Kirsten Lamb

Type: Performance, Residency, Remote

Art Form: Music, Early Childhood

Grade Level: Pre K-12

Kirsten Lamb is an award-winning multi-instrumentalist, vocalist, composer, and educator. Praised by the Boston Globe for her “versatility and assurance” and the Huffington Post as a “brilliant musician,” she has performed across the United States and internationally for audiences of all ages. An avid educator with experience in diverse communities, Kirsten is a frequent music class and workshop leader at universities and grade schools. With Arts for Learning MA, she performs a variety of solo and ensemble programs and has developed music curriculum to support preschoolers with early trauma at Horizons for Homeless Children. Kirsten holds a Master of Music in Contemporary Improvisation from New England Conservatory, where she was an active participant in community outreach programs and was awarded the Gunther Schuller Medal for “extraordinary contributions” to the school. She earned a Bachelor of Music in Double Bass Performance and Ethnomusicology from Oberlin Conservatory.

More About Kirsten

Kirsten Lamb is an award-winning double bassist, vocalist, and educator praised by the Huffington Post as a "brilliant young musician" and the Boston Globe for her "versatility and assurance." As a soloist, Kirsten performs original works for double bass and voice. She has debuted material at the Massachusetts State House and the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston, and The Stone in New York City. Many prominent musicians have taken note of her unique music, including Elvis Costello who hailed her song "Mirror Child" as "wonderful, extraordinary, beautiful". Also a sought-after collaborator, Kirsten has performed with a wide variety of musicians in venues such as the Kennedy Center, National Sawdust, the Rochester International Jazz Festival, and the National Women's Music Festival. She has won awards alongside ensembles at the International Jewish Music Festival, the Boston Jewish Music Festival, and the M Prize Competition.

An avid educator, Kirsten is on the Double Bass Faculty for the Wellesley Public Schools and holds weekly teaching residencies at Horizons for Homeless Children and the Brookline Early Education Program. Additionally, she is a frequent guest teaching artist and workshop leader at universities and grade schools all over the Commonwealth.

Kirsten holds a Master of Music in Contemporary Improvisation from New England Conservatory, where she was awarded the Gunther Schuller Medal upon graduation for "extraordinary contributions" to the school. She earned a Bachelor of Music in Double Bass Performance and Ethnomusicology from Oberlin Conservatory.

Programs Offered

Coyote's Song

Let's Write A Song

TESTIMONIALS

I was impressed by the children’s ability to identify songs that Kirsten played on her double bass solely by tune without hearing any of the lyrics, including "The Itsy Bitsy Spider," "The Wheels on the Bus,” and “Old MacDonald Had a Farm."

She then transitioned into her “Coyote’s Song” storytelling. It was very cool to see how she changed the music and style of playing for each character to help tell the story. She did a great job of introducing, incorporating, and reinforcing new vocabulary, including double bass, banjo, coyote, and dove. I love that she really took her time with the material — allowing children to guess the names of the instruments before sharing/explaining and making connections to other instruments they may be more familiar with (same with the animals in the story). She also provided many opportunities to check in and review the group’s understanding of the material they covered.

Kirsten left time for questions and comments at the end. Many children aptly pointed out that both instruments she played had strings! Additionally, someone raised their hand, started singing their ABCs, and got the whole room to join in by the end of it.

I made sure to give Kirsten kudos afterwards! She is a true natural. You can tell by her delivery that she’s been doing this/working with young children for a long time. I’d say that she is probably my favorite guest teacher/event programming we’ve ever had! It’s tough to get children to learn and retain new content in such a short period of time, but I feel like Kirsten successfully does that! So glad I was finally able to attend her performance.