Keith Torgan & Barbara Siesel
Performance: 2pm, 25 Whitetail Road, Irvington
Original Cabaret: Musical Storytelling
Keith Torgan – songwriter, singer, guitarist, storyteller; Barbara Siesel – flautist, storyteller
Keith Torgan is a multi-disciplinary artist with over 20 years of experience in children’s music. As a singer, songwriter, guitarist, actor, author, teacher, storyteller, and visual artist, Keith has delighted audiences at theaters, cabarets, universities, museums, schools, and libraries across the United States and worldwide. He has composed scores for productions like The Tempest and Ring Round the Moon at the Williamstown Theater Festival. Keith’s solo cabaret performances have graced renowned New York venues such as The Knitting Factory, Don’t Tell Mama, and Green Room 42.
In addition to his musical endeavors, Keith was the founder and songwriter for the group “Morgan, Torgan & Teri.” He has served as a guest performer and writer for BMG’s “Early Ears” series and composed lyrics and music for the Simply Elementary flagship program, “There’s Always a Dragon to Slay.” Keith has written hundreds of songs and authored all the Green Golly stories, including the award-winning Green Golly & Her Golden Flute, which received the Parents’ Choice Gold Award and Family Choice Award.
Keith’s passion for teaching and sharing his expertise has led him to conduct workshops and teach at New York University, the College of St. Rose, the Boston Flute Academy, and the San Francisco International Flute Festival in the United States. Keith has also led workshops at the China Conservatory of Music in Beijing, the Northwest University for Nationalities and the Northwest Normal University in Lanzhou, and Hannover University for Music, Theater, and Media in Germany.
Barbara Siesel is an accomplished flutist, educator, producer, and entrepreneur. Her journey towards flute mastery has been a profound and spiritual one. As the co-founder of the award-winning organization Green Golly, Barbara is dedicated to introducing children to classical music through live interdisciplinary performances, curricula, books, sheet music, flutes, and meaningful education. Green Golly has established partnerships with esteemed institutions such as The Ravinia Festival and Midori and Friends.
Barbara has showcased her flute expertise as a soloist in prestigious venues across the globe, including China, Korea, Spain, Japan, Taiwan, Russia, and the United States. She has also conducted master classes in China, Russia, Germany, Istanbul, and Korea. Barbara served as a flute professor and director of woodwinds and the contemporary ensemble at The New World School of the Arts in Miami and Colby College in Maine. In addition, she has lectured on entrepreneurship at The Juilliard School and NYU, while participating in flute festivals worldwide.
As a pioneering artist and producer, Barbara co-founded ACT (Art Culture & Technology), an organization focused on assisting artists in utilizing new technology for performance and production. Through ACT, she commissioned and produced new works that combined composition, performance, and visual arts, resulting in performances throughout the United States, some of which are now part of the MOMA Library collection. Barbara also served as the Artistic Director and Co-founder of the Storm King Music Festival, which showcased composers at the intersection of new music and technology, featuring 60 composers over five years.
Barbara’s contributions extend to the realm of music journalism as a founding editor of The Flute View online magazine. This publication aims to support flutists in navigating the evolving music industry through articles, interviews, reviews, podcasts, and more.
Throughout her career, Barbara has received grants and awards from esteemed organizations such as the NEA, NYSCA, Ars Veritas Foundation, Aaron Copland Fund for Music, and Edward Cone Foundation. She was also honored with the 2015 “Deserving Person Award” from the Dr. David Milch Foundation. Her books and CDs have earned recognition, including a Parent’s Choice Gold Award and a Family Choice Award, and her music editions are published by the Theodore Presser Company.
Barbara Siesel holds BM and MM degrees from The Juilliard School, where she honed her craft. Ms. Siesel’s most recent tour included recitals and master classes in Chicago (in collaboration with Ravinia), Beijing (China), Hannover (Germany), and Istanbul (Turkey).
