Before students arrived at Phil Kids 2026, the music had already begun in local classrooms. As part of a pilot pre-show workshop, JJ Sechan, Principal Bassoon of the Colorado Springs Philharmonic, led a 45-minute interactive session designed to deepen listening skills and spark curiosity ahead of the concert.
The workshop opened with Jabberwocky Jam, showing how music can bring meaning to storytelling, and continued with guided listening from Peter and the Wolf, where students explored tempo, dynamics, and instrumentation before concluding with a featured bassoon solo.
Each school experienced the workshop in its own way. Homeschool students from Inspired Learning responded through movement, embodying musical characters. Students at Springs Baptist Academy created instrumental soundscapes for Little Red Riding Hood. Fourth graders at Stetson Elementary explored deeper musical analysis, while second graders at Remington Elementary showed such enthusiasm that one class wrote thank-you letters afterward…