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Children’s Music Icon Laurie Berkner– the “Pied Piper
of the Preschool Set” – and Her Band Perform at
Mountain Laurel Center, Saturday, August 11 at 11 a.m.
Lawn Seating Now Available for $18 per Ticket
BUSHKILL, PA – Widely hailed as the “Pied Piper of the Preschool Set,” multi-platinum-selling children’s music icon Laurie Berkner and her band will perform a special morning concert at Mountain Laurel Center for the Performing Arts on Saturday, August 11 at 11 a.m. Tickets range from $25 to $35 for the pavilion and are on sale now via Ticketmaster at 570.693.4100, through Ticketmaster outlets, online at mountainlaurelcenter.com, or by visiting MLCPA’s on-site box office. Tickets for lawn seats are $18 and go on sale Thursday, July 12 at 10a.m.
“The Laurie Berkner Band is a must-see treat for anyone who has young children,” said Richard Bryant, President and CEO of the Mountain Laurel Center. “She is one of the most popular children’s performers in the world, and her music doesn’t talk down to kids – it charms them as well as their parents. She gets children involved with the performance, and that’s an important first step in encouraging kids to grow up with a love for good music and life itself.”
Born in France to American parents, Laurie Berkner worked as a summer-camp music counselor, attended Rutgers University and began her working life as a music specialist for preschool children. As a teacher, she had a unique perspective on how to relate to young children through music. She had founded and performed in two rock bands aimed at grown-up audiences, but found composing original music a struggle – until she turned her hand to writing children’s music. Suddenly the words and music flowed freely – and she embarked on a new “side” career as a children’s musician. She created her first children’s album, Whaddya Think of That? – available on cassette tape only – in 1997, filling orders for the tapes in the living room of her Manhattan apartment. As her small side business expanded, she retained her full-time job as a preschool music teacher – but as her music grew in popularity she brought in a friend to assist her with the tape orders.
That first release was so successful that she decided to form her own independent record label, Two Tomatoes, in 1998. Word had spread about her music, and she began receiving orders for her second CD, Buzz Buzz, from toy stores and children’s specialty stores – as well as attention from major distributors. With 1999's Victor Vito, Berkner achieved national fame, appearing on the FX Network's American Baby Show and winning a Parent's Guide to Children's Media Award. Her next album, Under a Shady Tree, came out in 2002.
Berkner's intelligent yet accessible songwriting; warm, captivating vocals and infectious melodies have garnered her band frequent appearances on Jack's Big Music Show, one of the most popular series on Nickelodeon’s NOGGIN Network, a channel with an educational slant geared to preschool children. The hits kept coming, as well as a mass of awards, rave reviews and TV appearances. The band's 2006 DVD We Are...The Laurie Berkner Band – the first kids' title co-released by Starbucks – entered Billboard's Music Videos chart at #1 and went multi-platinum. Parenting Magazine wrote, "The Pied Piper of Preschool pulls together a bouncy set of her best get-up-and-dance music videos, sure to keep wee toes tapping. This critic's faves: the delightfully silly 'Pig on Her Head' and Berkner's can't-help-but-sing-along anthem, 'Victor Vito.'" Said The New York Times: “Some fans bring cigarette lighters to concerts, but at Laurie Berkner concerts, the fans bring stuffed animals and put them on their heads…a hit with the 2-to-10 set.” Time Magazine agreed: “A kind of sippy-cup Sheryl Crow, Berkner inhabits a kid’s curious perspective in her lyrics, and pens folk-pop melodies that bear repeated – very repeated – listenings.”
Today the Laurie Berkner Band tours nationally and internationally, performing everywhere from the White House to prestigious children's festivals. Berkner has also written a children's book, Victor Vito and Freddie Vasco, based on her song "Victor Vito."
Berkner’s touring band consists of herself on guitar and vocals, pianist Susie Lampert and bassist Adam Bernstein. Lampert, who has known Berkner for more than ten years, began her career as a jazz pianist and then became part of the early punk world, sharing stages with the likes of Iggy Pop and the New York Dolls before immersing herself in the Brazilian music scene. Bernstein played bass on Berkner’s first three award-winning recordings and appears with her regularly on Jack’s Big Music Show. He is jazz director at the Berkeley-Carroll School in Brooklyn, N.Y. and is on the faculty of Jazz at Lincoln Center.
MOUNTAIN LAUREL CENTER 2007 PERFORMANCE SCHEDULE
All events will be presented in the Tom Ridge Pavilion.
SATURDAY, AUGUST 4, 8 p.m.
LINDA RONSTADT
Inside reserved seating: $32-$52. Lawn seating: $22.
SATURDAY, AUGUST 11, 11 a.m.
THE LAURIE BERKNER BAND with Susie Lampert & Adam Bernstein
Inside reserved seating: $25-$35. Lawn seating: $18.
SATURDAY, AUGUST 18, 7:30 p.m.
THE ALLMAN BROTHERS BAND
BOB WEIR AND RATDOG
Inside reserved seating: $45-$65. Lawn seating: $25.
MONDAY, AUGUST 20, 8 p.m.
BOSTON POPS ESPLANADE ORCHESTRA
Keith Lockhart, Conductor
Inside reserved seating: $45-$65. Lawn seating: $25.
SATURDAY, AUGUST 25, 8 p.m.
Neil Berg’s 100 YEARS OF BROADWAY
Inside reserved seating: $25-$45. Lawn seating: $20.
Mountain Laurel Center for the Performing Arts is a nonprofit performing arts center serving the Pocono Mountains and beyond. Its principal venue, the Tom Ridge Pavilion, offers 2,500 covered seats and room under the stars for thousands more on its comfortable lawn. MLCPA is dedicated to serving the region by providing world-class artists and entertainers through an ongoing series of performances and educational programming. For additional information about the Mountain Laurel Center, please call 570-426-2080 or visit mountainlaurelcenter.com.
For ticket prices, ordering, Harry’s Club membership and general information, the public can visit www.mountainlaurelcenter.com or call 570.426.2080.
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Contact
CJ McKenna
Development Manager
Direct: 570.426.2080
Email: cmckenna@mlcpa.org
Mountain Laurel Center for the Performing Arts
Bushkill Falls Road P.O. Box 1233
Bushkill, PA 18324
Administration: 570.426.2080
Fax: 570.588.5211
mountainlaurelcenter.com
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