One of the rare but ugly dangers of rock shows is that occasionally, a nut-job can attack you onstage when you’re not looking. Noel Gallagher just found that out the hard way, poor bugger.
- Rudy Carrera.
By Rossitza Ohridska-Olson
From Saturday till September 10th, the Bulgarian and foreign artists will gather for the 24th issue of Apollonia Art Festival. The most charming part of it are the jazz concerts and the surroundings of the ancient city of Sozopol (Apollonia – the city of Apollo, the patron of arts). During the communist times this festival was a fresh breath of democratic art since it “allowed” participation from “enemy” countries, such as France, Germany and the USA.
Now is becoming bigger and bigger. There are artists even from Burkina Faso, and of course Bulgaria, Russia, USA with a 12 days program divided between classical and modern music, literature, theater, movies and visual arts.
For those who want to visit it, the program is here. If you need travel arrangement, please write me and I will find you an agency to take care of your request.
Before I begin, let me say thank you for the warm welcome I have received here at Babel. I appreciate the comments greatly.
There is an outdoor concert series going on all summer long here at this amazing park that is just a10-15 minute walk from my apartment. Last week we saw Isaac Hayes, and, in keeping with the theme of NYC, there was possibly the greatest cross-section of people I could imagine in one place. And as I was weaving through the crowd I was struck with a great irony: the more multicultural a place is, the less it matters. It starts to become just a surface issue. The focus changes to real, internal qualities and the multiculturalism becomes more of a backdrop. Perhaps there is a lesson here for humanity: if we expose ourselves to a slew of different people we will soon learn that each group is full of the whole spectrum of personalities. At least that’s what my experience has been.
For more information about the park and its fantastic concert series visit http://www.prospectpark.org/
-David Rodich
I have to say this story left me pleasantly surprised. Perhaps the Kingdom of the Prophet (pbuh) is opening up a bit and may wish to learn about her Western neighbors. If true, this is a wonderful sign.
- Rudy Carrera.
[kml_flashembed movie="http://it.youtube.com/v/sJbwGYa_XnQ" width="425" height="350" wmode="transparent" /]
I’m cheating a bit here! Lot-Lorien are a band I’ve worked with since their inception 10 years ago as their publisher, and it’s time they get brought to a wider audience. This is their signature tune performed at their 10-year anniversary concert on April 10, 2008. I hope for another 10 great years out of these kids.
- Rudy Carrera.
Hello, community!
Malcolm has invited me to post here because I would like to share some news and keep you apprised of its progress.
Some years ago, now over ten years in fact, I survived and escaped a really terrible ordeal. Out of that ordeal I wrote a cycle of 15 poems (how often great art comes of great adversity!) called Rachel Rising (http://www.rachelrising.com). I shared the words with many, even delivered them as a sermon in a church in Seattle at one point.
All through the life of these poems, I have wished that they could be set to music — a chamber work for soprano and a mix of instruments. Because I am a singer myself, that idea has remained close to my heart: how I would love to sing these words!
I approached three composers over the years, all three of whom expressed interest but for various reasons did not get involved in the project.
Until now.
I am delighted to share with you that Rob Deemer (http://www.robdeemer.com) has accepted the rather Herculean task of setting the entire cycle to music in a chamber work. He and I will be giving the work its premiere performances this autumn in eastern Tennessee, upstate New York and Illinois. The Tennessee premiere performance is planned as a benefit, some portion of proceeds of which will be donated to Haven House, a local women’s emergency shelter. We will be offering the performances in New York and Illinois in
conjunction with university music school seminars on the collaborative process, preparing new works for performance, and other subjects relating to the work.
Malcolm has also now suggested that we try to bring a performance of it to Seattle, which idea I will pursue!
The collaborative process will be interesting: the poems are already written, and because I-the-writer am also I-the-singer, the composer and I will be working closely on the setting. Instrumentation will be a little nonstandard and emphasizes the “dark” quality of the work: violin, viola, cello, bass, oboe/English horn, clarinet/bass clarinet, bassoon/contrabassoon and piano.
I’ll be posting updates here on the progress of the work. In the meantime, if you would like more information about the project, the artists or the performances, please feel free to contact me by phone at
865-238-0525 or privately through this group. I look forward to posting more news about the project soon and often!
Best regards,
Rebekkah Hilgraves
David Cotner’s current music events list is up here.
George Lewis is a giant in American jazz. If you are in Chicago during these dates, you may wish to check out this concert and performance. Contact The Velvet Lounge for more info.