Clowning Around With The NZSO And Melvin Tix

28 August 2006

Clowning Around With The NZSO And Melvin Tix

The New Zealand Symphony Orchestra presents a conducting, brass-playing, balloon-making genius, the musical clown, Melvin Tix, who will perform a series of family and school concerts in three lower North Island concerts this September.

Tix, a former horn player with the Stravanger Symphony Orchestra (Norway) uses humour as well as musical skill to introduce young people to the orchestra with well known favourites like Strauss's Radetsky March and his own Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra. He describes his own first music lesson as "Terrible. I started to play alto horn in a wind orchestra and the first sounds that I produced were really, really bad." But now he enjoys his performances, 'I am lucky because I am a clown and therefore do not have embarrassing moments on stage. "

"There was never a dull moment....even the smallest youngsters displayed a degree of involvement that was a compliment to the sheer hypnotic genius of Tix....Incidentally his ability to produce the most amazing objects from an endless series of balloons was unbelievable..." Belfast Telegraph Tix compares the experience of performing live as a clown as 'like playing an instrument. I use the audience as my instrument.

For me it is the contact between me and the children in the hall. Children are very "live" and I never know what is going to happen. Petter Vabog developed the musical clown character, Melvin Tix, in 1981 and during the last 21 years he has become regarded as one of the leading children's performers in Norway and other European countries. Melvin Tix is the conductor, the master of ceremonies, the soloist and has also made the arrangements of the music. The concerts are a mix of music, magic, juggling and balloon sculptures - the main idea is to give the children a joyful first meeting with a live orchestra. He last appeared with the NZSO in 2003.

These concerts are suitable for children aged 3 to 12 and will be performed in Wellington, Kapiti Coast and Masterton.

After 12 years as a professional French Horn player, Petter Vabog left the Stavanger Symphony Orchestra in 1988 and began clowning full time. Working with symphony orchestras in many countries, he has now done over a thousand children´s concerts, school concerts and family concerts in Norway, Sweden, Finland, Denmark, Iceland, England, Northern Ireland and New Zealand.

PROGRAMME The NZSO and Melvin Tix introduce young people to the orchestra with well known favourites like Strauss's Radetsky March and his own Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra. Thursday 14 September at 6.30am MUSEUM THEATRE SOUTHWARD Friday 15 September at 12.30pm TOWN HALL MASTERTON Saturday 16 September at 11.00am Michael Fowler Centre WELLINGTON

Adult $15.00 Child $8 Family (2 Adults, up to 4 Children $40.00)

BOOK AT TICKETEK and TicketDirect for Kapiti Coast or NZSO Client Services on 0800 479 674 FOR FURTHER INFORMATION, PICTURES OR INTERVIEWS PLEASE CONTACT Hannah Evans on 04 801 3833/ 025 300680

ENDS

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