FOR FAMILY & FRIENDS. The Eau Claire Chamber Orchestra's annual Family and Friends concert will bring back its Musical Instrument Petting Zoo. (Photo via Facebook)

The Eau Claire Chamber Orchestra’s (ECCO) annual Family and Friends concert, with its popular Musical Instrument Petting Zoo, will return in just a couple of weeks.

Slated for 2pm on Sunday, Feb. 1, the show will be held at the JAMF Theater of the Pablo Center at the Confluence (128 Graham Ave., Eau Claire) and is designed to introduce young people to classical music and musical instruments.

Guests are invited to participate in a coloring activity before the concert at 1:15pm, and following the concert, Memorial High School Orchestra students – led by Soma Pierce Smit – will host the Musical Instrument Petting Zoo, where kids can try out the various instruments.

Guest Music Director Tulio Rondón, a cello professor at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire, will lead the orchestra in Felix Mendelssohn’s String Symphony No. 8 in D Major and Venezuelan composer Icli Zitella’s Girotondo, a delightful musical debate among five instruments as to who is the best.

Rondón performs throughout North and South America, Europe, Asia and the Middle East as a soloist and chamber musician. Born in Venezuela, he began his cello studies through El Sistema. He received his bachelor of music degree from the Simón Bolivar Conservatory; his master of music degree from Miami University in Oxford, Ohio; and his doctoral degree in performance from the University of Arizona.

Adult tickets are on sale at a reduced rate of $15/person plus fees and taxes. Individuals under age 21 will gain entry to the concert for free.

Mark your calendars for ECCO's Sunday, Feb. 1 show and activities. Tickets are now on sale and available for purchase online at www.pablocenter.org.