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Children as Concertgoers?

Organizers and artists often complain that classical music audiences are aging. As a result, special programs for children and young people are offered everywhere to reach the next generation.

Almost all theaters and concert halls also offer discounted tickets for young audiences, and quite a few parents and grandparents are happy to introduce their children to music and theater at an early age. This is often successful, even with very young children: The accompanying adults prepare the children well and make sure they know how they are expected to behave. Children are then often more open to the emotional experience of music than older audiences—of course, at the price that they sometimes ask a question when everyone else is sitting in reverent silence.

I would hope that other concert and theatergoers respond to such situations with a benevolent smile rather than with complaints to the organizer! After all, we want classical music to have an interested audience in the next generation as well!