Uncomfortable for adults and boring for children
The music was great and it’s a great idea but very poorly carried out. Not many adults can “watch” classical music at a concert, let alone kids and babies. The “interaction” in between songs was not entertaining at all and my 2YO said the show was bad “because of the lady talking”.
It’s a concert aimed at babies, baby pushchairs have to be put on the side, and so there is nowhere to put a pre walking baby. This means any baby under a year is forced to sit on a parent’s lap for over an hour on a wooden chair very squashed up. My 3 week old even got heavy in that amount of time and there was nowhere safe to put him.
The chairs were all moveable (not pews) and some very simple things could have been done to make it way better. There was a tiny space at the front for kids to move (wooden floor, no mats, where people walk with shoes), it was not big enough for all the kids, but a rule saying that an adult has to be with every child at all times (fair enough) meant it was definitely not big enough for kids to move around in. Every square inch of space was full with a sitting adult. A very simple solution would be to move the chairs around the outside, or have far less chairs, and have a huge area for kids to dance in in the middle, with soft padded mats for babies. Some sensory scarves etc would be great for dancing too.
There were 2 babies behind me who were around a year and not yet walking, and then and their parents left because the babies got restless confined to the parents’ laps and chairs.
The concert started 5 mins late, not a lot but with restless kids who’ve been there for 15-20 mins, it’s not great. Then it started with 5-10 mins more of talking about rules and info which we’d already been told on the way in. They could have just handed out leaflets with rules or signposted them so that the concert could start right away.
It’s an excellent concept and talented music playing, but very poorly executed. For the amount of money paid, and around 200 adults attending, there should definitely be some more effort put in from the organisers, to make it much more enjoyable for babies, toddlers and parents.
Reply from Bach to Baby - Regent's Park
Hello Hannah
I'm really glad to hear that you liked the music and the quality of the performance. We love getting customer feedback to help us improve our concerts, and we especially love to hear from our young audience members, so thanks for sharing your 2YO's thoughts with us - you can tell them that we will certainly bear that in mind in future! For many people, attending a classical music concert is a new experience, and we find that most adults like to understand a little of what they are about to hear so they can connect better with the music. We try to strike a good balance between introducing and connecting the pieces and the performance. It seems it was not quite right for you or your little one on this occasion.
While I can appreciate it must be quite annoying and not as comfortable an experience without your buggy, we are not allowed to let customers keep their buggies with them in the venue aisles in case of fire. We have to keep all main fire exits clear so that everyone can get out safely in the event of a fire etc. Our customers' safety at a concert is paramount to us.
I hear that it felt repetitive for you to hear the concert expectations again once you came in to the concert. We find that not everyone reads the written guidance before the concert and we don't always manage to speak to everyone on the door as they come in at these busy Christmas concerts, which is why we feel it's imporant to say a couple of sentences before the performance, to ensure that children are kept safe and the adults who have come to listen are able to do so.
Christmas is one of the busiest times of year. Perhaps you might consider giving us another try this spring when there will be more room for the children to roam or for you to sit at the front where your 2YO can dance away to their heart's content. There are also smaller, more intimate venues that we perform in, where it may be more what you're looking for. Do get in touch with us directly and we'd be happy to point you to a venue that suits your needs better.
Thank you for trying our concert and taking the time to share your detailed feedback.