Waaah! More London bring-a-baby concerts

We read this at the weekend and thought it would be worth passing along...

from Time Out:

By Jonathan Lennie

Something weird is happening. I am in the stalls of Wigmore Hall enjoying the aeolian strains of a wind trio, while my companion is chewing his hand and dribbling on my trousers; meanwhile, the person in front is standing backwards in their seat and staring at me intently. And if that wasn't disconcerting enough, a chorus of wailing is gathering momentum across the room. And never mind the clapping between movements, here there is constant movement, including one audience member who is enjoying an impromptu promenade, standing at the side of the stage eating a biscuit.

The reason for this unusual behaviour might be explained by the fact that half the audience is under one year old. We are at the sporadic 'For Crying Out Loud' concert series - my son, Reuben, making his first foray into the concert hall. Well, he is five months old and I didn't want to leave it too long.

The series, run by Wigmore Hall, is part of its education programme. And what a great idea! For while there are regular family concerts and activity workshops for infants across the city, there are few opportunities for parents with babies to attend live classical music events. And this is definitely one for the parents - today there are about 100 of them, mostly mums, some accompanied by dads, and a handful of grandparents.

Now I understand why, on entering the building with half an hour to kick-off, the ushers looked so nervous. For 15 minutes later the onslaught began, as mothers stormed the foyer with their offspring in prams and slings, and bags bulging with baby accoutrement.

The musicians today are the Fortuna Trio, whose combination of flute, clarinet and bassoon is clearly conducive to small ears as there is a collective hush as they open with a Mozart divertimento. However, despite the wonderful sounds being created on stage, Reuben doesn't seem to notice, being far more interested in examining his feet, which have only recently come into his purview. But such distractions are welcome and he remains quiet until halfway through an arrangement of Bach's 'Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring', when a junior critic on stage right registers his displeasure (some people don't like Bach being messed about with); his cries are met by another on the other side, creating a Doppler effect, which sets the rest of the room off, including Reuben. read more......

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