The Gift of Music

By: Meredith Roman Pizzi, MT-BC

We were recently invited to a birthday party for our child’s friends. It was the first birthday party we’d been to in a while and I struggled with what to get the birthday children (Twins!) for gifts.  It’s always around this time of year when I become completely overwhelmed by how much “stuff” our kids have.  Our house seems full of games with missing pieces, books with missing pages, and untouched stuffed animals.  And then we start to think about holiday gift giving and to be honest, I just can’t even think of where to begin.

Well, for the twins, I figured it out! Why not share with them our family’s favorite music?   Let’s share the music that our kids are always requesting.  A gift of music: great for car rides, background music for cleaning the living room, and dance parties on a rainy day! The CD’s we’ve been given as gifts have always been treasured and it was fun for all of us to be able to pass on our favorite tunes.

Thinking ahead to this holiday season, I have a few ideas for to share “The Gift of Music” with your loved ones.
You may want to:

• search out some great new CD’s
• ask your friends for recommendations
• expand your recorded music collection
• bless your loved ones with high quality music instruments that will provide many special moments of music making.

Live Music & Tickets

Another wonderful way to present music as a gift, is to give the experience of live music to your children or family friends.  Look up opportunities to hear live music in the Boston area and purchase tickets in advance for a favorite performer or look up stage productions that are coming to town.  (BostonChildrensMusic.com is a great place to start your search.)

Maybe it’s getting tickets to see the Boston Children’s Chorus performing in their Annual Martin Luther King Jr. Concert in January. Or maybe your older children would love the chance to see a Broadway Show in Boston.  Strega Nona will be shown in January and The Lion King comes to Boston in February.

And did you know that children of any age can attend the Boston Pops Holiday Matinees?  So how about $27.00 tickets to a matinee on the 26th or 27th of December?  This a great way to restore your family’s energy after a busy holiday! With tickets in hand for a special musical performance, you are sure to recharge your batteries and theirs by attending a concert together and continuing to build memories. The holidays can be anti-climactic, so this will give you something wonderful to look forward to. This is a much better investment than game pieces that will be scattered on the living room floor!

Gifts That Keep on Giving

Giving the gift of a music class is a great way to reserve a weekly music time together. Sprouting Melodies and Afterschool Music Therapy groups are a great way to do just that. As extended family members ask for suggestions for gifts, tell them that you would love to take your child to a music class and that can be their gift to your child.  It’s a great way to share the gift of music.

Priceless Gifts

If scheduled classes don’t work for your family, there is yet another option to consider.  How about giving your child their own special gift certificate for a scheduled weekly time with you?  Include a specific day and time to make it easy to follow through.  For example, “Every Monday at 10am. We have a date!  We will make music together with lots of Rockin’ Singing and Dancing right here in our Living Room.”  Put it on your calendar and make a commitment to stick to it!

Whatever it is, think outside of the box when coming up with your gift list this year and make sure you get some new music and music making on there to carry you into 2010 and beyond!

And as always, enjoy the music!  It is always a great gift to share!

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