To: All Mile High Mamas everywhere
From: Three Mile High Mama sisters with very expressive eyebrows
RE: Holiday wishes

Happy and peaceful holiday wishes from me and mine to you and yours.

Heritage Square Music Hall has been entertaining audiences for more than 20 years. Children’s productions are geared toward kids as young as 3 years old. The shows are performed by professional adult actors and generally last about an hour. Each production is highly interactive with lots of audience participation, and children are often invited onstage to play certain roles. From now through November 5, Alice in Wonderland is the featured children’s show. My boys and I attended in September and we all thoroughly enjoyed the silliness of the show!

Performances take place each Saturday at 1:30 PM, with an occasional additional performance at 3:00. Tickets are just $6 per person, and seating is reserved.

Heritage Square Music Hall also offers year-round dinner melodrama theater featuring an extensive buffet (a new chef arrived a couple of years ago and the food is delicious!) and a family-friendly comedy followed by a musical and comedy revue. Dinner and a show can last four hours or more. Now showing is a comic adaptation of The Hunchback of Notre Dame.

Here’s a list of some other live theater and music options for your family to enjoy:

★ Lafayette’s Peanut Butter Players are truly preparing for a career in theater by performing AND serving food. The Lunch Bunch presents The Wind in the Willows, followed by lunch, each Saturday in October.
★ If you like puppets, check out Denver Puppet Theater’s performance of Hansel and Gretel now through November 27. Annie Zook has been entertaining Denver children with her one-of-a-kind, handmade marionettes for 15 years.
★ The Musical Adventures of Flat Stanley reopens at The Arvada Center on October 13. Make time before or after the show to explore Squiggles Playground if weather permits.
★ The Younger Generation Players presents You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown: The Broadway Musical for one weekend only: October 14, 15, and 16 in Englewood.
★ CYT Denver’s cast is made up of youth ranging in age from 8 to 18 years old, many of whom have been been performing for several years and excel in both singing and acting. Your kids will love their musical version of Scrooge, playing at Parker Mainstreet Center October 19-29.
★ Front Range Theatre Company is performing a family-friendly version of Shakespeare’s “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” October 21-30 at The Grange in Castle Rock.
★ Theatergoers of all ages will love C.S. Lewis’s classic The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe, performed by Curtains Up! Theatre Company in Wheat Ridge. Performances take place October 22 through November 19.
★ Join The Colorado Symphony orchestra members in costume for Halloween Spooktacular, the Symphony’s annual Halloween concert and costume contest, on October 30 at 2:30 PM. This is the opening concert for the Colorado Symphony Family Series.

Kyrie Collins is a local mom and the author of Playdate with Denver & Colorado’s Front Range, an adventure guide for parents, grandparents, and caregivers featuring nearly 200 local destinations. One of her talents is that she can say the alphabet backwards faster than most people can say it forward. To learn more about her book, please visit www.playdatewithdenver.com.

The StompBox Foot Switch Controller ($99.99) by Griffin Technologies integrates with iShred LIVE to allow guitarists to experience an iPad-ready pedalboard. It’s easy to use and makes a killer pairing with the iPad.

The four foot switches are assignable and offer up a 1/4″ expression pedal input. Amateur and professional guitarists alike will find that the Griffin Stompbox provides an incredible, musical effects experience. When paired with compatible iOS devices, the StompBox offers up all the experiences an actual pedalboard provides. This would be an excellent Christmas present or even a great creativity motivator for kids taking guitar lessons. Go here for the official video demo.

The Griffin DJ Cable ($19.95) is perfect for everyone – not just the pros. The cable plugs into the iPad and splits into two ends that allows your iDevice to connect to speakers and a set of headphones. The DJ Cable works in accordance with the app Djay by Algoriddim (which won the 2011 Apple Design Award).

The app and cables work together to provide an incredible musical experience for everyone. Cue up the next track using the headphone connection while the current track beats on out the speakers. Pair the DJ Cable with an iPad and a set of speakers and you have all the tools you need to make your next family night or birthday party a musical blast. The app offers up anything and everything budding and professional DJs could want – a great addition to the music-loving family.

Urbanears Plattan Headphones ($60) by Urbanears is one of my recent favorites. Not only does Urbanears offer up incredible color options, but delivers quality performance as well. If it’s one thing that bugs me, it’s a product that looks pretty but doesn’t deliver. Thankfully, Urbanears Plattan headphones both look and sound good. Sometimes earbuds just don’t cut it and an over-ear headphone is called for. The Plattan headphones adjust to fit any head size, deliver incredible performance (lately I’ve even opted to use them while catching up on TV shows because the sound is so stellar).

