Kid Pan Alley: Recent Residencies

Take a look at the faces of the children on this page and listen to some of their songs. Won't you help us bring this program to inner-city and under served schools? Kid Pan Alley's legal name is The Crescent Theatre Company d/b/a Kid Pan Alley. Our FEIN is 20-1609731. Donations are tax deductible to the full extent of the law.

Paul Reisler, Tom Prasada-Rao and Cary Cooper writing songs with kids at Fannin Elementary in Dallas. Here's a great song for mother's day.

The SING! Camp 2010 promo video features Paul and Kid Pan Alley working with teenagers with cancer at Camp Ronald McDonald in Idllwyld, CA. Paul worked with Amy Powers and actress Sharon Lawrence. There is some great footage of the concert where this song, No Limits, closes the concert at the Orpheum Theatre in LA

We do photobooks at the end of each residency. Click here if you'd like to see one of these beautiful books. This one is from Burnley-Moran.

Paul Reisler and Paddy Dougherty  at Munro Elementary in Lynchburg.

Ashlawn Elementary with songwriters Paul Reisler and Siobhan Quinn.

Kid Pan Alley songwriters Paul Reisler and Siobhan Quinn working with students at Key Elementary. A great song called, "If I Had All the Chocolate in the World"

Here is a video from Payne Elementary in Lynchburg, VA.

 

Kathy Hussey and Paddy Dougherty spent a week in January at Patrick Henry Elementary School in Martinsville, VA.  Here is a song that the kids wrote celebrating their status as third graders.

Lynchburg, VA's ABC TV station, WSET Channel 13, visited Patrick Henry Elementary School in Martinsville, yesterday to interview some 3rd grade students about the songs they are writing with Kid Pan Alley songwriters Kathy Hussey and Paddy Dougherty this week. Here's a video from last night's broadcast:

The Patrick Henry students will perform the songs they wrote this week with Kathy Hussey and Paddy Dougherty for their school Friday afternoon, and for their community at 6:30 pm Friday evening. The evening concert is free and open to the public. This residency was made possible by Piedmont Arts Association, The Harvest Foundation, the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts Paul Mellon Collection, & the Patrick Henry PTO.

Charlottesville's NBC affiliate, WVIR-29, interviewed Paul Reisler in residence at Murray Elementary this week. Free concert of the songs written by the 1st-4th graders, open to the public, at 7 pm tonight, 3251 Morgantown Road.

Terri and Paul have spent the week at Murray Elementary in Charlottesville. Here's a video that really says a lot about the futility of conflict. 

"Why pick a fight, isn't that the easy way out. In the end, everyone loses, no doubt.

Turn off the other music that's playing at the top of the screen first.

 

Here's a video of a great song about bullying. The recording is from the concert. (Please turn off the flash player at the top of this page if our music is playing right now).

This week, Paul and Terri have been working with 2nd, 3rd, and 4th graders at Jackson-Via Elementary in Charlottesville to write some terrific new songs. This is our third consecutive year at Jackson-Via, a fully-accredited school under the admirable leadership of Dr. ElizaBeth McCay. Here's one of the songs we wrote this week with Ms. Dowd's 4th grade (please turn off the flashplayer music at the top of the page before starting the video): 

Kid Pan Alley songwriters Paul Reisler and Donald Sosim spent the week at macGregor Elementary School in Houston, TX writing 10 songs with the kids in this Arts Magnet School. It was part of the Houston Cinema Arts Festival. We wrote 4 of the songs for the 1924 silent film version of Peter Pan which we performed at the beautiful Miller Oudoor Theatre along with the other 6 songs. It's really a great experience for the kids to write songs to picture. Donald is the foremost pianist playing for silent films around the world. Ron Cole and Joanna Seaton accompanied him for the film and i threw in a couple of guitar passages.

The kids we so enthusiastic and because they get to work with professional musicians as their teachers in the magnet school, they could really sing!! Our Thanks to the Miller Outdoor Theatre and the Houston Cinema Arts Festival for bringing us there. (Please turn off the song playing on the flash player at the top of the page before you listen to this)

 

Paul Reisler and Terri Allard have been in residence at Venable Elementary in Charlottesville this week. Here's a song they wrote with the 3rd graders in Mr. Schock's class (pause the FlashPlayer at the top of the website so you can hear the song).

Kid Pan Alley songwriters Paul Reisler and Terri Allard have been at John
son Elementary in Charlottesville writing songs with the kids this week.  Here's a beautiful song written by the 4th grade in memory of their classmate, Jameria Brown who was killed last year when a swing set fell on her. Writing songs, creating out of tragedy is such a powerful way to transform the feelings of sadness and loss. (pause the FlashPlayer at the top of the website so you can hear the song).

 

 

Paul and Terri have been writing songs with senior citizens and children at Brownsville Elementary this week. Here's a video. (pause the FlashPlayer at the top of the website so you can hear the song).  

Just finished a week with some wonderful songs at Burnley Moran Elementary School in Charlottesville. Here's a video of one called Listen Real Close. (pause the FlashPlayer at the top of the website so you can hear the song). 

