Peter Korbel takes children to go 'Round the world with Rocko'
Peter Korbel narrates his story 'Round the world with Rocko', during a special children's concert at the Orchid Garden Hotel.
Roz Alia Zin
BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN
Monday, April 12, 2010
ENGAGING his audience of children and adults, Peter Korbel alternates between storytelling and playing songs on his guitar.
The tale of an adventurous rooster named "Rocko", and his journey around the world, learning children's songs from various countries could be interpreted as a take of Korbel's own personal tale.
He plucks his guitar to make various sound effects, uses several props to illustrate his story, and sets the mood with the music. The characters are brought to life when he changes his voice, and the children eagerly reply when he poses a question.
He makes alternating between the narration and the playing look effortless.
Korbel performed at a special children's concert at the Orchid Garden Hotel, on Saturday afternoon. "Round the World With Rocko" was written by Korbel himself. He was inspired with creating Rocko and his friends after having collected many childrens' songs from around the globe and had rearranged for guitar such as Jack and Jill from Great Britain, Hanschen Klein from Germany, Chulippu from Japan and even the classic Malay favourite, Burung Kakak Tua. As his collection has grown since he wrote the original story, he is now looking at writing two more stories for his title character, Rocko.
In the evening, he presented a solo recital of "Romantic Guitar". The programme included compositions from Robert Schumann, Albeniz & Villa-Lobos, which he also arranged and some of his own songs: "Bolero Balear", "Tango for (a) Rose" and three sketches which are short compositions.
Korbel has performed around the world extensively, and it was during his journeys through countries like Pakistan and The Sudan that he decided to get involved working part-time for Unicef. He is one of 1,000 professional musicians who are working for Unicef. It was while on his journeys through countries like Pakistan and The Sudan in 1998 and 1999 that he decided to become involved with the major children's organisation on a part time basis. His intention was to realise a dream of combining art (music) and charity.
Among the music genres, he calls his favourite, Korbel has a soft spot for South American music. "I love a lot of South American composers that may be unfamiliar to many people. I also enjoy folk music, as I like its very pure sound, I was very happy to be able to listen to the folk music of Sarawak while I was there."
On the current leg of his tour, he conducted concerts in Kuala Lumpur, Kota Kinabalu and Kuching. "I like coming to Brunei, though I wish I had more time here, as I would like to be able to visit the National park in Temburong," said Korbel. Despite his tight schedule, he also performed at the Panaga Club in Kuala Belait, before flying off to Melbourne.
The Brunei Times