These earphones come with a fabric cord. Why is that a big deal? Well, in my experience, fabric cords are less likely to tangle and have a sturdier feel. Another wonderful feature is the ZOUNDplug – this port is located under the earpiece and allows you to share your music with others once they plug their headphones into the port. If you’re listening to music on your phone, the headphones also come equipped with a mic (located on the fabric cable), so enjoy great sound while chatting with friends and family.

V-moda Remix Earbuds ($79.99) by V-Moda are not your average earbuds. If you have a son or daughter who enjoys listening to music while they do their homework, these noise-canceling, bass-boosting ear pieces seal out distracting noises and conversations and allow your budding musician (or diligent student) enjoy a beautiful musical experience. Unlike many earbuds, I found that they fit very comfortably (and my ears are quite picky) and come with four different sizes of silicone fittings to suit ears of every size.

Not only do the V-moda Remix Remote earbuds offer a great musical experience, but they can be used simply as a noise cancelling aid. There’s also a built-in mic, kevlar reinforced cable, volume control and sport earhooks. I am loving these tiny titans of sound and the accessories bundled with them make them more than worth the asking price.

Hercules XPS Diamond ($39.99) by Hercules is a handy speaker solution for PCs and Macs. If you aren’t satisfied with the audio output your machine produces, consider this usb-based solution (which means no messing with batteries – yay!). They’re compact, magnetic shielded (so no nasty feedback interferes with your tunes) and they look great.

Scosche boomCAN ($24.99) by Scosche is another great, portable speaker option. If your phone’s speakers just don’t deliver, or if your tablet’s native sound is too quiet, give the boomCAN a try. I was actually surprised by how tiny it is when I first opened the package (stands just under 2.5″). This little speaker easily fits in any purse or bag. Simply plug the speaker into any headset jack and enjoy louder sound. This speaker comes equipped with a rechargeable lithium ion battery (lasts up to 7 hours). The boomCAN provides decent sound for the price. When we maxed it out, we found it did buzz a bit, but if you like some buzz with your bass, you’ll love the boomCAN.

Hannah is an educator, mom to three wonderful children ages 3 and younger and proud wife of an Operation Iraqi Freedom Veteran. She is the founder of MyAppinions.com. My Appinions is a site where she posts reviews of iOS apps of all kinds but with a heavy emphasis on ones with educational and practical value. You can find her on Twitter @MyAppinions and Instagram as Banjonomad.

But I’m not sure we really understand and appreciate how beneficial music is to a child’s development. In a study conducted by the International Journal of Music Education, music was found to aid in language development,literacy, numeracy, measures of intelligence, general attainment, creativity, fine motor coordination, concentration, self-confidence, emotional sensitivity, social skills, team work, self-discipline and relaxation.

Below is a list of great organizations that offer classes that will help your child develop an appreciation for music.

Grenoble Studio of Musical Arts

303-761-3136

3085 S. Pennsylvania St. Englewood, CO

The Arvada Center

Classes include Music Little Mozarts and African Drumming
720-898-7201
6901 Wadsworth Blvd. Arvada, CO

Kindermusik

Colorado Springs
719-641-7240
2041 Chuckwagon Road
Monument, CO 80919

Littleton
303-520-5892
5425 S Hoyt Street, Littleton

Petite Musician

303-202-2626
Various Locations: Littleton, Centennial, Wheat Ridge, Highlands Ranch, Lakewood and Arvada.

Children’s Music Academy

303-7771-3333
Various Locations throughout the Denver Metro area.

Westwood’s Center of Performing Arts

(303) 467-0334
6452 Fig Street, Arvada, CO 80004

Foothills Park and Recreation

303-409-2100
6612 S. Ward St., Littleton, CO 80127

Gymboree Play and Music

Denver: 303-743 7529
8400 East Iliff Ave., Unit 1, Denver, CO 80231 US

Boulder: 303-546-0081
2525 Arapahoe Ave, Suite H-7, The Village Shopping Center, Boulder, CO 80302

Colorado Springs: 719-599-4733
1885 Briargate Pkwy Ste 523, Colorado Springs, CO 80920 US

The Music Train

720-253-7673
2460 Eliot Street, Denver, CO 80211

Twinkle Together
Various locations throughout the Denver Metro area

Altitunes

720-398-94445
700 W 25th Avenue
Edgewater, CO 80214
Altitunes offers classes for children with and without disabilities. Click here for info on how to get a free class.

