Photos by Jen Edney / Special to The Star Peggy Johnson, left, Brenda Miller, Bob Erickson and Len Geres perform a version of "Old MacDonald Had a Farm" to an audience that includes children.

Focusing on the highs and lows of classical instruments, Tomiko Hamada Taylor, left, and Shane Harry present a well-known piece of classical music at Westminster Presbyterian Church in Westlake Village on Sunday.

It may have marked the first time that Bach's "Toccata and Fugue in D Minor" was played with not only the trademark pipe organ but also a siren whistle.

Musician Len Geres opened the dark, ominous piece that is commonly mistaken for the theme from "The Phantom of the Opera," playing the composition perfectly Sunday inside Westminster Presbyterian Church in Westlake Village.

But when the music came to a pause, a child volunteer on stage let loose a blast of the whistle that put a lighter touch on the serious piece and smiles on the faces in the crowd.

Sunday marked the seventh year for the First Classic Concert for Children, featuring serious musicians and serious classical music but with a lighter touch.

That went for the setting as well as the show.

Unlike orchestra halls where the audience must sit quietly until intermission, the parents and children could enter and leave the modern church during the performance.

"The setting is terrific," Geres said afterward.

For many parents, bringing their children to a classical music show is daunting.

But seven years ago, music therapist Tomiko Hamada Taylor had an idea.

As an opening act for the Conejo Valley Youth Orchestras' annual recital, she would hold a child-friendly concert. The event would introduce classical music to kids of all ages, including those with conditions such as autism and cerebral palsy.

Bill Benson is the artistic director and conductor for the Youth Orchestras.

When he heard of the idea to pair it with the recital, he said he could help to make it happen.

"We thought it would dovetail very nicely," Benson said.

The concert, which lasts under an hour, offers classical musicians and well-known pieces of classical music. Every year the musicians play in a way that fits a particular theme.

On Sunday, they focused on the highs and lows of classical instruments.

The high range of the violin came first. Len Geres' adult son, Matthew, played a movement from Antonio Vivaldi's "Winter" concerto with Taylor on piano.

Then, going much lower on the register, Shane Harry played the double bass.

In a piece of music from "Carnival of the Animals" by Camille Saint-Saëns, Harry explained that the bass part was written to symbolize an elephant, so he asked the crowd to picture an elephant tromping through the African wilderness.

Later, the time came for audience participation. A vocal quartet of Len Geres, Bob Erickson, Brenda Miller and Peggy Johnson performed a version of "Old MacDonald Had a Farm."

From bass to tenor and alto to soprano, each singer was assigned a section of the audience of 50 parents and children with which to sing. For a few minutes, children and adults alike were singing a four-part arrangement of the nursery song.

In the laughter and singing, Benson said there are clear results for some children who have never had the chance to see such music played live.

"The parents tell us that sometimes the kids will sing for two or three days incessantly."