Residence in a crèche” project

Second winning project of the 2024 educational research awards of the “5 senses for kids Foundation”.

A project by the Orchestre Lamoureux, as part of “l’Art pour Grandir” programme

On the strength of its experience with very young audiences and the success of its “Bébé Concerts” programme, which has been developing for over ten years, the Orchestre Lamoureux would like to share its skills and musical talent with early childhood establishments. Indeed, while concerts are an essential way of discovering music from an early age and shaping the audience of tomorrow, the educational and transmission approach in a more direct relationship with children is also important.

For this project, Orchestre Lamoureux will be working with the Félix Faure day nursery in Paris (15th arrondissement).

Project objectives

Discover classical music with the participation of musicians from a symphony orchestra.

. Reaching out to bring people in: broadening the audience for Bébé Concerts so that as many people as possible can discover symphonic music.

. Encourage children to pay attention to and listen to music, both during the interventions and during the indoor concerts offered by the Orchestra.

. Offer sensory experiences by listening to musical performances and practising.

. Singing practice: learning nursery rhymes for children aged 2-3 and over, accompanied by 1 or 2 musicians during the nursery sessions.

. Working in conjunction with the partner crèche to encourage the continuation of musical awareness after the residency.

Credit © Fabien Baron

Impacts

• An innovative concept

Orchestre Lamoureux is one of the few orchestras to offer performances for under-5s in real concert conditions.

• Strengthening the parent-child bond

This project will enable families to go on cultural outings. One of the aims of the residency is also to offer the children who will benefit from it the chance to attend two “Bébé Concerts”, one organised especially for them during their time in the EAPE and another scheduled during our season by offering invitations to the children, their parents and the EAPE staff involved in the residency.

• Involvement of the musicians

As part of this residency in a crèche, the orchestra’s musicians want to use their art as a means of expressing emotions or as a descriptive means of telling a story.

• Baby Concerts

Over the last few years, Orchestre Lamoureux has developed a range of activities aimed at young audiences, in particular the Bébé Concerts (for 0-5 year olds), a creation that has met with great success.

With this formula, children under 5 are plunged into the world of classical music by attending a real concert, sometimes in their parents’ arms. Not only do they listen, but they also move around in their seats, wandering around the auditorium and familiarising themselves with the atmosphere of a concert. What’s more, they hear music played by a real orchestra, punctuated by nursery rhymes so that everyone can sing along.

The Bébé Concerts last around 30 minutes: a format suited to children’s ability to concentrate, with a set programme enhanced by explanations drawn up by a musician from the orchestra in collaboration with the conductor and musicians.

The Orchestre Lamoureux

The Orchestre Lamoureux is a French symphonic ensemble founded in 1881 by the violinist and conductor Charles Lamoureux under the name of “Société des Nouveaux Concerts” and recognised as a public utility in 1961. From the very first decades of its existence, the orchestra made a name for itself in the classical repertoire, notably with the premiere of the first act of Richard Wagner’s Tristan and Isolde at the Château d’Eau theatre in 1884. A fervent admirer of the music of the Bayreuth giant, Charles Lamoureux was also behind the premiere of the concert version of Lohengrin at the Eden-Théâtre (now the Théâtre Athénée Louis-Jouvet) in 1887. A series of thirty performances of the work in its stage version was then given at the Paris Opéra in 1891, completing Wagner’s introduction to the Parisian public.

The Orchestre des Concerts Lamoureux has also left its mark on the history of French music: in 1900, it was commissioned to premiere Claude Debussy’s first three Nocturnes, followed by La Mer in 1904. On 11 January 1930, conducted by Maurice Ravel himself, the orchestra performed the first version of an emblematic work: Le Boléro.