SKATING MUSICIAN ON ICE - A FIRST!

At the recent Holiday Dreams on Ice show, at the Oxnard Ice Skating Center, one of the performers played a small electronic theater organ mounted on a carousel. This has never been done before. Craig Zobelein convinced the directors that he could pull off the number by connecting his Roland Atelier to a large battery so the carousel could be pushed around the ice rink by three skaters while he played Runaway Merry-Go-Round, his own composition. When the carousel horses ran away with their riders, Craig jumped off and skated after them while the music continued by playback. With the horses and riders safely returned, he climbed back on the carousel and played live music again, ending with his own arrangement of Jingle Bells.

For at least a year, Craig had dreamed about wanting to do this number. He contacted ice show professionals to ask how it could be done. Nobody knew. So, he figured it out himself by doing the following:

•constructed a sturdy wooden carousel, mounted on 12 plastic wheels to distribute the 800 pounds of weight and prevent divets in the ice

• bought a heavy-duty computer backup battery

• had an artist friend design, cut out and paint 3 wooden carousel horses

• attached Velcro strips to the posts so the horses could be pulled off and replaced

• had a local seamstress make a canopy

• added strings of LED lights for decoration, also plugged into the battery

• practiced playing the organ foot pedals with his ice skates on! (Definitely a first.) Not only was it difficult to hit the right notes with skates and guards on, it required much more strength to lift his feet - a real workout for a senior citizen!

To our knowledge, this is the first time a portable, moving set has been used for playing live electronic music in an ice show.

So, Craig thanks his ice skating coaches and directors, Terry Tonius and Cathy O'Donnell, for agreeing to this crazy, untried scheme, and producers Janene Wasserman and Diane Aucutt for approving it. IT WORKED! It was fun. The audience loved it. It was just a small part of a truly wonderful community ice skating show, but for Craig it was literally a Dream on Ice come true.