Welcome to Paul Reisler's Official Site

EVER SINCE HE STARTED making up songs at the age of five, Paul has led the musical life. He's performed in thousands of concerts with his band Trapezoid and now with his new group, Paul Reisler & A Thousand Questions featuring Howard Levy. He's written thousands of songs and instrumentals. And he's inspired thousands of adults and children's to live the musical life though his songcamps and his Kid Pan Alley project.

NEWS

SUMMER 2011 SONGWRITING WORKSHOPS!
Due to Paul's intense Kid Pan Alley schedule throughout the year, Paul has cut back on his summer songwriting teaching to focus on writing a new musical. He will be teaching two workshops. As Rocky Mountain sold out around Christmas time, the only opportunity to study with him this summer will be his 8-day intensive workshop in the South of France. What could be better?

August 14-18
Rocky Mountain Song School
2011 Song School has SOLD OUT.
with Mary Gauthie, Vance Gilbert, Sarah Lee Guthrie, Johnny Irion, Anais Mitchell, Pat Pattison, Paul Reisler, Steve Seskin and Livingston Taylor
http://www.bluegrass.com/songschool/

August 25 - September 1:
LIVING THE MUSICAL LIFE
A week-long intensive songwriting workshop in the South of France.
http://www.vcca.com
More Info

FABLES: FIVE AESOP'S FABLES FOR ORCHESTRA AND NARRATOR
Aesop was one of the greatest storytellers of all-time. His fables have been entertaining and teaching people all over the world for over 2,500 years. After all that time, his stories have finally been turned into a 25-minute orchestra piece. Fables: Five Aesop's Fables for Orchestra and Narrator, composed by Art Wheeler and Paul Reisler, had its world premieres with performances in January at Charlottesville’s Martin Luther King Performing Arts Center and Maestro Lorin Maazel's Theatre House in Castleton, VA. Tom Paxton and Paul wrote the libretto.

The performances featured Ted Pugh and Jamie Bernstein, daughter of Maestro Leonard Bernstein, as the narrators. Sergei Prokofiev’s masterpiece Peter and the Wolf rounded out the program. There are a number of other orchestras interested in performing the work in the fall. Stay tuned. (more info)

KID PAN ALLEY: Want to Be Involved?
     • Donate online
     • Bring Kid Pan Alley to your community
     • Buy Kid Pan Alley CDs

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Kid Pan Alley
Paul is the founder and Artistic Director of the Kid Pan Alley children’s songwriting project. So far, he's co-written more than 600 songs with over 12,000 children and has recorded two albums of the songs. For the latest on Kid Pan Alley, go to www.kidpanalley.org. (more)

Kid Pan Alley in the News!
See Paul on NewsChannel 5 Nashville leading a group of kids through the songwriting process. Note: Thanks for being patient for the file to download. It's well worth the wait. kpa-ch5 nashville news.mpg (Also check out the KPA site here.)

Paul Reisler and A Thousand Questions
Paul's band featuring Howard Levy (Flectones), Angela Kaset, and Amy Speace has a new album of Paul's songs and instrumentals—At Night the Roses Tango. They are joined by Ysaye Barnwell (Sweet Honey in the Rock), Viktor Krauss (Lyle Lovett), John Gardner (Dixie Chicks), Kenny Malone, Fred Bogert (Trout Fishing in America) and Joe Smyth (Sawyer Brown). (more)

Trapezoid
The Washington Post called them "the finest folk group in America." Stereo Review said, "they are a reason to believe there is still real music on this continent." Trapezoid was one of America’s most popular and influential acoustic bands for over 25 years. Paul Reisler was the co-founder and leader of the band throughout that time.

In 2002, the most popular configuration of the band got back together—the 80's version with Reisler, Lorraine Duisit and Freyda Epstein.

When Long Time Down this Road was released, Sing Out Magazine said, "This retrospective CD of Trapezoid's musical travels represents the broad swath cut by this influential group—the musical innovation from one of our most creative ensembles." Their long journey down the twisting musical road ended with the tragic death of Freyda Epstein in 2004.