The Palais Royal Ensemble holds educational events devoted to classical music for young people who lack easy access to certain cultural offerings. Its “Love at First Sight” concerts aim to highlight the beauty of classical music and are prepared with great care by tutors, professors, musicians and the conductor.

These concerts are a new type of advanced educational event for teenagers who haven’t had much exposure to various cultural offerings and who often view classical music as elitist, incomprehensible and boring. The concerts are organized according to a unique concept: Palais Royal brings all its musicians together to give a “real” concert under true concert conditions, with a full orchestra of musicians dressed in concert attire, playing period instruments and conducted with great enthusiasm by conductor Jean-Philippe Sarcos.

The “Love at First Sight” concerts are designed for teenagers benefitting from the large-scale Les Cordées de la Réussite government support program, in which high-achieving middle-school and high-school students from disadvantaged backgrounds are sponsored by students at prestigious universities. The goal is to foster academic ambition in these teenagers who, due to their social background or area of residence, do not have all the keys they need to embark upon a long academic career. The sponsorship takes two forms: tutoring and concert attendance.

To date, nearly 6,000 young people have attended “Love at First Sight” concerts. Of this number:

78% attended a classical music concert for the very first time

84% found the program very interesting

73% wanted to hear more classical music

85% would like to repeat the experience on a regular basis

The best way to describe the results of this initiative is to let the young people do the talking! Here, in a few words and phrases, are their responses to the concerts they have attended: “amazing,” “unforgettable,” “congratulations,” “respect,” “joy,” “it was so great,” “moving,” “magical,” “passionate,” “magnificent,” “touching,” “admiration,” “very, very beautiful,” “fabulous,” “great story,” “extraordinary,” “freedom,” “surprised,” “this music gave me shivers down my spine,” “wonderful,” “a great experience getting to know classical music,” “incredible,” “fascinating”, “majestic”…