Brien Engel — Glass Harp

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• About the Artist:

  At the heart of Brien Engel’s performance is the rare and beguiling Glass Harp: a collection of stemware which he brings to musical life with wet fingers and friction. In the early 90s, he fell in love with this magical art form and built his first glass instrument.

  He first developed this acclaimed program with the Young Audiences network in several chapters around the U.S. In addition to K-12 settings, he plays for seniors, science clubs, and other niche audiences. His resume includes appearances on HBO and ABC television, and numerous festival, corporate, and international events in Germany, Singapore, Hong Kong, Dubai, and Kuwait.

  He’s played at the Waxahachie (TX) Chautauqua on the same bill with oceanographer Fabien Cousteau, at Silver Dollar City (MO), the Ventura, Sonoma, Napa County (CA) fairs, Atlanta Botanical Garden, Georgia Aquarium, High Museum, Corning Museum of Glass, Louisville Glassworks, and the D.A.R. (Washington DC), to name a few notable locations in the U.S.

  Category:

  • Music

  Type of Programs Offered

  • workshop
  • auditorium
• • Glass Harp

    Description:
    

    This is a classic educational assembly concert/demonstration featuring Glass Harp, with other improvised musical instruments using bottles, bowls, rubber band boxes, musical saw, and other materials. Equal time is devoted to demonstrating standards-based sound physics in a musical setting, for K-8 students broadly, and especially for elementary classes taking sound units.

    Histories of glass, stemware, glass music, and of other improvised music of Asia, Africa, and South America are detailed for Social Studies value. An additional segment details Benjamin Franklin’s Glass Armonica, both for historical background and for its clever engineering, with performance on a small version of the instrument.

    Interwoven throughout the performance are several lively participatory segments involving students and teachers.

    In advance, teachers are sent links to Brien's documentary, "The Glass Harp and other Musical Oddities," along with a study guide, and optional classroom activities (this year, “Build a Wave Machine Workshop” and/or “Build a Classroom Jal Tarang” water-tuned instrument).

    The instructional goal is to pull students into a world of musical instrument creation from household objects, with the Glass Harp as a centerpiece example-- and to provide captivating demonstrations of sound physics aligned with units being taught in the classroom, with live student and teacher involvement. In-progress assessment involves confirming recognition of cross-curricular vocabulary, the difference between a fun “magic trick” and the scientifically provable (and the fun in that too), as well as assessing audience skills during student and teacher participation, and sing-along moments.
    Above all, this is a magical art form. Live engagement takes special meaning now, as societally, we engage in an ever-noisier and distracting copy-paste digital world. This program aims to bring the real and authentic world alive through unique, sparkly chimes of singing glass, to keep us engaged-- designing, tinkering, and falling in love with the organization of sound and music in the air.

    Appropriate Grade Levels:
    K-12

    Curriculum Connections
    

    MD NGSS 1-PS4-1: Plan and conduct investigations to provide evidence that vibrating materials can make sound and that sound can make materials vibrate.
    MD NGSS 4-PS3-2: Make observations to provide evidence that energy can be transferred from place to place by sound, light, heat, and electric currents.
    MD MUSIC I:3-5:1: Conceptualize and generate musical ideas for an artistic purpose and context, using appropriate technology as available.

    This program is offered as:

    • workshop
    • auditorium
  • Booking Details

    Program Costs:
    

    All travel included.
    One Performance: $580.00
    Two Performances, same day/school: $850.00
    Three Performances, same day/school: $1120.00
    Four Performances, same day/school: $1400.00

    Travel requirements or restrictions:
    

    A minimum of two days worth of performances (or three performances) are required in Anne Arundel County for travel originating from Atlanta, GA. Discounts will be considered if Brien is already in the region.

• Artist's featured work:

  

  

  

  

  Artist's videos:
• Name or Art Agency:
  Brien Engel
  Email:
  [email protected]
  Phone:
  (404) 633-9322
  State / County:
  Require at least two full days of bookings (minimum two schools each booking two back-to-back, or more) to commit to a tour, as artist is based in Atlanta, Ga.

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