It seems that talk of innovations in classical music and the production of dynamic new performances is a frequent theme in my blogging. It seems that more often these days, I am writing about interesting things other people are doing that work, interesting things people are doing that don't work as well but still have plenty of value, or even things that I am trying to do to engage the audience a little bit better. And these are all questions tha … Read More

via Music for time's ending

For myself that is, about random daily activities or “profound” anecdotes. Or maybe it’s just that I haven’t had the desire to lately. I have been feeling lately that my blog is going into a different direction. Or even being replaced by the ever popular tumblr.

Perhaps it’s a reflection of the direction of my own life. Priorities are different now. I don’t have time to just sit down and think about the next blog post because I’m too busy absorbing everything else that is around me.

For now, all I’m doing is reading other blog posts, articles, books (fiction AND non-fiction), practicing piano, taking pictures, and listening to music.

I’ll blog when I’m ready.

It feels better that way.

Heard this song in church this morning, coming off from an extremely rough week of practicing, a piano competition, and work.

All this pain
I wonder if I’ll ever find my way
I wonder if my life could really change at all
All this earth
Could all that is lost ever be found
Could a garden come up from this ground at all

You make beautiful things
You make beautiful things out of the dust
You make beautiful things
You make beautiful things out of us

This song is hopeful without being saccharine, reassuring without coming across as empty. It’s just straightforward, direct, and honest. It doesn’t make a hard thing seem simple, or a simple thing seem difficult. It just says what is truth.

Because sometimes we need to know that beautiful things can come out of the dust. That out of “old ground” hope can spring up and new life can be found.

All around
Hope is springing up from this old ground
Out of chaos life is being found in You

]]> http://lovedfromthestart.wordpress.com/2011/06/26/beautiful-things/feed/ 12 spamwarrior IMG_1360 http://lovedfromthestart.wordpress.com/2011/06/20/to-sweet-beginnings/ http://lovedfromthestart.wordpress.com/2011/06/20/to-sweet-beginnings/#comments Mon, 20 Jun 2011 10:03:57 +0000 Abby http://lovedfromthestart.wordpress.com/?p=2696 Continue reading →]]> I attended a wedding on June 18. It was probably one of the most beautiful weddings I’ve been to. The couple in question have been together for a while, and been through a lot together. It’s been a long(ish) journey for them, though a fulfilling one.

I guess one would say that they have their fairytale ending now… but I think I prefer to think of it as a beginning rather than an end in itself, at the risk of sounding terribly sentimental.

The other part that was pretty cool about this wedding was the DIY aspect of it. The bride works as a graphic designer, and she designed the invitations and programs (like the one above) all by herself. The little bags for the wedding favors at the reception were also designed and sewn by her. They were so cute that the other people at the table I was sitting, and I, were all deciding to use them as cell phone cases (see right: my cell phone is inside).

In my church, it’s customary to have a smaller, more informal “reception” with some light refreshments and drinks before the real reception, held in some hotel or castle or something, commences. That part was also DIY in the sense that a bunch of her friends got together the night before and made all the treats. They were pretty fancy: little tiny tart things filled with chocolate and fruit, and some mini egg souffle type of thing with bacon and spinach.

But here’s the most amazing one, and I take credit for this idea: the cake toppers were made the bride as well! Some time ago, I saw some ninja cake toppers selling on Etsy (can’t find the link now), and knowing that the bride was into ninjas, sent a link to her kind of jokingly recommending that she use those. She ended up buying the wood the next day and sanding it down to make them. They turned out looking phenomenal.

The cake toppers were for a cupcake tier, rather than a wedding cake. I think the cupcake tier was a hit.

I also had a great time catching up with friends I don’t see too often.

To my friends Wing and James: Congratulations on your marriage, and may God bless them on the journey ahead.

I am in love. Doesn’t it make you feel so happy? The seller makes mini sloths as well, and includes a variety of (happy) creatures for you to choose from.

Buy yours here.

In other words, I feel like I have been relatively low energy lately when it comes to drafting longer blog posts. I have a new job, or three new jobs, actually. One of them is for this music festival I’ll be spending four weeks at this summer (and which I spent four weeks at last summer, incidentally). I’m doing communications/copywriting kind of stuff. Another them is a 25 hours a week internship in marketing/communications I’m doing at my dad’s engineering company. Started on Monday and my days have been chock-full of engineering terms and data entry, but it pays good money so I’m happy. Yet another one is a grant-writing gig I have with a fairly exciting new company. More on that later.

You’ll probably see more blog posts from me eventually if I find anything interesting to write about, or when I decide to finally catch up on posting stuff I have been doing for the past few months while in college. I will also be writing music-related blog posts for this music festival, so I will definitely be posting the links/excerpts here. Stay tuned for that.

