The Wow Factor

Children's Classic Concerts on Saturday, April 25, Glasgow and Sunday, April 26, Stirling

A word play off of the wildly popular TV show, The X Factor, Children's Classic Concerts offers a version called The Wow Factor, where kids and adults will be thrilled to hear some familiar tunes from their favorite TV shows, films, and football teams. Little do some people know, some of the most popular songs in our day are taken from the greatest composers of our time.

"Kids don't really realize they're listening to classical music," said Owen Gunnell, 28, one of the co-presenters of Children's Classic Concerts.

Gunnell will be offering up a well-beloved tune, Ravel's passionate "Bolero," with a twist. He'll be performing the song while on roller skates (not on ice skates like Torvill and Dean dazzled in the Olympics to the same composition.) Will Owen manage it? Will he fall off his skates? Owen recently confessed to having not been on those teeny, tiny wheels in a while. The concerts promise to offer loads of fun and amusement.

This month's concert will also feature a full orchestra so masterpieces like Beethoven's Fifth Symphony will get the full cacophonic effect. Also, kids will get to see how different sections, like the woodwind and the strings, play integral parts in creating the layered harmonies.

For co-presenter Oliver Cox, who goes by Olly, performing in Scotland is a welcome homecoming. Raised in Haddington, East Lothian, since he was 4 years old, he now resides in London. "My mum's family is still in Scotland," said Cox.

The Wow Factor show gives audiences a high dosage of classical music, combined with fun and antics, when really, they'll be listening to songs they've heard in the most unlikely of places their whole life.

Saturday 25th April 2009, Glasgow Royal Concert Hall, 3pm
Sunday 26th April 2009, Stirling MacRobert Centre, 3pm

www.childrensclassicconcerts.co.uk

Ticket Prices - Single Concert: Child £6, Adult £10, Family £29 (2 adults, 2 children), Concessions £6

To book tickets,
Glasgow - GRCH Box Office: 0141 353 8000 or at www.glasgowconcerthalls.com
Stirling - The Macrobert Centre: 01786 466666 or at www.macrobert.stir.ac.uk