How to make music a lesson in fun

Making classical music fun for children is the aim of a show called The Music Factory, which will be performed at Cork’s Everyman on Saturday.

Presented by Calefax, a reed quintet from the Netherlands, the theatrical concert is being staged in association with the Cork Orchestral Society and Music Generation. It’s aimed at children aged six and upwards.

The five musicians use music and mime to tell a poignant story: the Calefax men work in a factory making tubes. Their actions complement each other so perfectly that it seems as if they are making music. The orders for their product stop. They panic, but discover the different uses of the tubes. They experiment. It transpires that the most beautiful instruments can be made from the tubes — and the orders start flowing in again. With the Music Factory in place, the men must find a way to record their music.