Lois Young has been featured on E! TV as one of the nations top singer-songwriters for children and was one of the first artists signed to the Sony children’s music label. Her CDs have won Parents’ Choice Awards and are favorites on radio shows across the country. Whether singing about birds on Sesame Street or trees in Washington D.C., for aceremony at the Capitol Building, Lois has been delighting thousands of families for over a decade. Young’s shows in L.A. were voted “Best in Children’s Theatre” by the Los Angeles Times and her large and enthusiastic following prompted the mayor to invite her to perform for over 3,000 children as part of the concert series L.A.‘s BEST. Since moving to her home state of Delaware, Lois has performed at hundreds of venues such as the Grand Opera House in Wilmington for all the Reading is Fundamental (RIF) graduates in the Christina School District and has been featured in Reading Today, for her excellence in children’s educational programs. She has also been featured on the cover of Crossroads in The Wilmington News Journal for her popular family concerts. She was chosen by the Delaware Division of Libraries to perform for every library in the state, funded in part by the National Endowment for the Arts. Her ongoing series of monthly themed shows at the Newark New Century Club Theater have received rave reviews and attract families from as far as New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Maryland. Having studied singing and composition at Manhattan School of Music and theatre arts at the famed Neighborhood School of Acting in NYC, she brings years of experience as an actress and singer in NY theatre, voiceovers and TV to her highly professional productions. Her whimsical shows and irresistible songs introduce children to a musical world that sparkles with originality and imagination.
www. LoisYoung.com - (302) - 456 - 9227
Lois Young’s career as a children’s composer, recording artist,
and puppeteer was launched over a decade ago when she first began writing
and performing songs for her young daughter Amy. From that inauspicious
beginning, a career was born that now includes award-winning albums, concert
performances, and theater productions complete with life-size puppets.
Lois is a classically trained singer and actress who was an opera major at Manhattan School of Music and studied acting with Sanford Meisner at the famed N.Y. Neighborhood Playhouse. She performed extensively in New York theater, touring companies, TV shows in L.A., and in over 50 national commercials before becoming a parent and discovering her talent for relating to children. “I had finally found my audience,” explains Lois. “It began with Amy, my deep love for children, and my ability to see the world through their eyes. I also began to take my experiences as a parent and make them creative.”
Lois continued to work as an actress so that she could finance her first album of original songs, and with its success, she was soon able to devote herself full time to what had, by then, become her dream. “I knew I had found my calling, and I was doing something meaningful in life,” adds Lois. “I knew it was up to me to make it happen.”
Drawing
on her theatrical experience, Lois decided to transform some of her most
popular tunes into a musical review. She wove a storyline around her most
theatrical songs, created lots of audience participation and added a supporting
cast of large animated puppets who help Lois sing some of the songs (thanks
to Lois’ mastery as a puppeteer and ventriloquist). The result was
a humorous and captivating hour of delightful music and non-stop fun.
Lois has produced two critically acclaimed children's theater productions,
including “The Lois Young Show”, which was voted the “Best
in Children’s Theater” by the Los Angeles Times in their annual
Retrospective of the Arts. Her following was so large and enthusiastic,
it prompted the Mayor to invite her to perform for three thousand school
children as part of LA’s BEST. Many children and parents also know
her from the popular Good Housekeeping Christmas Video, “Rockin'
Reindeer”, and with 3 albums of original songs to her credit, she
was one of six well-known artists chosen to launch the original Sony Kids
Music label.
Lois and her husband, keyboardist, composer and arranger, John Southard, launched their own company, Lois Young Childrens Productions, and have produced three CDs, Dinosaur Diner and Pancake Party, and their brand new release Jellybean Soup. “When I write, I try to get into children's hearts and heads and experience the world the way they do,” explains Lois. Many of her topics reveal just that. The sixteen songs on Pancake Party depict a child's world from a child's perspective, including runny noses and where to wipe them, not being able to fall asleep at night, and temper tantrums. The fourteen new songs on Dinosaur Diner also express the joys and dilemmas of childhood from getting new shoes to handling a melting ice cream cone. The seventeen songs on Jelly Bean Soup speak to many topics from diversity, friendship and courage and bullying to the rainforest, our oceans, planting gardens, the constellations and learning the twelve months of the year. All threeThe seventeen songs on Jelly Bean Soup speak to many topics from diversity, friendship and courage and bullying to the rainforest, our oceans, planting gardens, the constellations and learning the twelve months of the year. All three albums feature an exciting variety of musical styles from pop, rock, jazz and Broadway to tender, heartwarming ballads.
Lois
continues to bring a unique theatricality to her high energy, interactive
live concerts. Over the years she has performed for thousands
of children, and her commitment to educating, inspiring, and entertaining
young audiences has never wavered. Her whimsical imagination, ability
to sing in different styles and character voices, infectious laugh and
unguarded honesty break down the barriers between child and adult. Parents
and grandparents delight in her lovely singing voice and the true to life
experiences her lyrics detail. Lessons about intangibles, such as sharing,
cooperation, appreciation, and consideration are subtly and creatively
conveyed through her encounters with each puppet and within her songs.
Lois and her family now reside in her home town of Newark, Delaware, surrounded by the beautiful University of DE campus where her husband John teaches jazz. Amy now has a brother named Matthew who is a source of inspiration to them all. Both Amy and Matthew help mom at her concerts and have sung in the kids chorus on her albums. Lois is forging full speed ahead with her career and is already into production of a new album and an in-concert video. “Working with John is a joy,” adds Lois. “Once I’ve written a song, I now enjoy being involved in every aspect of production and having the end result perfectly reflect our joint vision.” Speaking from their living room full of books, paintings, folk art, flowers, puppets and various scattered toys, Lois explains, “The risks of following your heart are great, but so are the rewards.”
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