Distributed November 10, 2000
For Immediate Release
News Service Contact: Mary Jo Curtis



Grammy-nominated songwriter

University orchestra teams with Bill Harley for children’s concert

Nationally known children’s entertainer Bill Harley will join the Brown University Orchestra and director Paul Phillips in presenting a children’s concert, You’re in Treble, on Sunday, Nov. 19 at 2 p.m. in Sayles Hall.

PROVIDENCE, R.I. — Grammy-nominated songwriter and storyteller Bill Harley – known as “the Mark Twain of contemporary kids’ music” – will join the Brown University Orchestra and director Paul Phillips in presenting You’re in Treble, a concert for children, on Sunday, Nov. 19, 2000, at 2 p.m. in Sayles Hall on The College Green.

Families will be delighted to see Harley, a familiar figure on the popular concert stage, in performance with a full orchestra, narrating Prokofiev’s ever-popular Peter and the Wolf and performing Harley and Phillips’ own collaboration, Come on Out and Play, a raucous tale of one wild night in the woods when the animals danced.

Conceived and developed jointly by Harley and Phillips, You’re in Treble is an hour-long musical journey showcasing Harley’s songs and stories, including You’re in Trouble and There’s a Pea on My Plate, which are engagingly arranged by Phillips. Phillips’ unique and innovative orchestra arrangement of Harley’s most popular works provides young audiences with an educational and entertaining introduction to the symphonic world. The concert will open with Cinderella Overture, a sparkling work by Rossini.

Recognized as one of America’s finest performers for families, Bill Harley is a singer/songwriter, storyteller, author and playwright who gives concerts, workshops and keynote addresses on a variety of subjects. In his 18 recordings of songs and stories and four children’s books, Harley offers humorous yet meaningful chronicles of the lives of children at home and at school. He has toured nationally as a solo artist and with his band, the Troublemakers, and has performed at the National Storytelling Festival on several occasions, in addition to receiving numerous national awards – including two Grammy nominations.

Paul Phillips, music director of the Brown University Orchestra, is also music director of the Pioneer Valley Symphony and Chorus in Massachusetts. He is the recipient of numerous honors, including five ASCAP Awards for programming of contemporary music, and composition grants and awards from ASCAP, RISCA and the American Music Center. This season he guest conducts the Berkshire Symphony Orchestra, the Commonwealth Opera, Carmen with the Ocean State Lyric Opera, and Nutcracker with the Festival Ballet of Rhode Island and the Hartford Symphony.

The Brown University Orchestra, founded in 1918, is now in its 83rd year. It is made up of about 80 students from Brown, the Rhode Island School of Design and members of the Brown community.

Tickets for the concert are $4 for general admission and $2 for student, seniors and children. They are available at the Music Department in the Orwig Music Building, One Orchard Avenue, and at the door. For further information, call (401) 863-3234.

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