From its extraction through sale, use and disposal, all the stuff in our lives affects communities at home and abroad, yet most of this is hidden from view. The Story of Stuff is a 20-minute, fast-paced, fact-filled look at the underside of our production and consumption patterns. The Story of Stuff exposes the connections between a huge number of environmental and social issues, and calls us together to create a more sustainable and just world. It'll teach you something, it'll make you laugh, and it just may change the way you look at all the stuff in your life forever.
A classical quartet gets the prime spot between the swearing-in of Vice President-elect Joseph Biden and that of President-elect Barack Obama on Tuesday. And along the way, a 56-year-old musical injustice will be rectified. Two of the nation's most familiar classical artists -- cellist Yo-Yo Ma and violinist Itzhak Perlman -- will be joined by Metropolitan Opera clarinetist Anthony McGill and Venezuelan pianist Gabriela Montero in performing a new piece by composer John Williams.
(Mr. Williams has composed many of the most famous film scores in history, including the Indiana Jones series, Star Wars, Superman, Born on the Fourth of July and Harry Potter. )
It's called "Air and Simple Gifts," the centerpiece of which will be "an exuberant rendering," in Williams' words, of traditional Shaker hymn "The Gift to Be Simple," which Aaron Copland made famous in his 1944 ballet "Appalachian Spring."
Williams surrounds "Simple Gifts," as the tune is also called, with an original, hymn-like theme.
The president-elect asked Perlman and Ma to perform, and they in turn called Williams -- a frequent collaborator with both artists -- "to help them prepare something to play." Ma chose the other two performers, Williams told Daily Variety.
Knowing of Obama's appreciation for Copland, they chose the Shaker hymn, which Williams arranged for this unusual quartet, and then composed "a reflective and prayerful theme" as musical bookends.
Since Ma was in L.A. last week to perform with the Philharmonic, he visited Williams on Saturday to run through the piece. The quartet played it for the first time on Tuesday in New York and will rehearse again and record it with Williams on Sunday. Chamber groups are not usually "conducted," so Williams will not be seen on Tuesday (although he said he may attend as part of the crowd).
In January 1953, Copland's "Lincoln Portrait" was scheduled to be performed at Dwight Eisenhower's inaugural concert but was banned at the last minute when an Illinois congressman complained about Copland's liberal politics. Later that year, Copland became a target of Joe McCarthy's Communist witch-hunt.
In time, Copland was "completely rehabilitated," Williams noted, performing at the White House and eventually receiving the Congressional Gold Medal. The performance at this inauguration of "Simple Gifts," a piece widely associated with Copland, "describes a completed circle of events that is nice to think about," the composer said.
"We all feel a sense of great privilege to be able to contribute in a very small way, musically, to an event like this," Williams added. "It's a great moment in our history."
This was not the first President for which Yo-Yo Ma has performed. At age seven, he played for President and Mrs. Kennedy in a televised concert hosted by Leonard Bernstein.
Judson Laipply is back with the official sequel to "Evolution of Dance" - one of the most watched Internet videos of all time!
(You can view his new dance in a higher quality video and learn all about Laipply and his charitable giving here.)
Evolution of Dance 2
Here's his first Evolution of Dance from 2006
About Judson Laipply:
Since 2000, Inspirational Comedian™ Judson Laipply has been educating and entertaining audiences all over the world. After earning his Masters degree from Bowling Green State University and his B.A. from Bluffton University Judson embarked on mission to make people laugh and think. Working full time with Certa-Pro Painters for the first two years Laipply slowly began to build a following while crafting his style and content. After moving to Cleveland in 2002 and going full time Judson has never looked back and currently averages over 100 shows a year. His shows are funny and reverent, inspiring and comical, casual and poignant, and audiences are left feeling energized and inspired. In March of 2001, Judson performed for the first time in public a finale that would one-day take the world by storm. After mixing together 12 popular dance songs from the last 50 years Judson debuted “The Evolution of Dance” and it instantly became a crowd favorite. 5 years and 18 songs later, Laipply placed a video of the 30 song six-minute “The Evolution of Dance” on little know site called YouTube. No one could have predicted what followed. In the next few months the video became a viral sensation and was passed from email to email, posted in countless blogs, discussed on endless talk shows and podcasts, and the entire world watched as the video amassed over 70 millions views in under 8 months and helped propel YouTube to the status it has today. To date it is the single most watched video in the history of the Internet and has been viewed over 150 million times and is the single most popular video on YouTube. The popularity of the video lead to appearances on the Today Show, Ellen, Inside Edition, E!, Oprah, and hundreds of other media outlets around the world. He has been in 2 music videos, one for Bare Naked Ladies, and one for Weezer, performed at halftime of the NBA finals, and continues to bring laughter into the lives of all those who watch it. Laipply continues to speak to a wide range of audiences across the globe and currently resides in Cleveland Ohio.
The purpose of The Music Boosters is to assist the music teachers in providing our children with the wonderful world of music.
No more searching through the backpacks in hopes of finding info on music events, rehearsal schedules, concerts, fundraising info......It's all right here along with many other music related features.
All parents are welcome to post items of musical interest.
