Here's who's on it. I'll post more details later.
Lloyd H. Miller
moderator
For 10 years, Lloyd (leader of the educational band, the Deedle Deedle Dees) has worked as a teaching artist in public and private schools in New York City and elsewhere. His specialty is creating original musical productions with students. He has co-written and performed shows featuring all-original music based on classic literature like Hamlet, The Aeneid, The Epic of Gilgamesh, The Myth of Osiris, Twelfth Night, and A Midsummer Night's Dream. He's also done a number of shows inspired by the curriculum of a particular class or school like The Truth About New Jersey (a song cycle about the history of the state written with fourth graders) and Who Stole the Sousaphone? (a whodunnit developed with an entire second grade that incorporated student research about their hometown, Port Washington, Long Island).
Lloyd is currently in final rehearsals for a 6th, 7th, and 8th grade production of Moliere's The Imaginary Invalid. Re-imagined as a 1950s musical, the show features all brand-new songs composed by Lloyd and the kids. He's also working on a show based on The Araboolies of Liberty Street with his wife's second-grade class, a grown-up jazz musical about the foreclosure crisis in America called Trashed Out with jazz legend Roy Nathanson, and a sing-a-long album with producer Dean Jones tentatively titled S.S. Brooklyn.
Hear second graders sing the songs they wrote with Lloyd for Hamlet here: http://lloydmiller.bandcamp.com/album/hamlet-the-album
www.lloydhmiller.com
www.thedeedledeedledees.com
roynathanson.tumblr.com
Patricia Shih
For the past 27 years Patricia has offered up to 18 assembly concerts for grades pre-K through 6 (and sometimes 7 & 8) based on "Big Ideas!" themes. "BI" is the umbrella title for all 18 shows, because every song in every show is about an important issue such as Bullies, Character Education, The Environment, Multiculturalism, Disabilities and more. She offers 5 workshops and 2 residencies, where in the latter she helps the kids write a musical and then produce it for the entire school or community. The workshops range from songwriting to Chinese culture.
A multi-instrumentalist, Ms. Shih plays 6 and 12 string guitars, piano, Marxophone, Chinese flower drum, and soprano recorder. She has six albums to her credit: two for adults, "Woman With One Closed Eye" (Glass Records) and "Leap of Faith" (Flying Fish Records); and four family/children's albums, "Your ImaginEngine!,""The Power of One" (NAPPA Gold Award & Parents' Choice Approved Award), "Big Ideas!" and "Making Fun!"(1997 Parents Choice Approval Award) on Glass Records. Her work is also included on three anthology albums: "Sharing Thoughts," "Early Ears" (Zoom Express, BMG), and "Rainbow Sign" (Rounder Records), which was honored by the American Library Association Notable Children's Recording Award, Parents' Choice Award, Parents' Prize, NAAPA Gold Medal, and the L.A. Times "Best of 1993" list. She is the author of two books about music: Gigging: A Practical Guide for Musicians (Allworth Press, NYC) and Truly Rotten Gigs from Hell: The Funny, The Sad, The Unbelievably Bad True Tales from the Music Trenches (Uncommon Publishing, Xlibris)
http://www.patriciashih.com/
Robbie Kumalo
Robbi Hall Kumalo is an artist with an incredible voice with tons of charisma and charm to win over any audience. Robbi started in the music business singing with a host of legendary artists including Aretha Franklin, Eileen Ivers, Arif Mardin, Jewel, Diana Ross, Jimmy Owens, Ashford & Simpson, Edie Brickell, Chieli Minucci, Gino Sitson, Bakithi Kumalo, John Hiatt, Chaka Khan, Rod Stewart, Mary J. Blige, and Harry Belafonte among many others. Bringing to the stage a level of excitement, Robbi gives to her audiences freely and unselfishly. Her band members are versatile and extraordinary players, who have performed with many music legends themselves. Robbi's personable demeanor is the essence of her show; first going deep into her own zone then pouring it all out in song. Robbi's larger than life stage presence and enticingly beautiful voice have given her the opportunity to perform in many settings, always with great success.
In addition, Robbi is very passionate about arts education and has spent nearly 25 years classrooms in schools all over the globe as Teaching Artist for Aesthetic Education. Using music and theater arts as a mode of communication to teach everything from the sciences, to history, to culture, and to character, Robbi truly has found her calling by combining her ease of performance with her love to nurture young minds. She is a teaching artist with New Jersey PAC and The Tilles Center. Whether a school assembly, artist residency, or professional development workshop, Robbi has a lot to offer!
http://www.robbikumalo.com/fr_home.cfm
Uncle Devin
"I have been performing children's music for over 10 years and, most recently, have been selected as an artist with the Young Audiences/Arts for Learning - Maryland (YAMD) for the 2013-2015 school years. YAMD is Maryland's leader in Arts-in-Education programs in the state. I have primarily performed workshops and assemblies, but can also conduct residencies as well. In addition to the schools, I have found great teaching opportunities performing at numerous summer camps, day care centers and libraries as well.
The Uncle Devin Show takes students on a magical journey through the Land of Percussion, allowing them to hear, see, and play different percussion instruments while gaining an understanding of the history of percussion and why it is the easiest, oldest, and most diverse form of musical creativity. I can conduct the show solo, but most of the time, I use the assistance of my flute playing sidekick Mr. Grasshopper. Together, we will have students bouncing to different genres of music while showing them how percussion is the heartbeat of them all. Professionally, I am an Equal Opportunity and Dispute Resolution trainer, investigator and counselor, working in both the public and private sector for over 18 years. I transfer these same techniques to my music to teach the value of diversity, self-identity and respect."
- Uncle Devin
http://theuncledevinshow.com/
