Looking for a cure for cabin fever? The Eau Claire Chamber Orchestra’s annual free one-hour family concert followed by an “instrument petting zoo” on Saturday, Jan. 25, will be just the ticket. Now in its 16th year, the Eau Claire Chamber Orchestra has been delighting music lovers of all ages under the esteemed leadership of music director and conductor Ivar Lunde Jr., who is also a prolific composer and owner of Skyline Studios. This year’s ECCO Tells the Tale concert will feature the French composer Francis Poulenc’s rendition of the popular children’s book The Story of Babar the Elephant by Jean de Brunhof, and selections from Stories for the Water by composer Bruce Burnside, which debuted last summer at Big Top Chautauqua near Bayfield. In 1940, when Poulenc was living in the countryside outside Paris, his three-year-old cousin Sophie inspired him to create music to the popular elephant tale when she plunked her copy of Babar the Elephant upside down on his piano, and said, “Play this.” Upon completion, he dedicated the piece to his young cousins and neighbors.  Dr. Jerry Young will narrate the story. Similarly, Burnside’s grandchildren inspired him to write Stories for Water out of his concern for them living in a world with rapidly depleting water resources. Burnside lives on a 40-acre homestead in six square miles of woods near Lake Superior. “I hear very few man-made sounds,” he shared in an email. “I have interacted with nature since the age of four. … I absorb sounds and rhythms. … As far as Lake Superior goes, it’s the elephant in the room. It adds stability and affects everything.” During the concert, there will also be a surprise rendition of two, fun, hand-clapping, toe-tapping songs. During the instrument petting zoo immediately after the concert, adults and children alike will be able to touch and try out the musicians’ instruments, which will include traditional chamber orchestra instruments as well as Burnside’s banjos and mandolins. Residents will want to attend this concert “for the fun of hearing and seeing music performed live,” Lunde explained. “Music is a living experience, and we try to engage the audience.” The venue, First Lutheran Church has 600 seats, and Liz Hart, ECCO’s new general manager, would love to have every seat taken. The concert is free thanks to a generous donation from Chilson Motors.

Eau Claire Chamber Orchestra Tells the Tale (family concert) • Saturday, Jan. 25, 2pm • First Lutheran Church, 1005 Oxford Ave., Eau Claire • FREE • www.eauclairechamberorchestra.org or www.facebook.com/eauclairechamberorchestra