Kurtag for kids?

Young listeners are ready for a challenge, says this quartet

The Parker Quartet's approach to programming for kids includes playing the music of Haydn and Gyorgy Kurtag. (Janette beckman)

Because the Parker Quartet routinely plays for children, its members have learned a couple of important things. First, little kids never get the memo that says that classical music is for adults only. Second, they have wonderfully open ears and can respond to a vast range of music without prejudice.

Take for example the family concert that the quartet will play at Concord Chamber Music Society on April 20. It includes a few movements of Haydn, but it will also feature a series of "Moments Musicaux" by Gyorgy Kurtag, a contemporary Hungarian composer whose tense, volatile music may well give some parents pause when it appears on one of their own subscription concerts. Could this really be a good idea for kids?

"Definitely," says Karen Kim, one of the Parker violinists. "Kids have such a different perspective on music. They're so open to contemporary music and love being exposed to the different sounds that come about. And they have no problem whatsoever saying whatever they think."

At the heart of the Parker's program in Concord is a piece called "Aaponi's Destiny," written for them by composer Erik Jorgensen and described as a "Choose Your Own Adventure Musical Odyssey." The piece is about a mayfly given just one day to live, and the kids decide whether she should stay in the country or go to New York City to maybe catch an opera, drop by Central Park, or go to a ballgame, with the music of course tailored to their choices.

This sort of creative approach to children's programming seems typical of the Parker Quartet, a locally based ensemble whose members will soon be completing a graduate program at New England Conservatory and, armed with new management, will probably be leaving Boston to hazard its fortunes in the competitive world of professional string quartets. While still a graduate ensemble at NEC, the Parker has been making a name for itself both through traditional recitals but also with gigs in casual spaces like the Lizard Lounge in Cambridge and a Brooklyn bar called Barbes. The quartet gives its graduation recital in Jordan Hall on April 29.

While still in town, the group has recently been working with the German avant-garde composer Helmut Lachenmann, whose music is full of rasps, whispers, and nontraditional noise effects, but according to Kim, even this formidable fare goes down well on children's programs.

"When we play Lachenmann on a normal concert, we know there are going to be some unhappy audience members." she said. "But we just played it for some kids in Rockport. They loved it. They told us that it sounded like UFOs."

Jeremy Eichler can be reached at jeichler@globe.com.