Martin Swinger: What People Say...

...As I told you at the time, the program was thoroughly enjoyed by all the primary staff and students. I personally enjoyed your classroom presentation immensley. You clearly have a gift for working with young children...

We really appreciate you - your solid competence and collaborative nature. Anne

As the project coordinator I appreciated Martin's promptness each day, his flexibility in molding his process to our requests and schedule, his rapport with both staff and students (he even ate lunch in the cafeteria with the students each day) and the quality of the product with which we were left. His is an especially good offering for small schools in which there's a strong sense of family/community but not a lot of exposure to the arts. Martin's style is warm and folksy. His skills provide both a wonderful introduction to songwriting and a solid foundation upon which to build future music/poetry/rhythm programming.

I was delighted to see how kindergarten students became enthusiastic as they integrate learnings of phonological keys with a class song. The third graders were so pleased when they used their vocabulary words to design their song about weather. I watched my first graders become confident as they brainstormed and then problem solved which words were best for their song.
...this was all because of Martin Swinger's expertise...
Thank you for helping our children build their self-esteem, gain new knowledge and be successful.

Dear Martin, I have enjoyed learning your songs. If I were a teacher and I had to grade you it would be an A + ! I love all your songs! From, Janelle

"The kids absolutely loved working with you and your session has come up repeatedly as one of the big highlights of the weekend. I knew that you would be great just because you're such a fun and dynamic performer, but I am still amazed at what a truly snug fit your workshop was for our program."

"If there was a Grammy Music Award given for best Artist in Residence the children of Southport Central School would overwhelmingly vote for Martin Swinger. Swinger integrated music into the students' lessons in classes such as Spainish, biology and English and made learning both fun and meaningful as a result. The childrens' enthusiasm for the music and fondness for Swinger was clearly in evidence with thier robust participation and insatiable appetite for more songs."

MOCKINGBIRD:
“This is a great CD for entire families to enjoy together. Martin Swinger's rhythms are wonderfully dance-able, and his lyrics are honest and joyful. Kids will love his straightforward delivery, adults will love his ability to transport any listener back to his or her own childhood. Adults be warned: you will be playing this CD for yourself long after the kids have gone to bed!”

Coney Island Lullaby is my favorite. This morning I played it for myself, by myself, with my child not in the house even,,,,, kind of like a secret treasure you are.
You brighten our day every day we listen to you, which is often, and usually in the kitchen when we're cooking or eating or dancing with the lights out. We live on 40 acres so no one knows how silly we can be, which sometimes is a wonderful thing~

Mary

Dear Martin,

WE LOVE YOUR MUSIC! My four-year-old has been hooked since the first track
of "Mockingbird" and we've all been listening ever since.... Dancing Shoes
and Louisiana Hot Sauce are bopping around favorites in our house and I
could listen to Uncle Hubert all day, despite the fact that it makes me weep
(the happy kind, of course).

With appreciation, Gabrielle