Catching Dreams at the Philharmonie

Busy as a beehive: on Sundays… or Saturdays… or sometimes even on weekdays, you can find the same colourful scene at the Philharmonie: a cheerful babble of voices and an atmosphere of happy anticipation. The youngest and very youngest visitors to the Philharmonie take over the Foyer and the concert halls. Whether they enter the building on their parents' arms or in their buggies, skipping along while holding grandma's hand or racing way ahead; whether at home they speak Luxembourgish, German, French or another language – they all expect customised offerings, and that is what they and their families come for. Pascal Sticklies, who is responsible for the Philharmonie's Education programme together with his team, is delighted at the ever-increasing demand, reacting with «programming that's also expanding, in order to introduce as many children and teenagers as possible to music».

This season, this means mainly the expansion of tried and proven formats. The Luxembourg Philharmonic is increasingly the focus of attention, and thus, projects in which children encounter the large orchestral formation in an impressive yet down-to-earth manner. Of course, it's not all about listening, but also joining in – and about stylistic diversity. The programmes appeal to the basic instinct of aesthetic curiosity – with fairy-tale journeys through sound, poetic tales and turbulent adventures.

It's no secret that Halloween transforms the Philharmonie into a haunted house – but this year, the concert hall becomes the musical «shop of horrors» for the entire Greater Region, inviting all the family to an atmospheric, slightly scary celebration across all its stages – during one of two Familljefestivals of this season. The second one turns the Kirchberg into a dream factory. Entitled «Dreams», it explores many of the possibilities music offers to directly stimulate the imagination of the very youngest visitors, in a multitude of different formats. What could be more creative?