Nicholas Saunders
President of Blue Lion Productions, Nick Saunders founded this company to bring educational tools to children and Quality Music to the adult public. The education products help students learn in creative and enjoyable ways with musical formats that are always connected to visual text.The "Quality Music" component consists of original music performed by numerous artists with lyrics we can hear and understand and a musical sound reminiscent of classic Rhythm and Blues.

Nick has been involved in music to some degree ever since grammar school: singing in a Rock n' Roll group, and then later in his High School choir. He played a horn in a marching and maneuvering drum and bugle corps, which led him to become a horn instructor, musical arranger and assistant drill instructor for a startup drum and bugle corps. In 1965 this group of 50-75 kids, ranging in age from ten through eighteen, won the first Long Island Circuit Marching and Maneuvering drum & bugle corps championship. In the 1970's, Nick formed his own singing group and later a band. Nick wrote and arranged much of the music and vocals. The group was signed by such producers as Paul Vance and Lee Pockriss, and by Malcolm Dodds. Nick went on to produce a major recording session.

In the late eighties Nick joined the legendary Rock n' Roll group The Cleftones, to which he still belongs. He and the original lead singer of The Cleftones formed a company called "Class Act Enterprises." One of Class Act's mandates was to honor and help the artists of the 50's - 60's genre of music who needed {omit:some sort of} financial assistance. To this end they produced four 'From The Heart' concerts, all sponsored in part by the New York Daily News, WCBS-FM, and P.C. Richard and Son. The first of these series was an extravaganza of artists from the 50's - 60's era that totaled 53 performances.

These concerts were held at the Nassau Memorial Coliseum in Uniondale, Long Island. The first show honored Richard Nader, who is credited for creating the revival of this genre of music. His wife died in a fire, and his two sons were injured, and all of their belongings were destroyed. The concert raised one hundred thousand dollars ($100,000). The concerts also honored such performers as La Vern Baker, Timi Yuro, Chubby Checker, The Cadillacs, and Bobby Lewis to name a few.

Laurie Faber
Laurie Faber has been an educator in the public school system of New York City for over 30 years, working in Harlem and the Bronx with students most of whom have had special needs. She also is an experienced singer/songwriter and actor.

Laurie received a bachelor's degree from Cornell University in Child Development. It was the second half of the 1960's and the Viet Nam war was still raging. President Johnson's administration called for a "War on Poverty" and established the National Teacher Corps. People were being trained as teachers to work in poverty areas across the United States.

Laurie took this opportunity to study, student-teach and work with community leaders in the inner-city neighborhood of North Philadelphia for the two-year master's program. She learned a great deal about the values, energy, talents and difficulties of the poor families, especially the children who struggled with daily problems. Laurie earned a Master's degree in Elementary Education at Temple University and returned to New York City with a determined commitment to work with similar children in her home town.

Laurie taught for several years on the elementary level in Harlem to students struggling in general education, then returned to the classroom at Columbia University's Teachers College. Her Master's enabled her to work in small, special classes for youngsters with severe learning and behavior difficulties. A few years later, Laurie accepted a job teaching in a Resource program where she worked with small groups of general education students identified with mild learning disabilities.

It was during this time that her fourth and fifth graders would walk into her room reciting the 'rap' style of complex rhythms and rhymes. Laurie realized quickly that there was a message. "If you can memorize all of this, why don't you know your times tables?" she asked them. She decided that by using music, rhythm and rhyme, so important and natural to all younsters, many more would want to study and learn their tables, AND be more successful.

In addition to her work in education, Laurie has been involved with music and acting from early childhood with roles in school and camp straight plays and musicals, piano lessons and choral singing. She is a self-taught ventriloquist who has entertained kids and adults. During the folk era of the 1960's, Laurie began to write songs with her rhythm guitar. She has performed popular music, folk and original tunes in New York City cabarets, in Germany and Amsterdam and in the Caribbean. During a leave from teaching, Laurie traveled across the country with a road show of "HAIR", playing the role of a love-struck member of a hippie 'tribe'.

Laurie and Nick met at a songwriting course and strengthened their relationship afterward by collaborating on original ballads and playing in a band together. They sang and played original tunes and popular songs at local special events and at elementary school assemblies. After Laurie wrote the original lyrics of the Times Table Rap, Nick wrote the music that brought the lyrics alive. They received a great deal of positive feedback from all types of kids and parents. They continued to craft their product with each one contributing to the other's strength and the Times Table Rap was completed in early 2004. They are currently planning their next educational project.

Blue Lion Productions
(727) 375-7267 • E-mail: info@bluelionproductions.com

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