KITTYKO RADIO #2: CHRISTMAS PODCAST
FEATURING:
Tygen, Co-host & Guest Musician
Co-host Tygen is guy of many talents--including guitar! He is in 6th grade and also practices taekwondo. Tygen has learned quite a few styles of guitar playing since beginning lessons. He is also a great narrator and co-host! Tygen shares Good King Wenceslas with us on Kittyko Radio.
Bryson
Bryson has been playing guitar for several years. He is no stranger to public performance and often puts his own touches on classic pieces, such as his "old man" character when he performed This Old Man on vocals and guitar. Bryson plays everything from classical compositions to traditional folk songs. He is in fourth grade.
Morgan
Morgan is in 7th grade. She composes music and also enjoys sports. This is Morgan's second appearance on Kittyko Radio. Her first recording can be heard on Kittyko Radio #1, where she shared an original composition. She has also performed live with Kittyko at community events. Morgan plays Silent Night on our episode.
Teddy
Teddy has enjoyed playing music since he was very young. He studied violin and has also performed with his family. In addition to being a multi-instrumentalist, Teddy is a singer--and he enjoys sports, too. Teddy recorded songs for his family for Christmas last year. He recorded Bring A Torch, Jeanette Isabella on piano for our episode.
Hope
Hope has been playing piano for only about a year but was brave and shared Jolly Old St. Nicholas with us. Recording can be pretty demanding, but she rose to the challenge and did a great job. Hope is in third grade, and she also loves animals. She recently got a new puppy!
Annelise, Student Spotlight
Annelise is a very talented musician! We visit with her in our Student Spotlight segment, which features music and interviews with outstanding young musicians in our community. Listen for Annelise's rendition of Arkansas Traveler, where she plays all the instruments in the recording. We achieved this by adding multiple tracks, one at a time. She is also a fabulous recording engineer; she mixed most of her own tracks. Annelise also shares with us what inspires her musically and how she manages to keep music in her busy life. You may even catch her in some live performances around town, where she plays both at school events and in our community with her family.
Annabelle
Annabelle (a third grader) is a multi-instrumentalist and vocalist who already has a long list of venues and events where she has performed. From churches to state historic sites, Annabelle continues to bring her talents to appreciative crowds. She shares with us Angels We Have Heard on High, complete with her own multi-layered vocal tracks, which she thought of on her own during production. She also sings and plays on the theme song for the Kittyko and Friends TV program, Friends Are Everywhere.
Eva
Eva is a singer and multi-instrumentalist--with a great sense of humor! From writing songs to puppeteering, Eva brings an extra spark of life to everything she does. She is in third grade and shares a fun rendition of Jingle Bells...with a special appearance from Santa Claus!
Lucas Rutten
You can listen to or download Lucas' music here:
https://intervalemusic.bandcamp.com/releases
Lucas began music lessons on piano with Kittyko when he was 5 years old! After a break of a few years, he returned for guitar lessons when he was a teenager. Throughout his life, Lucas has been involved with music on many levels, both personally and professionally. Lucas is now in his mid-twenties; his bio from the Fargo Moorhead Community Theatre webpage (where he is the general manager) tells us a bit more about his professional music-related experience:
Lucas holds a Bachelor of Music degree in music industry from Minnesota State University Moorhead. His experience includes four years as Assistant Director of Theatre at West Fargo High School and Sheyenne High School, lead audio technician and sound designer with the Straw Hat Players, as well as many performing credits in North Dakota and Minnesota.
Kittyko
Kittyko (Kris Kitko) is a licensed teacher, composer, and performer. She holds a master's degree in instructional design and technology. She has taught in schools in Florida, Colorado, Chicago, and North Dakota and has offered music lessons and tutoring for over 25 years. Kittyko believes that we all have music inside us and that it's fun to share musical experiences with each other. She developed the Kittyko Radio podcast to offer her students an opportunity to participate in a unique media experience that includes pre-production activities such as rehearsal/practice and composing, production activities such as recording vocals and acoustic or digital instruments, and post-production such as editing audio files. She also would like others to get a chance to hear these wonderful musicians. She performs in schools and at community events, and her curriculum materials and CDs are used in schools around the country. Visit her at kittyko.com and sign up for her newsletter.