Explore "Found Sounds" with the
Arts4Kids Program in January

KINGSPORT, TN. –  “Found Sounds” enables children to explore percussion in a unique way – by using common everyday objects to create musical sounds. The Arts Council of Greater Kingsport will offer this music-oriented workshop through their Arts4Kids program in January. On Saturday, January 17, 2009, the club workshop will be held at the Kingsport Renaissance Center from 3:30-5 p.m. in room 310. “Found Sounds” will also be offered as an outreach workshop to children with the Boys & Girls Club and Kingsport Housing & Redevelopment Authority locations on Friday, January 23, during after-school hours.

Jay Oberfeitinger, an active performer and educator, will lead this fascinating workshop. Bowls, cups and glasses will become chimes and gongs, while cans are transformed into shakers and other rhythm instruments. In addition to demonstrating how percussionists and composers use everyday objects as sound sources, the workshop will also provide a hands-on experience
for the children to make their own rhythm instrument from "found" and/or recycled objects.

Mr. Oberfeitinger is a percussionist for the Knoxville Symphony, the principal percussionist for the Symphony of the Mountains, and the first-call percussionist for the Barter Theatre in Abingdon, VA. He is the owner of PineTree Music, a private teaching studio in Kingsport, TN and is the Founding Director of the Tri-Cities Homeschool Band & Orchestra. He has served as Percussion Instructor/Associate Director with the Dobyns-Bennet HS band and Orchestra, and Percussion consultant for the Tennessee HS Band and the Hamblin County Schools, TN. Currently he serves as adjunct faculty in music at Virginia Highlands Community College and Emory & Henry College. Mr. Oberfeitinger received a BSM in Orchestral performance from Duquesne University, Pittsburgh, and pursued graduate studies in Music Education at Miami University of Ohio and the University of Phoenix.

Arts4Kids, is an introductory arts club for children ages 6-12 presented by the Arts Council of Greater Kingsport. Arts4Kids club registration is $20 for the school-year program, or $5/individual workshop. The program is designed to introduce children to a variety of arts and encourage their life-long pursuit of creative endeavors. For more information or to join, visit the Arts4Kids section of our website at www.kingsportARTS.org.

The Arts4Kids program is funded under agreement with the State of Tennessee, the Tennessee Arts Commission and National Endowment for the Arts, as well as, through generous support from the Kingsport Community Foundation (a fund of the East Tennessee Foundation), Eastman Chemical Co., the Cultural Arts Division of the City of Kingsport, and other local sponsors.

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