The Cycle for Early Listeners is the first music series at a Madrid cultural institution designed specifically for children aged 0 to 4. This initiative is based on the transfer of scientific knowledge in the field of creation and culture for early childhood and on the defense of cultural rights from birth.

Produced by the organization Great Listeners, with artistic direction by María Magdalena Sánchez (musician-researcher, National Youth Award in Culture 2022) and hosted by el Círculo de Bellas Artes.

The great listeners

The name of this series refers to what we are naturally during our early years: truly great listeners. Because music—and affection—is the language of our first months: we listen before we see, we hum before we speak, we dance before we walk.

During that period, we are not yet able to speak and we do not retain conscious memories of those early years, but the sound and musical experiences we live through leave an indelible mark on our brain map, on our identity and on our tastes.

The name Cycle for Great Listeners is also a reflection of some prestigious music cycles in the capital ( Cycles of Great Performers , Cycles of Great Authors, Great Cycles… ), making a one hundred and eighty-degree turn to give all the protagonism to those who are sitting - or crawling - to our audience: the great listeners.

Our Purpose

1. Early cultural experiences, at home and in the park, but also in auditoriums, museums and theaters: As cultural agents, we adopt the commitment to broaden opportunities that guarantee the right of access to and participation in culture from birth and during the first years of life (Convention on the Rights of the Child, United Nations, 1989).
2. Childhood as a present audience (even after Christmas): We advocate considering the early stage as a present audience in cultural programming and not in terms of a future or seasonal audience.
3. I have a baby and now I go to the park (a lot), but I want to continue going to the auditorium and the museum: We want to break down the barrier to accessing cultural institutions for adults with babies, offering opportunities to continue experiencing culture in the city's cultural centers when a baby arrives in the family, thus promoting the well-being of the whole family.

Programme

 The first edition of the series will take place from January to June 2023. Will they be educational concerts? Not exactly, or perhaps yes, in much the same way as a concert for an adult audience. Concerts of “children’s music”? No, not that either.

The program will explore formats with the baby audience as the focus and live music as the main axis: concerts with symphonic instruments, voice, chamber groups, sessions with multisensory proposals, participatory sessions of the Baby Kangaroo Choir with music of different genres, sound laboratories to listen closely and explore different musical instruments (open to older children).