I've got 2 boys, age 11 & 12. About 6 weeks ago the 11 YO went to the Colorado symphony on a school field trip. He really enjoyed it. The 11 YO is in his first year of band playing percussion. The 12 YO has been playing trumpet for 2.5 years and is 2nd chair out of 9 trumpet players in his grade, 6th.

I took a look at the symphony website and saw a few shows we might be interested in. We went to see Intergalactic Spectacular. The description from the symphony website was, ": The Colorado Symphony is boldly going where no orchestra has gone before! With space-themed favorites from John Williams' scores for Close Encounters of the Third Kind, E.T. the Extra Terrestrial, and Star Wars, 2001: A Space Odyssey, Holst's The Planets, and more, this program will be out of this world!"

I'm probably more at home with a tractor pull than a symphony performance, but I must admit it was quite good. And, it was quite affordable. Adults were $27 and kids under 13 were $10. All 4 of us went for $85 after taxes, fees, etc... That's not much more than a movie for the 4 of us.

It was a little on the short side at 55 minutes.

I looked on the website and we are going to 2 more shows, a Pink Floyd tribute and a tribute to John Williams.

I never would've thought I'd ever go to a symphony, but maybe it will be a new thing for the 4 of us.

Obligatory family picture:



Upcoming Pink Floyd Show:



Upcoming John Williams Show:

Awesome, I've seen a couple, but only as accompaniment to a singer.
Ben Folds with the Houston Symphony & a smaller 10-piece symphony.

The John Williams show would be great. I'll have to look into our group & see what they have this season.

Edit: Houston Symphony tickets look to be about double what your prices are listed as.
Looks like the cheap seats are about $60/person.

I spy a Mullet...

Good for you! As the Denver Musicians Local bumpersticker read in the 70's, "Live Music is Best!" Don't be "afraid" of the classical stuff too--I bet the Brahms Requiem coming up late in March will be wonderful music.

I played Cengral City Opera in the mid 70's when the then Denver Symphony stopped playing for the opera.

That's damn good stuff, Goat!!! Glad y'all enjoyed that!

Nice. Good looking family there GOAT!

Way to Go, Dad! I think that is just awesome...and good for you for stepping out of your comfort zone and exposing your boys to a new experience! You don't have to eat, breathe, and sleep this stuff to appreciate what these musicians do.

7th grade band class we took a field trip to Radio City Music Hall to see a matinee performance of Beatlemania that I was blown away by and will never forget.

@ 20 years ago I had a co-worker and friend and he and his girlfriend would get season tickets to the local symphony, and occasionally they would either pick up an extra ticket for me, or in a couple instances his girlfriend was out of town and I'd take her ticket.

We'd catch an afternoon or early evening performance and then go out for drinks and dinner, and we had a wonderful time catching some memorable performances by featured guest artists that performed with the symphony. I still have a CD or two I bought from those performances.

I caught a couple off-broadway performances of Cats and Miss Saigon this way as well, as symphony season ticket holders got special access and pricing to other visiting performances...and these performances are another fantastic way to enjoy live symphonic music.

Decades ago, I had a couple younger kids I was working with that were into dance, and I even put on a jacket and tie to attend one of their performances and we again had a wonderful time, even though I wouldn't say dance is my thing.

Whether your boys stay with music or not, I doubt they will ever forget these experiences you are exposing them to.

quote:

Originally posted by Reedman:
...

I played Cengral City Opera in the mid 70's when the then Denver Symphony stopped playing for the opera.

No kidding? Hey, that is neat! I've been hearing really good things about the Central City Opera recently. I've never been to the opera, know virtually nothing about it, but I'd probably give it a go., at least once. I'd also like to try the Denver symphony sometime.

quote:

Originally posted by P250UA5:
Edit: Houston Symphony tickets look to be about double what your prices are listed as.
Looks like the cheap seats are about $60/person.

The prices really vary from show to show, and of course seats. The Pink Floyd tickets were $33 adult and $10 kids. The John Williams show were $70.50 for adults and $10 kids.

The prices are all over the map for shows!

To balance this out, we're also going to Monster Jam at Mile High stadium this Spring. Those tickets were $100 each!!!

quote:

Originally posted by nhracecraft:
I spy a Mullet...

Much to the chagrin of mom. He'll fit right in at Monster Jam.

I graduated high school in 1991. I had a mullet for a period of time, then it kind of morphed into long all over. We pick and choose our battles. In 15 years he'll be like, "Why did you let me have hair like that?"

I mentioned the symphony to a neighbor. He told me about the music program at the University of Denver. Apparently they put on shows frequently, and many of them are free. We may catch a few of those as well.

So cool that you brought your kids to the symphony. I keep thinking I will do the same with my boy and I’ll have to look into these types of concerts because I just don’t think he’ll dig “the nutcracker”.

quote:

Originally posted by 1967Goat:

quote:

Originally posted by P250UA5:
Edit: Houston Symphony tickets look to be about double what your prices are listed as.
Looks like the cheap seats are about $60/person.

The prices really vary from show to show, and of course seats. The Pink Floyd tickets were $33 adult and $10 kids. The John Williams show were $70.50 for adults and $10 kids.

The prices are all over the map for shows!

To balance this out, we're also going to Monster Jam at Mile High stadium this Spring. Those tickets were $100 each!!!

I only checked the 1 show [Star Wars Ep 4 screening with the symphony doing all the music], so maybe some of the others are cheaper.