Tales N’ Tunes

3426 East 12th Avenue
Denver, CO 80206

Golden Recreation Center

303-384-8100.
Golden Community Center, 1470 Tenth Street, Golden, Colorado 80401.

The Golden center offers classes including:  music for tiny tots,music for tots and family music classes.

Mile High Music - Music Together

Various locations throughout the Denver Metro area. Mile High Music offers Music Together classes.

Music Together

Music Together is internationally recognized early childhood music program for babies, toddlers, preschoolers, kindergarteners. Classes are offered at many of the locations listed above. Click here for al list of centers that offer Music Together classes.

Rocky Mountain Center For Musical Arts

303-665-0599
900 Baseline Road, Cottage 100 (at Chautauqua)
Boulder, Colorado 80302

What is your favorite children’s music class? Be sure to share you favorites!

If so, round ‘em up for this very cool contest. The Colorado Music Festival is giving away 15 passes for you and your friends to attend their Young People’s Concert “Beethoven Lives Upstairs” on either June 25 or 27, 2011 at 10 a.m.

Not familiar with the Colorado Music Festival & Rocky Mountain Center for Musical Arts (CMF & RMCMA) 2011 Summer Education Programs? Allow me to familiarize you. This great program is designed to connect kids from ages 3 to 18 to classical music. Concerts, workshops, and special opportunities to work with world renowned guest artists, will be held at Chautauqua in Boulder throughout the summer in conjunction with the Colorado Music Festival concert season from June 25—August 5, 2011, as well as at the RMCMA in Lafayette for the summer term.

This summer’s CMF programs for kids and families include:

Young People’s Concerts “Beethoven Lives Upstairs”—for ages 4 & up, fun for the whole family! | Chautauqua Auditorium, Boulder | $8, $7 for groups of 10 or more

CMF Young People’s Concerts introduce young children to the excitement of live classical music performances with programs that include costumed animals, narration and lively music. This semi-staged concert for families features selections from Beethoven’s greatest compositions, including Symphony No. 5. Introduce the young people in your life to one of the greatest composers in the history of music. Each concert will be followed by a fun Music Fair on the Chautauqua grounds where kids can meet costumed animals and collect autographs; enjoy cookies, juice and milk; try the instrument petting zoo, enjoy face painting, balloon tying; and much more.

Family Fun Concerts—for ages 4-8 | Chautauqua Auditorium, Boulder | $5/GA

Family Fun Concerts give younger children a chance to meet different sections of the orchestra each week, as small ensembles perform short, informal 45-minute musical programs. Meet the musicians and their instruments following each performance. (free for children enrolled in Meet the Instruments.) July 1: Woodwinds-The Fool of the World and the Flying Ship; July 15: Brass-Ballet & Brass; July 29: Strings-Story Time with String

Classically Kids Workshops—for ages 7-9 and 9-11 | Chautauqua Community House, Boulder | $12 each/3 or more $10 each (includes youth concert ticket + 50% discount for one adult)

Classically Kids is a fun, interactive workshop series deigned to introduce kids to the excitement of live classical music. Facilitate by two BVSD general music specialists, each workshop provides kids an opportunity to meet CMF’s guest artists, visit an orchestra rehearsal, learn key information about the music CMF performs, and attend a concert at Chautauqua! June 29: Made in America; July 6: Inner Journeys-Music and Emotion; July 13: String Sensations; July 20: Call of the Wild: Music and Dance; July 27: Stories in Song; August 3: Simply Fantastic with Time for Three

Street Drum Corps Presents Bang!—all ages, great for teens | RMCMA, Lafayette | $10

Join LA’s renowned Street Drum Corps for a high-energy, interactive, educational street drumming experience! Using found objects ranging from trash cans to vehicle parts, this workshop will inspire and engage audience members as they’re guided through the creative process of making music. Then come and see this amazing ensemble perform at Chautauqua at 7:30 p.m.

Music Together—Birth to 5 years (with parent or caregiver) | RMCMA, Lafayette | $100 ($60 for siblings)

Research-based, nationally-certified program includes songs, movement and rhythm instrument play. Six 45-minute classes, two per week.

Meet the Instruments—for ages 4-6 (with parent or caregiver) | RMCMA, Lafayette | $50 includes all 3 Family Fun concerts

Hands-on introduction to brass, percussion, woodwinds & Strings. Four 45-minute classes, two per week.

For additional information about the schedule of events, please go to the Colorado Music Festival & Rocky Mountain Center for Musical Arts Web site.

To enter to win 15 passes to the Young People’s Concert for you and your friends, please go here. Contest deadline is June 20, 2011. Passes are valid for June 25 or 27, 2011 at 10 a.m.

