Workshops/Concerts
I thought you may be interested in having this performer come to your school.
Alan is an absolutely fabulous performer - high-energy and keeps everyone focused - plays boogie woogie piano, violin, acoustic guitar, electric slide guitar and sings. A one-man show - I first heard him at Stan Rogers - he's well worth the money. He's doing some schools in Antigonish and he's been booked in our area with Dave Pos, Al Sutherland, Andrew Alcorn and Mike Washburn. In general, the idea of his workshop is to demystify the skill of learning how to play music and compose your own songs, focusing more on intuition than lessons. Alan has been equally inspirational for young elementary students, university music majors along with the teachers and administrators of the various educational facilities.
He has appeared with Bob Dylan, Janis Joplin, BB King, Jefferson Airplane, Traffic, Jimi Hendrix, Steppenwolf, John Lee Hooker, Jeff Beck and many others. For more info check these sites.
There is a Facebook Page called:
ALAN GERBER LIVE PERFORMANCE
*****
Mr. Alan Gerber,
Wow, that was fun! Our students and staff absolutely loved your concert. Your enthusiasm is contagious and the talent you possess is very impressive. Students form grade primary to five attended the concert and you were able to entertain each and every one of them. You also had the attention of every staff member. We even had a bus driver come in from outside to see where the awesome music was coming from. You were like the Pied Piper. Our students were so into your show that they spontaneously broke into dance. We were so fortunate to have you come perform for us and provide a real life example of the Blues. We are surrounded by POP culture and your style of music was so refreshing, which doesn’t seem to make sense because the blues has been around for so long. 100% of the audience thoroughly enjoyed listening to you and certainly left us wanting more. Thank you so much for your performance.
Students and Staff @ Scotsburn Elementary
Trenton Elementary School
PO Box 356
Trenton, NS B0K 1X0
Principal: Mr. Tim Teiman
*****
To Whom It May Concern:
Recently during the month of September, our school booked a musical performance with noted Blues Musician Alan Gerber. Mr. Gerber arrived early for his presentation and had his equipment all set up and finely tuned well in advance of his performance.
During his hour long musical presentation, our students were entertained with piano, fiddle, guitar and voice to a wonderful selection of tunes all performed by Alan Gerber. Our students were thrilled with his sense of humor and his choice of songs. Mr. Gerber interacted well with our Primary-Grade 4 students and had them clapping and singing along to a variety of his songs.
I have had the opportunity to enjoy and see many musicians perform at our school over the years and Mr. Gerber lived up to his advance billing. His skill, talent and the way he engaged our students was delightful to watch and enjoy. He is multi -talented and his performance would be appreciated by any age group.
I would recommend this musician to any school.
Sincerely,
Tim Teiman
*****
Dear Alan,
November 22, 2011
Thank you so much for the amazing workshop and performance at Kenner Intermediate. The students who participated in the workshop were delighted at the opportunity to sing with you. The students were mesmerised by your performance and inspired by your use of the different instruments. They enjoyed the different stories you told and the other day, during one of my guitar classes a few students broke out into “Fishing Again”. It says a lot to your credit for grade 8 boys to break out into song in front of their peers.
The students at your performance all had huge smiles on their faces and were singing along.
Thank you for sharing your joy and passion for music with our school.
Jessica Rustage-Johnston
Instrumental Music Teacher
Kenner Collegiate Intermediate division
Peterborough Ontario
*****
Subject: RE: school presentation
From: Brent.Bannerman
Date: Wed, 5 Oct 2011 09:51:22 -0300
Alan Gerber presented an impressive "one-man" show for a Grade 11-12 school presentation.
This talented vocalist and multi-instrumentalist presented a wide range of musical styles from his impressive repertoire of original songs and thoroughly entertained and perked the interest of our student body.
All present were impressed with this seasoned performer and Alan kept all amused with his humorous song set-ups and his rapport with the students.
I strongly recommend Alan Gerber for school performances of all ages and levels and I would enjoy a repeat performance.
Brent Bannerman
Band/Music Teacher
Dr. J.H. Gillis Regional High School
*****
October 10, 2011
Hello Alan,
Thanks so much for your recent performance at our school. Our students speak of it often, they were so impressed with your command of the piano, guitar, violin and of course your voice. We were amazed at how you kept the flow from one tune to the next while adding informative commentary between each song. This was not only a great music history lesson but a tribute to the musicians who crafted rock and roll over the years. Our new grand piano was well broken in during your high energy performance as well! I know our up and coming student musicians were inspired by the whole show.
The students in my sound tech class learned so much from you as well during the sound check and performance. We had a discussion in class the following day and students commented on how much they learned about mic technique, proper monitoring, reverb, and the proper balancing of instruments and voice. They now realize the importance of all the aspects of a performance. It is one thing for me to talk about these things in class, but it really hits home when a seasoned pro comes on stage and directs us through the proper steps here.
I hope you enjoyed performing at North Nova Education Centre as much as we enjoyed having you here, hopefully we can have a repeat performance some time in the future.
Andrew and Janice Alcorn
Music teachers
North Nova Education Centre
New Glasgow, NS
*****
West Pictou Consolidated School
RR#2 Pictou, Nova Scotia
B0K 1H0
October 3rd, 2011
To Whom It May Concern:
Our school had Alan Gerber in to perform on September 16th, 2011. Alan arrived early and had everything set up independently well ahead of the specified performance time.
He performed for Band students from two schools (our own & another neighboring school). Our Grade 6s also attended, totaling approximately 120 students.
Alan gave an engaging performance that the students enjoyed very much. He explained the various instruments, gave demonstrations, and encouraged students to pursue their musical interests. His musicianship was superb, and students got to see first hand what a professional musician looks and sounds like. Students were engaged and entertained throughout the 45 minute performance.
All in all, it was a very positive experience for our school.
Sincerely,
Dr. Chris Boulter
Principal
*****
Boogieing at Ste. Agathe Academy !!
ON Feb 7th, Alan Gerber (bluesman, musician, vocalist , songwriter and performer) took over the gym and energized a crowd of Grade 5 through Sec 5 students with his unique showmanship. The genre ranged from blues and boogie-woogie to ballad, styles of music not found on the average teen’s Ipod, yet the response was overwhelmingly positive. Students were invited to try out instruments, were shown innovative ways that instruments can be played and Gerber demonstrated his musical expertise through fiddle, guitar, keyboard and most of all, his bluesy, high-energy voice . The audience, completely caught up in the vibe, tapped, clapped, hopped and sang to the music .
Alan was joined onstage by his daughter |Hannah, a sec 4 student who just happens to be a musician, songwriter and vocalist of professional calibre. Their musical styles blended perfectly….just another great dimension to the show!
Quotes by some students after the show, “amazing”, “awesome”,”crazy-cool” , “didn’t know I’d like this stuff”, “can he come back?”
By Janet Vekteris
Art Department/Ste. Agathe Academy
Ste.-Agathe-Des-Monts, QC
He is available to do school concerts while he is in the area for a very reasonable rate. If you are interested, get in touch with Alan directly at wamp99@hotmail.com
