Over the weekend, International Children’s Art Network (ICAN) hosted a sing-a-long with local choir The Portland Revels at the All Classical Portland studios.
I’ve always loved to sing; chorus was one of my favorite activities growing up and I continued to participate all the way up through college. When my life settles down, likely not until after my daughter is over 18, my plan is to join a community choir to sing regularly again. Until then, I am relegated to singing along with my favorite musicals, Newsies being number one, but also the old MGM musicals with Gene Kelly and the classic Disney movies.
So I of course jumped at the opportunity to join in the singing fun and to bring my daughter along when ICAN announced their event.
We ran a bit behind schedule leaving the house and literally had to run from the car to the studio when we arrived, but thankfully made it before the event officially began.
The director of the choir, Regina Pirrucello, along with violinist Betsy Branch, guided the studio audience through the songs and sound effects for the sing-a-long. I could be wrong, but we sounded pretty good! Not as good as the choir itself, of course, but also not to the point where anyone listening would feel the need to run away. (I think. I hope.)
Tiny Human managed to get a bit distracted by the station’s server room, but it sure is cool looking, so who can blame her?
The highlight for most kids was the appearance of the Arctic Fox during storytime…
…and then of course the opportunity to pet said Arctic Fox after the sing-a-long was over.
I’m not sure where Tiny Human gets this, but she was Very Curious about her surroundings and desperately wanted to set foot inside one of the broadcast rooms, but had to settle for admiring the view of Tillikum Crossing from the doorway.
On our way out, we of course made sure that Hoppy and Floppy were able to join in the fun and admire the amazing views from just outside the studio.
I’ve mentioned my admiration for All Classical Portland and ICAN before, mainly extolling their virtues as amazing radio stations for music nerds such as myself.
But the better, perhaps the best thing about All Classical Portland and ICAN, is that they are not just about the music, but about community.
It’s been so much fun participating in their events knowing that my young daughter is welcome, especially considering that formal classical music events tend not to be the best environments for wiggly five year olds. I love that they value the younger audience and that they have these events that bring people together to enjoy the best thing there is, music.