On Sunday, May 1, from 1:00 to 3:00 p.m., the Central City Opera Guild will present Young Hands on Opera and Art at the Denver Art Museum. The program is a family event in collaboration with the Denver Art Museum. Children and their families will be captivated by a magical afternoon of opera in the enriched surroundings of the Museum.

The Young Hands on Opera and Art will be centered on the world of Maurice Ravel’s The Child and the Enchantments, an opera about a little boy whose misbehavior comes back to haunt him as inanimate objects like teapots and non-speaking animals like squirrels spring to life talking and moving, but in the end the lesson is learned and all are happy. Children will be entertained and educated about the world of performing by the Central City Opera Ensemble singers and about the world of visual arts by the Denver Art Museum.

Portions of the opera will be performed by the Central City Opera Ensemble, which is comprised of local artists who audition to serve as education and community performers for Central City Opera. With the goal of helping children discover that opera is a story told through songs, the kids will have an opportunity to act out parts of The Child and the Enchantments with coaching from the performers and staff. Kids will adorn costume elements as they act and deliver lines in such characters from the story like frogs, trees, teapots, and even fire!

Following the musical program, participants will be given a printed guide to free child-friendly activities at the museum. Children and their families will also be able to visit the American Indian Art exhibit and the last day of Blink! Light, Sound and the Moving Image, an exhibit devoted to electronic art.

The price is $10 per person and includes free museum access following the program. This event is ideal for children between the ages 5 – 12 years old. All children must be accompanied by an adult.

Young Hands on Opera and Art will be held at the Denver Art Museum, located at 100 West 14 Avenue Parkway, Denver, CO 80204. For directions, please contact (720) 865-5000 or visit www.denverartmuseum.org. Please purchase tickets online at www.centralcityopera.org, through the Central City Opera Box Office at (303) 292-6700 or boxoffice@centralcityopera.org. Tickets will also be available at the Denver Art Museum on the day of the event, and interested families should plan to arrive by 12:45 p.m. to register.

Through the end of March CPR is holding their Annual Instrument Drive; Keep the Music Alive with the goal of collecting and distributing  gently-used instruments  to music programs throughout Colorado.

“After we (CPR) saw the impact of providing more than 125 instruments to children in nine Colorado schools (in 2009), we decided to make it an annual event,” Blatt said. “It’s part of our overall mission to support and promote music and music education in Colorado.”

The instrument drive is targeted at supporting music education in Title 1 schools, schools with a high percentage of low-income students.

“These are kids who can’t rent let alone think of buying an instrument, but they still have the desire to play,” Blatt said. “By putting instruments in the hands of students, regardless of their family’s financial situation, magical things can happen.”

According to Blatt, studies have shown that early music training helps develop areas in the brain involved with language and reasoning, critical thinking as well as listening skills. Music is also known to improve self image and confidence among kids.

“Music should be seen as essential, not a frill, because the benefits touch so many areas of a child’s life.” Blatt said. “Colorado Public Radio’s instrument drive is really important to ensuring both music enjoyment and better education for generations of students.”

CPR is asking anyone who has gently used instrument lying around their home to donate them to Keep the Music Alive at one of their nine drop off locations.

CPR will thank donors with a letter showing the appraised value of the instrument that they can use with next year’s taxes.

So find that instrument that is no longer being played and give a child the gift of music!

Photo Credit – Trombone, clarinet and violin players in the 5^th grade orchestra at Lawrence Elementary. Photos by Chris Woodley of Mountain Media.

That day was no exception. One crappy song after the other played throughout our burger-and-salad meal, till finally we hit the motherload.

Amie by Pure Prairie League.

I nearly fainted. “Argh! I hate this song. The only ‘Amy’ song in the whole entire world and I am forced to listen to THIS garbage over and over my whole entire life.”

Bryan totally agreed. “This song belongs on The Soundtrack of My Own Personal Hell.”

And that’s how we eased our pain, laughing over the idea of a mix CD of songs we would play during the bus ride to hell. And then I realized, “No wait! Even better! It should be a CD you give the person you are breaking up with. A Breakup CD! Here are all the songs I hate more than than anything in the whole world, and I want YOU to have them!”

That got us through “Fly Like An Eagle,” at the very least.

What songs would be on your Breakup CD?

Photo Sourced from Flickr by Dianamite

“The first rule is, ‘Don’t bore the kids,’ ” Jensen says. “Preschoolers will let you know in no uncertain terms if they’re not happy.”

