Music for Children

It seems that there's a new hip and cool kids' music act born every minute. This is actually a good thing, since it means that there's plenty of quality music out there that not only appeals to the little ones but to their parents as well. At the forefront of this movement is former '80s rocker Dan Zanes. Once a member of the Del Fuegos, Zanes has since turned his sights on realm of music for children and their parents. He's been successful at it, too, winning a Grammy in 2007 for his album Catch That Train! You've probably seen his videos in rotation on the Disney Channel's Playhouse Disney between shows (if not, you can check them out here).

Anyhow, Dan Zanes and Friends are currently on tour and plan on making not one, not two, but three appreances at UC Berkeley's Zellerbach Hall, as part of the Cal Performances Family Fare series. Special pricing for these shows means that children ages 16 and under are half-price for all performances; normal ticket prices are $16 or $26. Dan Zanes and Friends performs two shows on Saturday, March 6, at 11 am and 4 pm, and another show on Sunday, March 7, at 3 pm. Order tickets online at www.calperfs.berkeley.edu or call (510) 642-9988.

Bring the kids to the Dream Circle Holiday Concert at Marin Center on Tuesday, December 8, 2009, featuring an all-star local lineup including Tim Cain, Judy Nee (AKA Miss Kitty), Cindy Cohen, and Christopher Smith. This holiday family performance will feature songs from their It’s a Holiday CD that includes music for a diverse lineup of winter holidays, including Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, and Chinese New Year.

There will be 2 shows, at 9:30 am and 11 am, at Marin Center’s Showcase Theater in San Rafael. Advance tickets are required: (415) 457-4878. The Showcase Theater is located at 10 Avenue of the Flags (off Highway 101) at the Marin County Civic Center in San Rafael. For directions, go to the Marin Center's website. Read our 2008 review of the Dream Circle CD here.

Take a trip back to the 18th century and learn about music with eight-year old Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart via the children's TV show Wunderkind Little Amadeus. This animated series is designed for children ages 4 and up, and not only keeps them entertained, but educates them about music through the adventures of young Mozart and his friends. Wunderkind Little Amadeus can be seen on KQED Kids daily at 8:30 am, or on a new four-DVD set of the entire first season (which we're giving away here to one lucky reader; keep reading for details).

Each episode features a colorful mix of real historical and imagined characters, including the precocious boy Mozart, his sister Nannerl, his parents Leopold and Anna Maria, his best friend and neighbor Kajetan Hagenauer, and Mozart's dog Pumperl. Also prominently featured, of course, are the musical works of Mozart. There's also a villain, Lorenzo Devilius, an official at the court of Salzburg's Prince-Archbishop Sigismund von Schrattenbach, who, along with his talking rat sidekick Monti, plots against the young Mozart and his family (but thankfully never succeeds). Obviously not all of the characters in this German-produced series are historical people. I'm pretty sure Devilius is made up, for instance, and I can't find any evidence that Mozart ever had a dog named Pumperl, but it's all in good fun.

Here's a cute new music video from singer/songwriter and early childhood music educator Brian Vogan, for That's How a Pumpkin Grows from his CD Little Songs. (You can read our review of Little Songs here.) It's a catchy tune that's perfect for the autumn season and Halloween. Enjoy!

Looking for the right tunes to set the mood for your Halloween party? The Chills might be the very thing you're looking for! In fact, if your kids are like ours, this CD will get quite a bit of air time around the house, even when it's not Halloween. The Chills are billed as "An un-dead version of the Village People," but are in reality are local singer/songwriter Ira Marlowe and his Brainy Tunes team. Ira's put together a CD of terrifying tunes that children and families will find both spooky, hilarious, and irresistable.

Tracks include songs about ghosts (Ghost Story, Haunting School), mad scientists (Brat Machine, The Long and Curious Saga of Dr. Trulaine), the Blob, creepy little men (Fear of Little Men), and other spooky things. Favorites in our home include Here Comes the Mummy, and Boogerman's Theme. Some of the lyrics are definitely on the scary side, and The Creeps is recommended for children 5 and up. That doesn't stop our 3-year-old from loving the album, though, so it all depends on the kid, ultimately.

The Marin League of the San Francisco Symphony presents its free "Music for Kids of All Ages" on Sunday, July 12, from 3 to 5 pm at the Mill Valley Community Center. Kid friendly snacks and refreshments will be provided, courtesy of Whole Foods. It's a great way to introduce children to the symphony and classical music. This concert features:

• Dave Kim, multi-instrumentalist, DJ and professional violinist; he has shared the stage with many notable musicians artists around the world.
• Quinteto Latino, a five-piece brass group featuring musicians from the San Francisco Symphony

Space is limited—call or email for reservations at (415) 216-3372 or sfsmarin@gmail.com. The concert is free, but donations are gratefully accepted.

The Mill Valley Community Center is located at 180 Camino Alto. For more information, go to sfsymphonymarin.blogspot.com.

When it comes to music for small children, sometimes it's refreshing to listen to good old fashioned kids' tunes, the kind that have stood the test of time and remained popular for generations. Not that we don't love some of the edgier, more hip kids' musicians out there, but there are only so many alt-rock style song about cleaning your room that a parent can take. We were pretty happy to get our hands on a review copy of Grammie's Greatest Hits, a CD of classic children's songs performed by a real-life grandmother (Renee Longstreet, the "Grammie" of the CD title) and produced and recorded here in Marin by local producer/songwriter Ken Adams.

One of the best and certainly one of the most innovative classical music labels out there is Naxos, the producer of budget price (but definitely not low budget) recordings. I'm a big fan of Naxos—we often play their CDs here at home—as well as a classical music enthusiast who tries to instill an appreciation of it in my children, so when I got ahold of a copy of Naxos' new My First Classical Music Book , I was pretty excited.

In case you're not familiar with Naxos, they issue low priced CDs (and downloads, available via iTunes) of everything from the standard classical music repertoire like Beethoven's symphonies to cutting edge modern music to really arcane but wonderful period instrument performances of baroque and renaissance music. They eschew slick graphic design and fancy marketing campaigns in favor of great recording quality and top notch performances. I like them because you can build a quality basic music library for not much money, and can take a chance and explore new areas of music without investing too much capital.