At the San Francisco Symphony, the Music for Families series (targeted to kids ages 7-12) was an arena where I had express permission to educate inquisitive minds about music. When I arrived on the scene, it was languishing (both conceptually and in terms of ticket sales) under the format of a one-way lecture from the stage, which made engaging the young audience a challenge.

Conductor Edwin Outwater and I worked to create an on-stage dialogue—with the audience, with the musicians on stage, and with other characters. By showcasing that even conductors and musicians have questions and look for answers, we could encourage the kids (and parents) in the audience to view the concert hall as a great place to discover all kinds of exciting things.

Above: HARMONIA tries to absorb the concept of ‘pizzicato’ with some difficulty, helped by a cellist and the conductor.

Below: HARMONIA helps put together the different sections of the orchestra for a performance of the William Tell Overture.

Left: HARMONIA becomes trapped inside the symphony hall’s organ pipes by a malicious virus and tries to escape.

In order to drive home the idea that opportunities for learning abound, we adopted a familiar approach: just ask the nice lady who lives on the internet! Thus, we “installed” the character of HARMONIA 3000 as the “onboard computer of Davies Symphony Hall.” Voiced by actor Mary Dilts from a hidden off-stage location, HARMONIA’s presence emanated from the ceiling of the concert hall in a totally believable context for any kid with a smartphone. 

Edwin and I wrote all the scripts, allowing HARMONIA to launch quizzes, provide definitions, and learn along with the audience. This looser narrative structure allowed for moments of confusion and triumph, and it gave kids in the audience great satisfaction when they were able to occasionally outsmart the computer! To her credit, HARMONIA even started getting some extremely adorable fan mail during her three-year tenure at the Symphony.