Archive

Music Together of Orangeville brings Uncle Gerry to entertain

September 22, 2017   ·   0 Comments

By Constance Scrafield

What a treat for the youngsters, ages up to seven years, this Sunday, when Uncle Gerry comes to town with his wife Aunt Denise. This gentleman from New Jersey travels the world to perform concerts for children and, in this case, the proceeds will go to Family Transition Place. A charity in every town always benefits from on these concerts.

The concert begins at 10:00 a.m. at the Tony Rose Banquet Hall, the perfect venue for such a fun event. It is entirely interactive and, as the audience is as young as they come, the usual audience rules don’t apply, as to noise and movement.

Having said that, Pamela Scott-Demetriou, who invited Uncle Gerry here, is the one person in town who holds Music Together classes.

Said Ms. Scott-Demetriou, “The program was designed by a music therapist and a child psychologist. It is based around the body and the voice with the use of percussion instruments.”

Given the ages of the children for whom the classes are designed, the involvement of the parents is essential and leads to great things. For the children practice with their parents at home and sometimes, the siblings become interested. This can mean, that, before long, the whole family is sharing in music making, a bonding and happy experience.

An old-fashioned idea, perhaps, too but science is proving over and over that music is good for development, math, emotional well-balance throughout a person’s entire life, right the way to old age and the prevention or diminishing of dementia. Music shared has a powerful bonding effect, very good for families.

During the three types of classes that Music Together offers, the children learn at different rates but the beginning with babies is understanding that, at that stage, hearing is our best sense. While still in the womb, we hear or sense our mother’s heart and then her voice.

The classes use basic sounds and simple gestures, with the parent gently swinging the baby as part of the fun.  As  the children grow and develop, so does their ambition with music from toddlers shaking “egg” shakers and ringing bells.

Through her own involvement with the classes she teaches and Theatre Orangeville’s programs for young people, Pam Scott-Demetriou has seen real change in the sometimes “tortured teens” who show up. They learn to love the theatre arts and grow through them.

Likewise, Uncle Gerry invites the children to join in – “the show is very interactive,” we were told. “He brings lots of percussion instruments.”

This is not only a concert but also and sing- and play-a-long.

“Parents could be worried that their kids won’t sit still. They can move around – they’re kids! -and a tiny child has his own way of learning.”

There is still time to obtain tickets and these are very reasonably priced at $6 with the youngest members coming for free at www.psstudio.ca or by telephone: 519-737-8675.

Readers Comments (0)