Music for the Whole Family

One of my earliest memories of classical music is going to a Houston Symphony concert at Jones Hall with my mom. I was such a disturbance, making fart noises and kicking the chairs in front of me, that she vowed never to take me to another concert. I’m glad she didn’t keep that promise. Like most great things in life, it takes more than one try before you stop making fart noises.

Classical music has been a part of my family’s life for a long time. My aunt is an Eastman-trained opera singer. My mom played the cello in school. Both my mom and her sister attended Houston’s High School for the Visual and Performing Arts (HSPVA). My mom focused on cello, my aunt on classical voice. The magnet school was pretty far away, so my grandpa drove them there and back, about thirty to forty-five minutes each way. During those drives, he tuned the radio to Houston’s classical station, KUHF (88.7 FM), humming along to the pieces he knew. He knew a lot of them.

Well before high school, it must have been similar car rides that first exposed my mom and aunt to classical music. The same station was playing the same pieces, which eventually latched onto their ambitions, leading them to one of the most prestigious arts schools in Texas—Beyoncé is also an HSPVA alumna. And it was the very same person who introduced them: their dad.

My grandpa was a cornet player who passed his love of music to his family. In turn, my mom passed that love to me. I followed her lead by becoming a cellist, then later followed my aunt’s by studying opera. In fact, they were my first music teachers. Through them, classical music became more than something to listen to. It became something to work for and a natural way to express myself.

Family has always been central to classical music. Musical dynasties and casual appreciation alike often begin at home, and classical music is rarely a solitary pursuit. Siblings form duos, trios, and quartets, and parents are their children’s first teachers. In this way, classical music is passed down through generations. It’s hereditary.

That dynamic extends beyond family into the most basic unit of classical music: performer and listener. The simplest version of music is a one-on-one shared experience. It’s a social art.

This musical socialization, with families at the center, influenced my approach to Saturday Morning Car Tunes (Saturdays at 8:15 AM and 3:15 PM, Thursdays at 3:45 PM), a five-minute, family-friendly feature I write and produce to introduce classical music to children and their grown-ups. I wanted to create a space where music felt open and inviting without watering down its complexity or depth. There’s a surprising overlap between the way the smartest twelve-year-olds engage with classical music history and the way many forty-somethings do.

Each episode includes audio clips from movies, pop songs, and TV shows, giving listeners of all ages familiar entry points. The slogan at Classical California is to “nurture a love of classical music for all,” meaning listeners before kindergarten and listeners after retirement. The goal is to build a multi-generational audience that feels included and at home.

Intergenerational listening is a major focus behind the scenes at Classical California. Many adults with active listening habits, concert attendance, or performance experience started their lifelong connection to classical music through shared family moments, like a car ride with their dad. Children exposed to music early on often carry it with them throughout their lives. This intergenerational thread is one reason classical music endures and why features like Saturday Morning Car Tunes exist.

Classical music is best experienced with other people, whether in families, schools, or concert audiences. For me, those lessons with my mom and aunt and even that first concert experience formed the foundation for my future career in classical music.

I now spend most of my weekends with you (Saturdays 1:00 PM to 7:00 PM; and Sundays 11:00 AM to 7:00 PM), through your smart speaker or over your car radio, while you run errands with your family or relax at home. I like to think you’re sharing a family activity with me.

My daughter, who’s almost two, already joins me at the piano, banging enthusiastically, and sings, or screams, along to classical music in the car. And I’m happy to report she’s carrying on the family tradition, with an occasional fart noise.