Boulder Bach Festival Has Opportunities for Kids of All Ages
In February, Boulder-area youth, ranging in age from 6 to 18 and representing as many as 40-area music teachers, played Bach on the stage of the Boulder Public Library Auditorium. This annual event, Kids for Bach, is popular with the young music students and their friends and families, and overflow audiences are typical. In January, a large number of tape recordings were submitted by aspiring 18-and-under soloists, and in early February a panel of Boulder Bach Festival’s (BBF) Education Committee members and other Boulder musicians listened to the tapes in order to select 16 performers or ensembles for each of two Kids for Bach programs. The young virtuosos performed on instruments including voice, piano, violin, viola, cello, string bass, flute, French horn, and bass clarinet. Two budding string quartets were selected, and each program has featured an ensemble of Boulder Suzuki Strings musicians and the Bear Creek Bach Bunch singers.
Another BBF children’s program, Bach for Kids, brings the music of Bach to both school-aged and younger children (recommended for ages 3 and older). For many years, Professional Storyteller Susan Marie Frontczak has been the featured guest artist on Bach for Kids, staged at the Boulder Public Library Auditorium. A researched and scripted program, entitled “Growing Up Bach,” gives children a glimpse of what it would have been like to grow up in Bach’s family, or attend the famous St. Thomas School in Leipzig. Susan Marie’s engaging narration of the story comes to life with musical examples played by BBF Music Director, Robert Spillman, on the piano and harpsichord, and vocalist accompanists.
Dates of the BBF children’s programs for the coming season are: Kids for Bach, Sunday, February 7, 2010, at 2 and 4 p.m. at the Boulder Public Library Auditorium; and Bach for Kids, Sunday, May 16, 2010, at 2 and 4 p.m., also at the Boulder Public Library Auditorium.