As music director and conductor for the guild, a long-standing local nonprofit that, among other things, aims to bring classical music to young people, Jensen created Inside the Orchestra as an outreach program for preschool and elementary-school kids. The program invites these budding music lovers on stage for an up-close-and-personal experience. “It’s very visceral to actually feel that you’re sitting in the orchestra,” Jensen says.

Taking his orchestra to area schools, Jensen reaches 25,000 students each year through 80 concerts. His Tiny Tots series is directed at the smallest audience members, ages 6 and under. This season’s Tiny Tots performances run Tuesday through Feb. 9 at locations including Temple Emanuel, Boettcher Concert Hall and The Wildlife Experience.

With 25 years of experience with Inside the Orchestra, Jensen has developed a briskly paced program that involves “theater of the mind” activities to engage little ones. For example, during excerpts from Mozart’s “The Marriage of Figaro,” a piece that many children recognize from various cartoons, Jensen relates the changes in the music’s volume to using their “inside voices” versus their “outside voices.”

During Strauss’ “Also Sprach Zarathustra,” most famous from the soundtrack for “2001: A Space Odyssey,” he asks kids to “grow as the music grows.” They start out hugging the floor and as sounds swell, the kids gradually reach all the way up to the sky.

The program ends with Rossini’s “William Tell Overture” — also known as the theme music to the “The Lone Ranger.” Kids are encouraged to ride pretend horses around the stage.

Being in close proximity to Jensen, children can quickly see that when the conductor makes big movements, the sound gets louder, and when he makes smaller movements, the sounds get softer. He also talks, tells stories and asks questions of the children throughout the performances.

“I always speak to the kids and not down to them,” Jensen says. “They can see the cause and effect of conducting without overly explaining it.”

Most shows also feature a young child soloist, to demonstrate peer success to the children in the audience.

“Music is one of the mental pursuits that can be developed very early if given the right circumstances,” Jensen says. “The kids can’t believe that someone so young can perform like that.”

-Kat Valentine King
===================

Tiny Tots Inside the Orchestra

When: Tuesday-Feb. 9 at multiple locations

Tickets: $5 per person; must be reserved in advance

Information: Visit insidetheorchestra .com or call 303-355-7855 for reservation forms and concert schedules.

Oh, and an added bonus? They’ll probably get your parents’ feet tapping, too. Turn up the volume!

- The Pop Ups, “Outside Voices.” Many of these songs sound like what your parents may have listened to in the ’80s: big, echoing music with an electronic piano. But these cool musicians from New York don’t limit their sound. Sway like you’re on the beach in Jamaica to the reggae beat on “Balloon,” slow it down with the soothing and simple “I’m Tired” or dance it up to the funky bass line and popping horn section on “Pasta.” This album will not leave you hanging!

- Keller Williams, “Kids.” Williams just might be a big kid trapped in an adult body. With laugh-out-loud lyrics and tunes that gallop along, Williams’ finger-picking guitar and slightly Southern-accented vocals make the album sound a lot like a type of music called bluegrass. Call it whatever you want. We’ll call it good.

- Frances England, “Mind of My Own.” Good singer-songwriters make you believe they’re your friends. England may be your new BFF. With lovely tunes and a lovelier voice, England sings about a balloon, a ladybug and a teddy bear that the narrator has become too old for. The music is all about you! It’s sure to make you feel happy and important.

- Secret Agent 23 Skidoo, “Underground Playground.” This is hip-hop or “kid hop,” as rapper 23 Skidoo calls it. This music is all about strong rhythm and positive rhymes for kids. The album also showcases some girl voices that add melody to the rapping. “Gotta Be Me” is a great anthem to keep in mind as you walk through school and life.

- Joanie Leeds and the Nightlights, “I’m a Rock Star.” Electric guitars and Leeds’ belting vocals make this rock-and-roll. You won’t be able to resist the urge to sing along pretending your hairbrush is a microphone. Most of the tunes provide you with a great way to free your inner rock star.

- Elizabeth Mitchell, “Sunny Day.” The most mellow of our picks, Mitchell’s voice might lull you to sleep. The album showcases a banjo, a fiddle and many kids singing. The simple songs sound as if they were recorded in a farmer’s kitchen on a perfect, sunny day.

- Recess Monkey, “The Final Funktier.” These guys put the “fun” in funky. (Just try to keep your feet from moving!) With a spaceship theme, these songs rock out with layers of sounds, from guitar and keyboards to vocal harmonies and weird electronic sounds. Their lyrics take you to a marshmallow farm and a bubble factory.

By Moira E. McLaughlin