MOBILE, Ala. — Mobile Symphony’s annual concerts for children, the Young People’s Concerts 2009, will be funded in part by a grant from the Arts License Tag Fund which receives its support from the sale of “Support The Arts” license tags.

This year’s concerts entitled “Sing, Dance, Play,” an introduction to opera, ballet, and symphony, will give K-8 students an opportunity to hear singers from Mobile Opera, see dancers from Mobile Ballet, and experience the entire Mobile Symphony Orchestra.

Every student and teacher will receive a “Go For The Arts” pass, a voucher for free tickets to future performances of Mobile Opera, Mobile Ballet and Mobile Symphony.

Scott Speck, music director and conductor of Mobile Symphony, has programmed the 55-minute concert as the perfect age-appropriate introduction to three art forms he knows well.

Speck is co-author of Classical Music for Dummies, Opera for Dummies and Ballet for Dummies.

“The students in our audiences are certainly not dummies!” Speck says. “Their young minds are ready to absorb the concert experience. This is the perfect time to encourage their natural curiosity about music, singing, and dance.”

Teachers bring entire classrooms of children to the Young People’s Concerts.

Alisa LaPorte, the PACE teacher at John Will, Indian Springs and Orchard Elementary schools, says, “I bring my students every year so that they have real-life exposure to a symphony orchestra which is quite different from just hearing a recording.”

The concerts will be held Jan. 22, at 9:15 and 10:45 a.m. at the Mobile Civic Center Theater. The cost is $4 per person.

Sarah Wright, education director of Mobile Symphony, says that a few seats are still available.

“These concerts sell out, so I encourage any classroom teachers or homeschool groups to make your reservations now!”

For more information on the Young Peoples Concerts, contact Sarah Wright, at (251) 432-2064, or via e-mail at sarah@mobilesymphony.org.