Testimonials
Garth Noseworthy, songwriter & children's entertainer
Just Kiddin'
Prairie Music Award Winner, 2001
Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
In 2001 I gave an "Art of Performance" workshop in Edmonton at Prairie Music Week. Garth Noseworthy (of Manitoba's Just Kiddin') was there and shortly after he spontaneously e-mailed the following:
Craig and I want to thank you for your presentation at Prairie Music Week, as well as your presentation of the Prairie Music Award to us in Edmonton. You probably noticed that we did not expect to win. I wanted to tell you that you were going through my mind halfway across the stage as I did everything in contradiction to what I learned from you in the afternoon: walking the wrong way off stage; looking at my feet; and not acknowledging the audience at all! If you knew me better, you would quickly realize that this was totally out of character. Needless to say, I learned that people at the Academy Awards are truly surprised to win.
Not only was your workshop well done and extremely informative, but it hit directly home for the type of show that Just Kiddin' performs. It reinforced the basic notion that people are not just at a performance to hear the music but are there to be entertained visually and emotionally.
You conveyed a new perception of ourselves and our interaction with the audience. All too often we are so busy trying to perform to the audience that we forget to enjoy the fact that the audience is reflecting their enjoyment through their applause and we fail to take a moment just to take it in and say thank you. We will strongly suggest that Winnipeg invite you to perform Act II of your workshop for PMW 2002.
When I wrote to get his permission to post the above on my site - six years later! - he wrote back:
The letter was true the day I sent it and it stands true to this day. So many musicians are missing the larger picture that performing is much more than the song.
You sincerely made an impact on the way I look at the stage, the show and the performance. If the letter I sent can help you to convey your message to other performers please feel free to use it.
Now that I think of it, maybe I should sign up for a refresher course!
**Just Kiddin' won the 2001 Prairie Music Award for Outstanding Children's Album, and were nominated again in 2002. They've been a hot commodity in Manitoba for years now.
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