Mustang, Duncan, Perkins, Meeker

Our first four programs of the summer have already come and gone! The rest of my summer schedule is here: http://www.montyharper.com/Schedule.html

I went to Mustang on my own last Thursday the 29th and helped kick their summer program off with the Sugar Free All-Stars! Lisa and Evalyn travelled with me to Duncan on the 5th for a jam-packed performance and a songwriting workshop that afternoon with the teens. Today Lisa and I visited Perkins and Meeker for two more jam-packed shows!

The theme this summer is science! I'm pleased to be able to present my "Songs From the Science Frontier" program at the libraries! The songs were inspired by conversations with scientists about their research, and I present them along with a slideshow that allows me to introduce the kids to the scientists and their work and lets the audience follow along with lyrics on screen. So far I've had a great response. It's going to be a fun summer!!

Lisa has been advancing the slides when she can be with me, so her photo-taking opportunities are limited. Still she's done a fantastic job grabbing some memorable moments with the camera. Enjoy!

Great crowd at Duncan!

An audience member at Duncan helps demonstrate the moves for "Bat Man." 

"Roundy Round" in Duncan.

Posing after the workshop in Duncan. The pirate costume was from a recent trip to Disney!

Snap those toothy jaws in Perkins!

Roundy Round in Perkins

Doing the Stegasaur Swing, Perkins.

"Let me hear you roar!" Perkins.

Seizmosaur Stomp, Perkins.

"Spring those sharpened claws" in Meeker

More Photos From the Science Frontier

More from last week's Songs From the Science Frontier shows. They all went really really well! I am excited to have this program on my hands!

Love this photo Lisa took of the cool shadow guitar dude, whoever he may be...

My audience at the South Broken Arrow library, following along with the "Wind Energy" song. Check out the artwork - it covers every wall in the room!

Here they're doing the "Roundy Round!"

This is after the show at Brookside Library. We had a very small crowd there - this is most of them!

This is a drawing of wheat aphids 3 year old Caroline made for me during the show:

Songs From the Science Frontier Shows!

I performed at two Tulsa branch libraries today, and this was the first time I presented my full-fledged "Songs From the Science Frontier" program with visuals all the way through. This show represents the culmination of about three years of work getting into the topic of science, and figuring out how I want to present it for kids. It's also just the tip of the ice burg - much more to come!

Both programs went very well!! I have some tweaking still to do but I'm incredibly happy with this new program. Each song is connected to a real scientist and an aspect of science that I want kids to learn about. The whole thing hangs together really well, and I love having the lyrics up on the big screen so kids can read and sing along. I really enjoyed interacting with the kids between songs, talking about science. Both librarians were very positive about the show. There's a lot of depth to it, and I'm excited about bringing it to schools in the Fall!!

I have two more Tulsa programs tomorrow, and a fifth program Friday at the Sam Noble museum in Norman. If they all go as well as today I'll be on cloud nine!

Here I am posing before the morning show at Rudisill. The colorful background is my home slide, which shows the entire program laid out over my CD cover. This slide launches the program and from here we go to lyrics and images for each song.

This is from the afternoon show at Nathan Hale. I'm just chatting with the kids before we got started.

Here we are doing "Wind Energy" - a human wind farm!

Tomorrow:

South Broken Arrow, 11:00 AM

Brookside, 2:30 PM

:-)

Our Washington D.C. Trip

We are safely home and recovering from our trip to Washington, D.C.! It was fantastic. I performed in a planetarium, on the national mall, at a science cafe, and in an elementary school. We got to visit friends, some of whom we'd never met face to face before, and we made many new friends as well. And we wore ourselves out!

Here I am on stage, first act in the morning on Saturday at the USA Science Festival.

Here Evalyn and I are posing with Ben Franklin, who was thankfully willing to "sit for a portrait" (not knowing much about digital photography). We explored a lot of the booths on the mall - they seemed to stretch for miles! Evalyn made a foil boat and a solar powered car, and she foiled me at a math game that involved jumping skulls and pumpkins.

We spent a lot of time also in the Smithsonian museums - mainly the art gallery, the natural history museum, and the American history museum where we got to see the actual flag that inspired the words to "The Star Spangled Banner!" Here is Evalyn in the butterfly pavilion in the natural history museum, where she refused to leave until a butterfly landed on her.

We also got to see the Lincoln Memorial, the Washington Monument, and the WWII Memorial.

Evalyn bought herself a new buddy, whom she named "Washington." Here they are on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in the spot where Dr. King gave his famous speech.

We stopped in Cincinnati on the way home. Here I'm introducing a song at the science cafe in Slatt's Pub.

At North College Hill Elementary the next day I did my music and movement program for kindergarten and 1st grade. Here the kids are making sirens during "Big Red Fire Truck."

Science Program @ Stillwater Library + News on 6

On Sunday I performed for a secular parenting picnic in Edmond. This was my first chance to try out an all-science program on an audience. I was pretty nervous but I think it went well. 

After the show people ate, and then I played a few extra songs for some fans from way back - they wanted to hear "Lisa Lee Elizabeth" and "Alphabet Rag!"

At the Stillwater Library on Tuesday I did a full program of science songs: "Super Scientist," "What Is the Shape of the Molecule?," "Bat Man," "Acrocanthosaurus," "The Wind Energy Song," "Roundy Round," and "Ain't It Beautiful?" All these songs except "Roundy Round" (which is on the Take Me to Your Library CD already) will be included on my new Songs From the Science Frontier CD.

We utilized an overhead projector during some of the songs to put lyrics up on a big screen on stage. I think that helped a lot - it's easier to follow all those complex sciencey concepts if you can read along. AND it made it easier to participate in the sing-along sections.

"Let me hear you now..."

"Working on the mystery of life's history, he's a bat man!"

"Spring your sharpened claws!" There was a large contingency of younger kids at the program. I wasn't sure how they'd do with this new batch of songs, but they were great. Here they are being Acrocanthosaurs!

"This is the sun shining down on Earth!" Even the adults stood up to help form a wind farm during my "Wind Energy" song!

Here we are going "Roundy Round!"

After the program, we played my News on 6 story for folks to watch and asked them to contribute to my Kickstarter campaign by pre-ordering the new CD. We got a couple of new pledges on the spot. 

What's that, you haven't seen the News on 6 story that aired in Tulsa and Oklahoma City (channel 9) this past weekend? Here you go: