“Kiddie Concerts”
In-School Brass Demonstration Programs
for young children:
Although Dr. Corwell primarily performs at universities and for other adult concert-series engagements, he also frequently performs for school children of all ages, from pre-school to the high school level. His “Kiddie Concert” programs are designed for elementary or pre-school children, and geared toward capturing and holding the attention of young children. The goal is to get them excited about participation in their school’s music programs.
For these school appearances, Neal performs a unique blend of innovative arrangements and original compositions. These programs are varied to suit the age level and musical background of the audiences, and are geared toward the goal of educating young people about the wonders of brass instruments, and inspiring them to participate in music programs at their school. In 1999 Dr. Corwell was certified as an official artist for the Maryland State Arts Council’s Arts-in-Education program, thereby granting a government stamp of approval to the quality of his presentations.
During these concert/talk/demonstrations, Neal typically performs on several brass instruments to include the euphonium, baritone, tenor trombone, bass trombone, double-bell euphonium, double-trombone, trumpet, flugelhorn, bugle, sousaphone and tuba. To further grab the attention of his audience, and also demonstrate the physical/acoustic principles underlying the brass instrument family, he also uses a few “non-standard” home-made instruments fashioned from garden and vacuum-cleaner hoses, plastic plumbing pipes and various other contraptions.
The solo arrangements included on these programs vary from fast-and-furious (such as Flight of the Bumble Bee, Carnival of Venice, Venetian Carnival Animals), to silly (Lassus Trombone, Hungarian Hallucinations), to Jazzy (tunes by Gershwin & Duke Ellington), to just plain fun! (Mancini’s Peter Gunn and Baby Elephant Walk). Dr. Corwell usually includes some of his original works as well (although presented in condensed versions), and these often have a “World Music” flavor to them. His composition Aboriginal Voices, for example, is based on characteristics of the music of the Australian Aborigines and makes use of their native instrument, the dijeridu, and his work Simyeh makes use of authentic Native American melodies and uses a primitive instrument called a vessel flute.
In addition to performing on many brass instruments, Neal is accompanied during these presentations by pre-recorded audio accompaniments that he has personally written, performed, and recorded, all on his own in his home studio. These recordings provide musical support, pique the interest of the students, and add another dose of variety to the programs.
As a recent innovation, Neal now also often brings along a battery of percussion instruments, most of which are controlled by foot pedals. He plays his brass solos while simultaneously accompanying himself with percussion, to humorous effect.
Dr. Corwell’s presentations include time for answering questions from the students. These Q & A sessions usually cover more than just questions about brass instruments. They typically also prompt discussions of electronic music, recording techniques, and the music and instruments of other countries and cultures.
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To ask Dr. Corwell about coming to your school, please contact him via email (see the “Contact Neal” link at bottom of this page). He often presents multiple performances within a single day and his (quite reasonable) fees are based upon the number of performances, the length of performances, his travel time to your school, and other factors.
Schools in Maryland, West Virginia, Pennsylvania, and Virginia are all potentially within range, and he even presents these “kiddie concerts” at schools in other parts of the country if he is already in the region for one of his college solo tours.