It's the 250th anniversary of Mozart's birth - and according to a new survey he is the most popular composer to play to unborn and newborn babies. Sarah Ivison talks to two Teesside parents about their music-loving offspring.
 Oliver Loughran sits mesmerised looking up at his dad who is sitting beside him strumming his bass guitar. The one-year-old tot loves listening to dad Andy sing and play his guitar - a treat he's enjoyed since before he was even born. "When he was in my wife Georgina's tummy, I would either sing or play some sort of music to him," says Andy, who is a musician and works for a music retailer. "It's very therapeutic." It was a trick he learnt when his sister was pregnant with her son Christian, who is now 12. "We used to play music and sing to my nephew when he was in my sister's tummy," says Andy. "He actually came to one of my gigs when my sister was carrying him. "So it was natural we did it with Oliver and he reacted to it. "We have found that if we play music that was played to him when he was in Georgina's tummy, he seems to react to it. "We played a classical music CD to him - Mozart, Tchaikovsky - and now I often put Classic FM on in the car, which he finds quite calming." Since Oliver was born, Andy has continued to play music to him. "Even when my bass isn't plugged in and I play low tones he is mesmerised by the vibrations," says Andy. "On the bass I play anything going, even bass scales - teaching him early! "Even things like Frank Sinatra and Nat King Cole. When I was little my dad played those kind of songs to me. "One of the first things I do in the morning is pick him up and dance around with him singing to him. "I sing mainly kid's songs to him now though!" Middlesbrough mum Bekki Barron has discovered that eight-week-old daughter, Paige Bell, loves music with a beat. The 24-year-old says: "I always play music in my car and I've noticed that she calms down if I play music to her now. "She seems to like loud music like dance and pop, anything with a beat. "But then she also really likes the hairdryer! I do think it's interesting, what calms them as babies. I'm always blow-drying my hair so it's obviously something she associates with me - though I don't have as much time now. "One of my favourite TV programmes is Charmed so it will be interesting to see if the music from the programme will soothe her in the same way." Bekki's fiancé Karl Bell, 27, adds: "Bekki has started singing to her which really works if she's crying." "I just make up songs as I go along," laughs Bekki. Page 2: Classical stimulation | 
