Next Sunday, Jan. 22, the New World Symphony will host its fourth annual kid-friendly “It’s a Family Affair!” featuring a concert and a hands-on “21st century musical wonderland.” This is the event for parents and kids, especially for those who haven’t been to the New World Center and love music.

At 2 p.m., the New World Symphony will perform a concert by a triad of Russian composers: Glinka, the father of Russian classical music, Stravinsky and Mussorgsky. The New World Symphony is famous for seamlessly merging orchestra, lighting, design and film for a multisensory experience that simultaneously entertains, engages and, most importantly, teaches the audience about the power of music.

For example, Mussorgsky conceived his famous “The Pictures at an Exhibition,” based on drawings and watercolors by his close friend and Russian artist Viktor Hartmann, to follow the viewer’s (or listener’s) progress through an exhibition of Hartmann’s works. The New World Symphony will feature a series of video animations that will give the audience a visual and aural experience that attempts to realize the original intent of the composition. The above watercolor by Hartmann inspired Mussorgsky’s “Ballet of the Unhatched Chicks” from “The Pictures at the Exhibition.”

After the concert, at 3 p.m., kids will be allowed to run almost wild and get their hands on the magical instruments that bring the symphony to life. The New World Symphony’s musical wonderland will feature an instrument petting zoo, rooftop drum circle and a musical time machine. I’m not sure you’ll be able to transport your kids to the past, but they’ll get a valuable lesson in the evolution of instruments through the progress of time.

Sunday, Jan. 22, 2012, Concert 2 p.m., celebration 3 p.m., New World Center 500 17th St., Miami Beach, Fla. 33139, Sponsorship, family patron and underwriting packages available. Children under 2 years of age attend for free (lap seat). Contact Nancy Levitt Davis at 305-428-6739 or [email protected]. All of the proceeds from “It’s A Family Affair” go to help underwrite NWS Community Outreach programs in the schools, enabling more than 12,000 K-12 students to experience classical music each year.