Nashville is Music City, but a surprising number of boys who grow up here have never heard a symphony orchestra play in person. That is a loss worth correcting. Hearing a great orchestra in a great hall is one of the most powerful experiences of beauty a young person can have, and in Nashville it is far more accessible than most families realize.
You do not need to be a musician to give your son this experience. You just need to know where to start.
The hall
The Nashville Symphony plays at the Schermerhorn Symphony Center downtown, which opened in 2006. Its main hall, the Laura Turner Concert Hall, seats about 1,800 in the classic shoebox shape favored by the great concert halls of Europe, with natural light from clerestory windows and a large concert organ built by Schoenstein and Co.
The building has a story of its own. In the 2010 Nashville flood, water filled its lower levels and caused tens of millions of dollars in damage. It reopened less than eight months later. That is worth telling a boy as you walk in: the city decided this place mattered enough to rebuild quickly.
Free tickets for students
This is the part most parents miss. Through its K-12 Free Ticket Club, the Nashville Symphony offers K to 12 students a free ticket to each Classical Series concert, with up to four student tickets per household. Children under 16 must be accompanied by an adult, and adults buy their own tickets. For a father and son, that means a night at the symphony costs the price of one ticket.
The Symphony also performs community concerts in parks, schools, and community centers around Middle Tennessee, many of them free, and offers Young People’s Concerts through its education program.
What to hear first
Not every concert is a good first concert. Look for programs that include:
- A famous symphony with drive and drama. Beethoven’s Fifth or Seventh, Dvorak’s Ninth (“From the New World”), or Tchaikovsky’s Fourth or Fifth. These have energy, melody, and clear emotional arcs.
- Program music that tells a story. Pieces like Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition or Holst’s The Planets give a boy images to follow.
- A concerto with a great soloist. Watching one person match an entire orchestra is gripping, especially for a boy who plays an instrument.
Avoid, at first, the long, slow, or highly abstract programs. The goal is to make him want to come back.
How to prepare him to listen
Listen at home first. Play the main piece in the car or at dinner a few times the week before. Familiarity turns noise into music. A boy who recognizes a theme when it comes around will feel a jolt of pleasure.
Tell him the story. Every great piece has one. Beethoven was going deaf. Dvorak wrote the “New World” symphony while living in America. A little history makes the music human.
Give him something to watch for. Ask him to count how many times the main theme returns, or to watch the timpani player, or to notice when the whole orchestra goes silent.
Teach the etiquette. Dress up a bit. Arrive early. No phone. Applause comes at the end of the whole piece, not between movements. These small disciplines make the evening feel important, which it is.
Afterward
On the drive home, ask him simple questions. What was your favorite part? When did it get loud? Did anything surprise you? Resist the urge to lecture. Let him have his own experience.
Over time, a boy who regularly hears great music develops a kind of inner ear for what is ordered, powerful, and beautiful. That is why the ancients made music a core part of education. Our essay on how art, beauty, and music rewire your soul for greatness explains the idea, and our story of the Fisk Jubilee Singers is another chapter of Nashville’s musical history every boy should know. For another afternoon of beauty in the city, see our guide to art museums in Nashville.
From the Meriwether archive: Aesthetic Ethos: The Art of Menswear and Cultural Beauty.