Rachel Buckman
Rachel Buchman, nationally beloved recording artist and master teacher, grew up on Long Island. She has performed at the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC and at New York's Lincoln Center Out-of-Doors Festival. She has also appeared in Atlanta, Baltimore, Boston, Houston, New Jersey, New Orleans, New York, and throughout Texas, and has taught music to children in England, Berlin and Israel.
Her six nationally praised recordings (on Rounder Records and on A Gentle Wind), include "Hello Everybody! Playsongs and Rhymes" from a Toddler's World, winner of The American Library Association, Parents' Choice and Oppenheim Toy awards. Her Rounder release, "Song a Song of Seasons," was chosen by Sesame Street Parents Magazine as one of Six Best Recordings of 1997. Rachel's 6th album, "Shine Little Candles - Chanukah Songs for Children" was chosen for the Grammy Awards pre-nomination short list.
Ms. Buchman has received national praise for her albums in Billboard, Booklist, the Boston Globe, Chicago Tribune, Early Childhood News, the Houston Chronicle, Parenting, Sesame Street Parents, the Washington Post, Young Children, and many other publications. She has presented teacher workshops at the National Association for the Education of Young Children, the Childcare Council, the Conference on Alternatives in Jewish Education, Bureaus of Jewish Education throughout the U.S., and other organizations. Her songbook, "Jewish Holiday Songs for Children" was published in 1997 by the Mel Bay Publishing.
She has narrated for Houston's Museum of Natural Science and Children's Museum, as well as in concerts of "Animal Ditties" by Anthony Plog, "Peter and the Wolf" and "Carnival of the Animals." In April 2000, Ms. Buchman wrote and narrated the "Classic Kids Radio Show" on KUHF, 88.7 FM, Houston's National Public Radio and classical music station. In April 2002, she will be in a collaborative performance of Rudyard Kipling's "How the Whale Got His Throat," with original music by percussionist, Matt McClung.
Ms. Buchman performs for children of all backgrounds. Her experiences living overseas, and her extensive travels in the United States, have made her sensitive to the power music has to help children understand themselves and the world around them. Her performances weave together humor and history, geography and vocabulary, movement and song. Rachel irresistibly integrates an impressive music/theatre performance with her understanding of a child's heart. She brings music, which is becoming ever more commercialized, technical and over-produced, back to the singing voices and dancing bodies of children.
Ms. Buchman teaches early childhood music in the Preparatory Programs at Rice University's Shepherd School of Music, and at the Becker Early Childhood Center of Temple Emanu El. By the children she is affectionately called "Miss Rachel." She lives in Houston with her husband, Harvey Yunis, her son, and their menagerie. Their daughter is a music student in college. Ms. Buchman continues her vocal studies in the studio of Kathleen Kaun..
