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Band Offers Family-centered Performance

Photo provided by Jack Hartmann

Jack Hartmann and his Hop 2 It Band will give a performance designed to please both children and their parents at the Center for the Arts at River Ridge in New Port Richey this Saturday.

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By Cheryl  Bentley | The Suncoast News

Published: October 10, 2007

NEW PORT RICHEY, Fla. - NEW PORT RICHEY, Fla. - An entertainer well known in educational circles will bring his band to New Port Richey to provide both an educational and entertaining family-centered performance.

Jack Hartmann and his four-piece Hop 2 It Band will give a concert tailored to families this Saturday.

That follows this week's solo performances by Hartmann for Pasco County public school children as part of the district's student tour program.

"Knowing how popular his music is, we wanted other children who are not in the public school system to have the opportunity of hearing Jack," said Thomas J. Gale, theater director of the Center for the Arts at River Ridge, where the concert will be held.

Public-school children who attended Hartmann's performances at schools this week will also enjoy the concert, Gale noted.

With a full band, the program will be different than the ones he performed at the public schools this week.

"The other fellows from the Hop 2 It Band make it a fuller, richer experience," Gale said.

Hartmann is noted for his elementary-school curriculum-based music for children ages 3 to 8.

His songs, with their catchy beats, make learning fun for children, as many teachers can attest, said Gale.

When he threw out feelers about booking Hartmann for this year's concerts, he got an overwhelmingly positive response from teachers. Many use Hartmann's music to teach, Gale said.

His first efforts in songwriting were for adults, Hartmann said in a telephone interview from his Largo home.

That changed when, to make ends meet, the struggling young songwriter/entertainer took a job as a substitute teacher in 1981.

While subbing, he met his wife-to-be Lisa, a kindergarten teacher.

She asked him if he could write songs to help her kindergartners learn.

Hartmann replied, "I can write songs on anything."

And he does. He has penned songs on everything from the alphabet to the life cycle of insects.

He promises Saturday's performance will carry the high-energy bounce of his solo performances.

"Our music is like the Wiggles, but a little hipper," he explained, referring to the popular Australian band beloved by today's youngsters.

His ethnically diverse band members are all experts in children's music, he noted.

The Hop 2 It Band will appear at the Center for the Arts at River Ridge, 11646 Town Center Road, New Port Richey, on Saturday, Oct. 13, 2 p.m.

Tickets are $8. The box office is open Thursday, 12 to 4 p.m.; Friday, 8 a.m. to 12 p.m., and Saturday, an hour before the performance. Credit and debit cards cannot be accepted.

Call 727-774-7382 for more information or visit Hartmann's Web site.

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