We're at Burnley Moran in Charlottesville this week. We've got a concert on Friday, September 18th at 7 pm at the school. Free Admission. Here's one of the songs we finished today. (pause the FlashPlayer at the top of the website so you can hear the song).

 

Paul Reisler and The Kid Pan Alley Band featuring Howard Levy and John D'earth will be featured in a concert at Maestro Lorin Maazel's new Castleton Music Festival in Castleton, VA on July 4th at 9 pm. It's a free concert following the fireworks at the festival.

In addition, Maestro Maazel will conduct the orchestra for our favorite Kid Pan Alley song, "I Do Love Virginia," which will open the festival on July 3rd. That will be followed by a performance of Benjamin Britten's "Beggar's Opera." It's quite an honor to have our song conducted by the foremost conductor in the world. The Maestro is the Music Director of the NY Philharmonic and has conducted every major orchestra in the world.

Following the fireworks, we'll be going late that night with Kid Pan Alley songs and some great jazz and standards sung by the band as well as cast members of the Castleton Festival company. We’ll also have a few world-renowned surprise guest artists.

The band features Paul Reisler, Howard Levy, and John D'earth along Mark Maynard, trombone; Pete Spaar, bass; Brian Caputo, drums; Wells Hanley, piano and vocalist Paddy Dougherty.
Howard Levy is the foremost harmonica player in the world and was a founding member of the Bela Fleck and the Flecktones as well as Trio Globo with Eugene Friesen and Glen Velez. He's recorded hundreds of albums with artists including Kenny Loggins, Dolly Parton, Styx, Bobby McFerrin, Paul Simon, John Prine, Paquito D’Rivera, Trapezoid, Pete Seeger and many others

John D'earth has performed and recorded with jazz luminaries including Miles Davis/Quincy Jones, Lionel Hampton, Tito Puente, Buddy Rich and Bruce Hornsby.

The Castleton Festival runs for 3 weeks in the beautiful Blue Ridge Mountains. In addition to performances of 4 Britten operas, there will be orchestra concerts, master classes with Maestro Maazel and a number of the principal players in the NY Philharmonic. We hope you’ll come visit Kid Pan Alley’s hometown for this fantastic event. For tickets and directions.

Kid Pan Alley songwriters Paul Reisler and Donald Sosin are presenting a 5-day residency at Orr Elementary School, 2200 Minnesota Ave, SE, Washington, DC the week of June 1st. There will be a concert on Friday, June 5th at 2 pm at the school featuring the songs we wrote with the kids. Paddy Dougherty will join us for the concert.

This residency is sponsored by our good friends Joe and Lynne Horning.

Here's a couple of videos from the residency
If I Were President"
Chocolate Cake

Join Paul Reisler, Terri Allard, and the students at Ruckersville Elementary and Greene County Primary School as they perform songs they wrote this week during their Kid Pan Alley residency.
Friday, May 8, 7-8 pm at Dingledine Performing Arts Center, 254 Monroe Dr. (at William Monroe High School), Stanardsville, VA. Please join us! It's our last residency in Virginia this school year.

Here's a video from one of the songs:

The Kid Pan Alley Band returns to Rappahannock for a free concert on Friday, May 1st at the Rappahannock Elementary School at 7 pm featuring songs they wrote this year with children from Rappahannock Elementary, Heartstone, Belle Meade and Mountain Laurel Schools.

This year’s residency included an intergenerational component in which seniors from the Rappahannock Senior Center told stories to the children about growing up in the area and then the kids wrote songs about their experience. Then children from Hearthstone went to the Senior Center and told stories about their lives and the seniors wrote a song about that.

The Kid Pan Alley Band features founder Paul Reisler of Trapezoid on guitar, Nate Brown, Andy Waldeck and Steve van Dam from the band Everything and E3, John D’earth of the Bruce Hornsby Band on trumpet, Mark Maynard, trombone, Siobhan Quinn, vocal and the children of Rappahannock singing their songs.

These residencies and concerts happen each year in Rappahannock thanks to the support of Headwaters, RAAC, Rappahannock County Board of Supervisors, Curriculum Enrichment Fund, William and Mary Greve Foundation, BAND Foundation, the Eldercare Coalition, Toni Massie, the Chateauville Foundation, Longview Gallery, and the generosity of many individual donors. Contributions can be made at www.KidPanAlley.org or sent to PO Box 38, Washington, VA 22747.
For information on the concert please call RCES at (540) 987-8259.

During this year’s Kid Pan Alley residency, Paul Reisler along with his assistants Siobhan Quinn, Lorraine Duisit and Frances Miller wrote 11 songs with over 250 students at Rappahannock Elementary, Hearthstone, Belle Meade and Mountain Laurel Schools. This was part of an intergenerational residency in partnership with the Ageing Together program where seniors from the Rappahannock Senior Center went to RCES and told stories to the children about growing up in the area. The kids wrote 4 songs about the experience of the seniors. Then, students from Hearthstone went to the senior center and told stories about their experience and the seniors wrote a song from the children’s stories.

The cross-generational songs were fascinating and deep. Some of the seniors told the kids stories about growing up with segregation and this is what came out of the 2nd grade at RCES:

Or So It Seems