This winter, The Weill Music Institute at Carnegie Hall offers a variety of interactive and affordable Family Concerts for children and families. Featuring music for the entire family, Family Concerts are hour-long weekend afternoon concerts designed for children ages 5-12 to experience the joy of attending a live musical performance. Programs in Carnegie Hall’s Stern Auditorium/Perelman Stage and Zankel Hall showcase classical, jazz, and world music ensembles. Fun and engaging pre-concert activities allow children to meet artists one-on-one for an up-close look at the instruments they play. All tickets are affordably priced at $9. Family Concerts are sponsored by Bank of America, Carnegie Hall’s Proud Season Sponsor. For more information, visit www.carnegiehall.org/familyconcerts .

Winter 2008 Family Concerts are:

Sweet Honey In The Rock
Sunday, January 20 at 2:00 p.m. in Stern Auditorium/Perelman Stage
Pre-concert activities begin at 12:30 p.m.

Recently nominated for a Grammy for its children’s album Experience…101, the female a cappella group Sweet Honey In The Rock’s music captures the sounds of blues, spirituals, traditional gospel hymns, rap, reggae, African chants, hip hop, ancient lullabies, and jazz improvisation. This inspirational concert will focus on how children can learn important life lessons through music.

Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra
Sunday, January 27 at 2:00 p.m. in Stern Auditorium/Perelman Stage
Pre-concert activities begin at 12:30 p.m.
Miguel Harth-Bedoya, Music Director and Conductor
John Lithgow, Narrator

Emmy and Tony award-winning actor John Lithgow joins conductor Miguel Harth-Bedoya and the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra as narrator in Prokofiev’s beloved classic Peter and the Wolf, which will be performed in both English and Spanish.

Bobby McFerrin
Saturday, February 23 at 2:00 p.m. in Stern Auditorium/Perelman Stage
Pre-concert activities begin at 12:30 p.m.

A ten-time Grammy Award winner, Bobby McFerrin is one of the world's best-known vocal improvisers; a world-renowned classical conductor; the composer of "Don't Worry Be Happy," one of the most popular songs of the late 20th century; and a passionate spokesman for music education. Join us for what is sure to be one of the most exciting and innovative Family Concerts of the season!

The Weill Music Institute at Carnegie Hall
The Weill Music Institute creates broad-reaching music education programs, playing a central role in Carnegie Hall’s commitment to making great music accessible to as many people as possible through creative musical interaction and inspiring lifelong learning. Educational programs are woven into the fabric of the Carnegie Hall concert season, with opportunities for preschoolers to adults, new listeners to emerging professional musicians. With its access to the world’s greatest artists and latest technologies, The Weill Music Institute is uniquely positioned to inspire the next generation of music lovers, nurture tomorrow’s musical talent, and shape the evolution of music education itself. The Weill Music Institute annually serves over 115,000 children, students, teachers, parents, young music professionals, and adults in the New York City metropolitan area, across the United States, and around the world.

Programs of The Weill Music Institute include: Family Concerts at Carnegie Hall and free Neighborhood Concerts in all five boroughs, which bring music to thousands within the greater New York City community each year. School-based programs enable students at all levels to participate in curricula that are age-appropriate, interactive, and conform to New York City, state, and national education standards. Professional Training Workshops connect emerging young musicians with internationally renowned artists. The Academy—a program of Carnegie Hall, The Juilliard School, and The Weill Music Institute in partnership with the New York City Department of Education—provides extensive performance opportunities and intensive music education training in an innovative new two-year fellowship for post-graduate musicians. The Weill Music Institute also brings its educational programs to national and international audiences, using web-based and distance-learning technology.

Family Concert Program Information

Pre-concert activities for all concerts begin at 12:30 p.m.

Sunday, January 20 at 2:00 p.m.
Stern Auditorium/Perelman Stage
CARNEGIE HALL FAMILY CONCERT: SWEET HONEY IN THE ROCK
____________________________________

Sunday, January 27 at 2:00 p.m.
Stern Auditorium/Perelman Stage
CARNEGIE HALL FAMILY CONCERT: FORT WORTH SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA
Miguel Harth-Bedoya, Music Director and Conductor
John Lithgow, Narrator

SERGEI PROKOFIEV Peter and the Wolf
____________________________________

Saturday, February 23 at 2:00 p.m.
Stern Auditorium/Perelman Stage
CARNEGIE HALL FAMILY CONCERT: BOBBY MCFERRIN

Perspectives: Bobby McFerrin

The Bobby McFerrin Perspectives series is supported, in part, by The Rockefeller Foundation's New York City Cultural Innovation Fund.

Perspectives concerts are made possible, in part, by a generous grant from The Alice Tully Foundation.
____________________________________

Carnegie Hall Family Concerts are made possible, in part, by generous endowment gifts from Mr. and Mrs. Lester S. Morse, Jr., and the Henry and Lucy Moses Fund.

Programs of The Weill Music Institute at Carnegie Hall are generously supported by the City of New York: Michael R. Bloomberg, Mayor; Kate D. Levin, Commissioner, Department of Cultural Affairs; and Christine Quinn, Speaker, New York City Council; and by the New York State Council on the Arts: Mary Schmidt Campbell, Chair.

Bank of America is the Proud Season Sponsor of Carnegie Hall.