Beethoven, Mommy and Me

These classes were the first courses offered when the school began in 1993. Designed for children as young as 18 months, the program is constantly updated to adapt new ideas and techniques.

The basic purpose of the class is to introduce young children to classical music via an immersion of the senses. They get a firsthand introduction to live piano music and get to touch and play with different instruments such as the harp, flute, violin, drums, accordions, cymbals, maracas, castanets, recorders, and triangles. Toys and toy instruments are also utilized to keep the students excited.

However, the Beethoven, Mommy and Me class is also designed to enrich young minds as the children are introduced to the music and narratives of the classic ballets and operas such as The Nutcracker, Sleeping Beauty, The Magic Flute, Swan Lake, Carnival of the Animals, and told more about the lives of the great composers. Techniques ranging from puppet shows like Peter and the Wolf, to books and images of the great composers are employed to successfully generate curiosity in young minds.

Movement and dance is a large part of the class. Children and their parents participate jointly in expressing themselves freely or following directions, dependent on what is being introduced. Dancing with colored scarves to famous waltzes by Chopin is a perennial class favorite.