About Timbalooloo
Timbalooloo is an innovative play-based approach to teaching music inspired by the way children learn languages fluently at a young age. Instruments come to life as characters and children learn to express themselves by making their instruments come alive and talk, linking rhythms and melodies to spoken word. We draw on music of great masters from cultures around the world, from Herbie Hancock to Jobim, Mozart to Babatunde Olatunji. We strive to empower a new generation to become as fluent in the language of music as they are in their mother tongue and to experience the beauty in other cultures with a sense of curiosity, sharing and creativity.
Through our highly trained Timbalooloo teaching artists, we offer classes through various partner schools and community organizations. Timbalooloo is based in New York but is active internationally. We tour Timbalooloo live concerts at major venues worldwide (from Kennedy Center to Istanbul Jazz Fest, North Sea Jazz to Shanghai Theater). We have also begun licensing the method and providing teacher training to partners worldwide so they can spread the joy of Timbalooloo to their communities. Our partners in Prague, Mladi Ladi Detem, have 14 trained Timbalooloo teaching artists and reached over 5,000 children in schools throughout Czech Republic last year! In California we have partnered with San Jose Jazz, training the teaching artists in their Progressions program. And our partnership with Herbie Hancock Institute and UNESCO has reached thousands of children worldwide through online classes.
About Timbalooloo Founder Oran Etkin
Widely regarded as one of the top clarinetists and composers of his generation, Etkin was recently voted #1 rising star clarinetist in DownBeat Magazine’s Critic’s Poll, regularly performs at major jazz festivals internationally and has recorded on numerous albums including a GRAMMY Award Winning compilation.
His passion for music started early and by the age of nine he was playing piano, guitar, violin and saxophone. After falling in love with the music of Louis Armstrong, Etkin’s parents took him to visit New Orleans where the legendary Anthony “Tuba Fats” Lacen briefly took the young Etkin under his wing. Etkin’s passion for teaching springs from his gratitude to the teachers and mentors who shared the gift of music with him, including jazz masters such as Dave Liebman and Yusef Lateef, classical icons like Charles Neidich, Klezmer innovators such as Dave Krakauer and griot musicians from West Africa. As a touring musician, Etkin continues to work with traditional masters from many cultures, each of whom give him a fresh perspective on how to nurture a deep love and intuitive understanding of music in children. As Etkin tours the world, he gathers melodies, rhythms, stories and songs that he then shares with the Timbalooloo students and audiences, helping to connect children from diverse cultures through music.
