Beloved performer and chart-topping songwriter Tina deVaron will delight children, teachers, and parents in your school community.
Tina travels the country, singing her acclaimed music about motherhood, in her one-of-a-kind Mom’s Night Out concerts. At schools she spends a day or two “in residence,” bundling a nighttime show for parents with a set of daytime school assemblies in which she excites and enlightens kids with her lively show.
Here is a sketch of a school music residency with Tina:
1. Mom’s (and Dad’s) Night Out Concert:
An evening of original songs and comedy about the transformative journey of parenthood. A spirit-filled evening of recognition, warmth, laughter, and great rousing music!
- The perfect community builder. Concert consists of one 80-minute set of jazzy, folk-influenced originals from If Mama Ain’t Happy and Water Over Stones, including:
- "If Mama Ain’t Happy," a rollicking blues about the balancing act of parenting
- "My Heart Was the First You Stole," an ode to the grace in parental love
- "Water Over Stones," a poignant ballad about the passage of time
- "Payback Time," an edgy, jazzy meditation on our children growing into teens
- "The Girl You Might’ve Been," about raising a daughter, through a mother’s eyes
- "Mom Is Not My Real Name," a pop anthem for the moms who do it all
- Tina accompanies herself on piano and guitar, in varying musical textures and styles. If preferred, she can bring a back-up band, ranging from bass and drums to a full quintet.
2. Morning assembly for K–5:
This 60-minute concert combines music, movement, and language arts, including:
- "Walk a Mile in Your Shoes," a rousing interactive song about empathy, with a catchy melody and percussive hand-clap patterns
- "So Long, ’Bye Mom," a traveling song that teaches geography and a touch of ecology, in which Tina and the children build verses together
- An exploration of well-known songs, such as "I’ve Been Workin’ on the Railroad"
- "Turn the World Around," an uplifting favorite about world harmony
Students will be singing the songs for months afterward, and will learn to think about song lyrics in a new way.
3. Workshop/assembly for middle- or high-school students:
A presentation combining American popular-music history and song analysis, either in a small (one-hour workshop) or large (fifty-minute assembly) format.
- A thumbnail history of Tin Pan Alley
- An exploration: What makes a great popular song (a "standard") truly great? Why does it have a certain effect on us?
- Close analysis of a standard such as "Over the Rainbow" or "Brother Can You Spare a Dime?" — after listening, students talk about the elements of music writing: melody, chords, and lyrics, and then sing that standard together
- On to a contemporary song - a pop chart-topper of the past year — applying the same tools, analyzing why it works
- Explanation of copyright ownership; how do songs make money?
- Question-and-answer (as time allows)
For rates and more information, please contact:
Paul Gregg, Marketing and Sales Director
deVaron Enterprises, LLC
212-662-7660
917-868-8692
paulgregg@tinadevaron.com
Tina deVaron is in her second smash year as resident entertainer at Madeline’s Tea at the Carlyle Hotel, where she raises the 14-carat-gold roof with a scintillating combination of jazz for kids and her own warm, funny originals about motherhood. She was recently the subject of a segment on CBS TV’s Family Matters, which dubbed her “The First Mother of Songwriting” and on ABC’s Eyewitness News, where her music was called the “Perfect Mother’s Day gift — just for Mom.” A graduate of Princeton University, Tina honed her jazz-piano skills playing Cole Porter’s piano at the Waldorf. While raising her two sons, she has enjoyed chart-topping success as a songwriter and is developing a Broadway musical based on her music about motherhood. Her first CD, If Mama Ain’t Happy, was called “brilliant, funny, and wise,” by best-selling author Anne Lamott. Tina’s children’s performances and second CD, Who Loves the Children? have spread her love and astonishing knowledge of the American musical idiom to families from coast to coast. Her new release of originals, Water Over Stones, about raising teenagers, has been hailed by New York Times columnist Lisa Belkin as “the soundtrack of my life!”
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