Description

Paul Reisler has written more songs than the Beatles, Bob Dylan, Joni Mitchell, and Stephen Foster combined—somewhere north of 3,000 compositions.  He’s the founder and artistic director of Kid Pan Alley, and a founder of Trapezoid, A Thousand Questions, and Three Good Reasons.

Three Good Reasons will be bringing some of his music to Bower Center for the Arts on Saturday, June 3 at 6:30 pm featuring John D’earth on trumpet and vocalist Cheryl Reisler.

Over the past 4 decades, Reisler has performed in over 3,000 concerts, recorded close to three-dozen albums, as well as the script and songs for two new musicals--Bouncin’ and The Talented Clementine.  Artists including Sissy Spacek, Raul Malo, Pinchas Zukerman, Darrell Scott, Cracker, Nashville Chamber Orchestra, Corey Harris, Jesse Winchester, and many others have recorded some of his songs.

In 1975, Reisler’s band Trapezoid got a record contract at their first performance. That record took off and the band took off around the country performing at festivals, concert halls, and listening clubs for almost 25 years. As that journey came to an end, his discovery that kids make some of the best co-writers led to him founding Kid Pan Alley and around 2,800 songs written with over 80.000 children across the country.

The Washington Post said “his songs climb up the Blue Ridge and down to the bayou and back up the Himalaya’s.”

John D’earth is a legendary jazz trumpeter and composer who has performed with some of the biggest names in music appearing on over seventy recordings with artists including Buddy Rich, Lionel Hampton, Miles Davis/Quincy Jones, Tito Puente, Bruce Hornsby, Emily Remler, Eddie Gomez, Bob Moses, Pat Metheny, Joe Henderson, Clark Terry, John Scofield and John Abercrombie among many others. He has composed and arranged music for the Kronos String Quartet, The Kandinsky Trio, The Charlottesville Chamber Festival, Bruce Hornsby, The Dave Matthews Band, The San Diego, Atlanta, Richmond, and Roanoke Symphony Orchestras. 

Cheryl Reisler loves to sing. When she started school, her ability to sing harmony landed her invitations to join her first choir at the age of 9. This passion led to earning a bachelor's and master's degree in music education. An avid music educator, she believes in the creative process integrating voice, movement, improvisation, and instrumentation as a means of inspiration and discovery. Her career included stints as an elementary school music teacher, music supervisor for 136 schools in Fairfax County, and then as an elementary school principal before joining Kid Pan Alley.

She has served as coordinator of the All-County Choral Festival for 900 voices and assistant conductor for the George Mason Symphonic Chorus.  She has performed with the Symphonic Chorus at the Philharmonic.

This concert is partially supported by a Touring Assistance Grant from the Virginia Commission for the Arts.

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