BrumHour was invited to WNO Family Concert by WNO (Welsh National Opera).
By Julie Wallis
WNO Family Concert at
THSH Birmingham Town Hall
Yesterday I attended a family concert by WNO (Welsh National Opera) at THSH Birmingham’s Town Hall.
Concert presenter Tom Redmond explained how music can affect everyone’s moods, and demonstrated this by donning a long red dress and swishing around to Carmen. The show had started with Ride of the Valkyries and presenter Tom told the audience is was about princesses, warriors, and flying horses! All pretty engaging stuff.
Every one of the pieces played was well known and included such works as Nessun Dorma and Beethoven’s 5th. With the theme for this fun family event being Summer, it was lovely to see the orchestra in shorts, sun hats and Hawaiian shirts. It was equally lovely to see the audience waving flags in true Last Night of the Proms fashion and to see the entire audience joining in with everybody clapping.
Presenter Tom Redmond was an absolute delight, his enthusiasm and easy manner made him an instant hit with everyone, especially considering over 25% of the audience were children, he managed to keep the youngsters attention whilst never talking down to anyone in the audience.
There was even time for a bit of a sing-along to Funiculi Funicular. The audience was encouraged to sing, dance, clap and just enjoy themselves. What a fantastic first experience for so many young people. Of course, this being the Welsh National Opera, we did have the treat that was Adriano Graziani and Linda Richardson singing too.
THSH Birmingham Town Hall is a lovely venue, fairly intimate with a lovely friendly vibe. Perfect for a family concert which had choirs from four different local schools, all resplendent in their school uniforms as they sang the Classy Classics. The composer of which was actually in the audience!
Away from the auditorium there was face painting and even theatrical wigs to be tried on. Staff were handing out flags for the audience to join in the celebration and it was a lovely, fun time.
Thanks to Conductor Fredrick Brown and the orchestra of the WNO for a splendid event and to the four schools that had provided choirs, you guys rocked!
The next family concert of this season is down in Southampton on 14th July. WNO returns to Birmingham in November for its regular autumn engagement at Birmingham Hippodrome. Find out more here: wno.org.uk/whats-on
