BEIJING, Feb. 2 -- More than 2,000 people in a 1,149-seat auditorium. Impossible!

    Not if it's a concert dedicated to soon-to-be mothers on the weekend in Shanghai Concert Hall.

    The reason for the "overcrowding" becomes clear when one considers the concert's theme: pre-natal instruction.

    Most Chinese parents, and those soon to be, are more than willing to spend as much time and money for their kids as possible.

    This year's first sold-out concert in Shanghai owes a lot to the impending baby boom in the city, expected to continue from now till 2015.

    A woman, surnamed Yin, who is expecting her child in March, said after the concert that she felt happy and relaxed in the hall. She and her husband both would love to attend more such concerts because music can improve the IQ of babies.

    Zhang Yiming, of the Shanghai Peijin High School, the city's only high school specializing in art education, agrees with Yin. "Pre-natal music education" is crucial to the intellectual development of kids, he said.

    Shanghai Concert Hall Marketing Manager Xia Qing and his team started the project last year. Such concerts will be held every four months during the baby boom period.

    To help pregnant women get a better understanding of music, Xia invited medical and music experts, including Shen Yuehua, a medical expert from International Peace Maternity and Child Health Hospital under the China Welfare Institute, to deliver a brief lecture before the concert.

    Musicians' help

    Many others have helped the concert with their contributions. Sony BMG Shanghai executive Yao Ting, said his company recommended Raimond Lap, one of the most renowned musicians, for "baby music" to the Shanghai Concert Hall.

    "Dutch musician Lap recorded his first album of baby music way back in 1990 and has since continued with his good work," Yao said.

    Lap and Shen had discussed via email the works to be performed at the concert, Xia said. Shen suggested that soft flowing classic compositions would be best for soon to be mums and the most suitable rhythm was 60 beats a minute.

    Lap, in turn suggested, his well-known but re-arranged "Turkey March" in soft-beat be listed on the concert program.

    And the result was, as a woman surnamed Li said, "refreshing and soothing".