Culture for Maura

Last Sunday we took Maura to a concert given by the Dedham Choral Society. The program was “Christmas in Spirituals and Jazz!” It consisted of jazz settings of Christmas music by three contemporary composers and “Shout for Joy (A Suite of Christmas Spirituals)” by Robert DeCormier. We chose to attend this particular event because our good friend Julie Tittler (Auntie Julie to Maura) is in the chorus but for me it was much more than an opportunity to support a friend. I greatly enjoyed the concert. The music was interesting and, to my limited knowledge, very well performed. Hearing it put me in the holiday spirit for the first time this year. The experience for me was worth every penny of the price of the ticket.

Bringing Maura was worth every penny of the price of her ticket, too. I think it is important to expose children to as many experiences as possible. There haven’t been nearly as many chances as I would like for her to experience live musical performances. I don’t know if Maura enjoyed the concert as much as I did but I’m pleased to report that she was very well behaved so she must have gotten something from it. A bored six-year-old is an antsy and noisy one. She had a little trouble sitting still but so did I. The pews of Saint Mary’s Church, where the concert was held, are not the most comfortable seats and it was hard for either of us to sit in one position on them for very long. Even had the seat allowed it, we would have sat still. The strong rhythm of the music called out for movement in time to it.

Maura was certainly fascinated by the architecture and decoration of the church. Because she is part of an interfaith household (Maura and her mother are Jewish, I am not) Maura is probably more aware of religious differences than many six-year-olds. She has a great deal of curiosity and often asks questions about religious imagery that she sees. Her questions are not always easy to answer. Nevertheless I am glad she asks them. My hope is that her curiosity about other faiths helps her become a tolerant and understanding person.