If you haven’t heard of Kids’ Symphonic Sundays, they’re great! Nicki and James provide engaging, interactive concerts which increase the musical knowledge of children – and their grown-ups – in equal measure.

Each concert stars a new professional guest who provides a deep dive into the workings of their specialist instrument. There’s even a chance for everyone to have a go for themselves.

This was a ‘Summer Special’ designed to be bigger and better than the regular Kids’ Symphonic Sundays.

Rather than one instrument, the Great Hall stage at the Farnham Maltings housed a small orchestra.

The auditorium was full of children of all ages, who were accompanied by their parents.

Nicki introduced the different families of instruments – strings, brass, woodwind and percussion – and when the orchestra played several versions of Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, the children were asked to describe how it made them feel.

This could be anything from calm and happy, through spooky, through ‘wanna dance’ bossa nova style, to marching, depending on the musical arrangement.

Several young people were invited on to the stage to conduct the orchestra. The musicians followed religiously, so one or two had great fun with frequently changing the tempo.

The main part of the concert was a performance of Peter And The Wolf, a musical composition written by Sergei Prokofiev in 1936 which has been described as ‘a symphonic fairytale for children’.

Many readers may remember this piece of work from their childhood.

Each character in the story was represented by a different instrument.

Nicki narrated the story with James conducting the orchestra.

This was a fabulous fun show and the kids loved it. Visit www.kidssymphonicsundays.co.uk for more information.