect Mother’s Day gifts for any of the special “moms” in your life!
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