Kaleidoscope: 8th Annual Program – Children’s Song IMA Winner
Contact: Alex Mitnick171 N Union St., #3
Lambertville , NJ 08530
908-963-1240
alexsmitnick (at) yahoo.com
www.kaleidoscopesongs.com
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Alex Mitnick (Music) and Alan Bell (Lyrics) met in 2000 in Philadelphia. Alex had just graduated from the University of the Arts where he studied Jazz guitar and composition and was working as an elementary music teacher in a Montessori school. Alan had recently moved to the United States from South Africa by way of Holland where he spent 30 years developing his unique style of art, poetry and education. Their first collaboration was not children’s music but a dance drama theater piece called The Poet’s Dream. Through music, dance and mask theater, the poet faces life and all of it’s challenges sadness, joy, anger and grief and discovers the beauty and power that resides in his very own being. The lessons this poet learned are the true lessons of life, love, and learning to love life. The Poet’s Dream was just the beginning; Alex & Alan shared another dream to offer these lessons to children through the fun and power of music!
Alex invited Alan to collaborate on a commission he received from the Princeton Montessori School. With the country on the brink of war they wrote their first musical for children “How Our Town Saved The Peace”. The collaboration was so successful that within a few short years they composed dozens of songs for children and in 2004 they released their first album Kaleidoscope Songs Number One. It received rave reviews from both parents and children and earned a Parents’ Choice Foundation Recommendation, Parent-to-Parent Adding Wisdom Award, Best New Artist and Best Album for Pre-School from the Children’s Music Web, and an Award Of Excellence from the Film Advisory Board.
Not only did parents appreciate the beauty and quality of the music, but they began to discover the role that Kaleidoscope Songs played in the everyday lives they shared with their children. “My daughters dance with my wife and I on a nightly basis, and they request it on every car ride! We slow dance, we jump and shout dance, we just have an all around great time with the CD. I do find myself referring to some of the lyrics in the songs when giving them little life lessons like – it’s OK to cry, remember what the cry song says?”
These sentiments arrived from every corner of the world and in 2006 Alex and Alan released Kaleidoscope Songs Number Two. 19 new songs and arrangements that included Afro-Cuban and African percussion, French horns, jazz, violins and more! Alex began performing Kaleidoscope Songs locally to promote the new album and as word spread of the fun and joy that children and parents were experiencing Alex & the Kaleidoscope Band began to tour in schools, libraries, museums and festivals all around the country. Clapping along, dancing, singing and improvising, audiences actively participate in the concerts creating a sense of community and connection. “Alex and the Kaleidoscope Band have a rare talent when even a two-year-old can sing along, and Mom and Dad have just as much fun as the kids!”, Ryan West Frable, Munson-Williams-Proctor Arts Institute.
In 2008, Alex & Alan released their third album – “Animals We Dream”. This album is a celebration of nature and an exploration of world music with poetic lyrics that paint pictures of the lives of nine fantastic animals. Alex & the Kaleidoscope Band continue to tour the country in support of the new album and the release of their first LIVE CONCERT DVD.