I’m also trying to see if I can make myself a .com for my freelance writing. Or maybe just because it’s cool.

I also have a tumblr. I update it several times a day thanks to finally figuring out queuing. If you have a tumblr, follow me there. 

And once again, thank you for reading!

An excerpt:

… You look at the sky, you look at your world, you look at everything and realize that dying is a small price to pay to live…

It is. It is indeed.

This is possibly one of the best and inspiring blog posts I have read this week, straightforward and simply stated, yet profound in its implications.

May you be similarly inspired.

Source

I want to know if it actually works. And who built it. It does look pretty cool… judging from what’s going on the music behind it, I’m guessing it’s more for the novelty than for anyone wanting software that can format their musical composition into some nice format. You can’t bar eighth or sixteenth notes, and I think placement of sharps or flats could get tricky.

Still doesn’t compare to Sibelius. Or Finale.

It’s still kind of cool, though.

In other news, Google’s homepage today is featuring a special playable guitar logo in honor of the 96th birthday of musician Les Paul, someone I’ve personally never heard of but was apparently a prominent guitar builder and musician notable for his use of “overdubbing,” or layering guitar sounds over each other. He earned two Grammys before his death. More information here in PC mag.

The cool thing about this special guitar logo (and I think Google’s engineers have really outdone themselves) is that not only can you play music, but you could also record a little ditty of your own composition and send it to your friends.

It seems as though all the musicians (and even non-musicians) in my facebook newsfeed are enjoying it.

I’m pretty happy about it.

Wikipedia notes,

It is based on a descending chromatic scale followed by variants of the same phrase in first the minor and then the major key, corresponding with the vicissitudes of love expressed in the lyrics.

It has also been arranged for various instruments, and one of my favorites is the arrangement for two pianos done by piano duo Anderson and Roe (jump to about 3:35 for the Habanera theme) and filmed in both the concert hall, with concert grands, and an intimate garden setting on upright pianos:

And then there’s this version, filmed in an old warehouse:

The latter is a clearly nuanced interpretation, with Beaker’s clear soprano declaiming the lines “MEEP MEEP MEEP” and the Swedish Chef’s steady underlying rhythmic background. Animal provides what would be originally the chorus’s interlude, and he provides it with character.

rah rah rah RAHHH!

Beaker’s rose is also a nice touch.

All in all, a truly thrilling performance.

This was why, a few weeks before the end of school, my studio art major friend and I planned a trip to the Boston Museum of Fine Arts during Easter break.

Another reason was to see the highly acclaimed Dale Chihuly blown installation art glass exhibit, fittingly entitled, “Through the Looking Glass.” Dale Chihuly is a glass artist known for his revolutionary designs with blown glass art. His art is not the typical blown glass bottles. Instead, his art is the type that fills a room with a forest of blown glass shapes — truly awe-inspiring.

From the Museum of Fine Arts website:

By 1965, Dale Chihuly was already captivated by the process of glassblowing. Influenced by an environment that fostered the blurring of boundaries separating the various arts, as early as 1967 Chihuly was using neon, argon, and blown glass forms to create room-sized installations of his glass. Although his work ranges from the single vessel to indoor and outdoor site-specific installations, he is best known for his multipart blown compositions. Based in Seattle, Washington, Chihuly works with a team of glassblowers, a process that allows him to work on a grand scale and to explore and experiment with color, design, and assemblage. “Chihuly: Through the Looking Glass” provides an opportunity to see and explore the full range of his artistic achievements by immersing visitors in the beautiful and enchanting environments created through his extraordinary vision.

I had never seen anything like this before. The designs are spiraling, fantastical, and evocative of forests, flowers, and ocean life. My friend and I took plenty of pictures, which do it it little justice. The colors are vibrant, and the displays fittingly used light sources to display the art to their full advantage.

I was a little disappointed that my camera couldn’t fully capture the beauty of these objects. My camera is your typical digital which has trouble adjusting to dark scenes. But here are some of my pictures. The full album on facebook can be found here for anyone interested in seeing more.

For those of you in the Boston area, or anyone planning a trip to Boston this summer, please note that the Chihuly exhibition will be up until August 7.

You won’t be disappointed.

Click photos to enlarge. 

Art is never a passive experience.

When you start a non-profit arts organization, you want something that will not only be fulfilling to all the people involved (dancers, artists, musicians) but an organization which can give something beautiful and meaningful to the surrounding community. It’s not just about giving kids something to do on the weekends or after school, it’s in part about teaching them the value that art can have in the life of those around them — the “perceivers” of the art as well as those making it.

Ultimately, you want it to be an active participation or a dialogue between concertgoer and musician, audience and dancer, gallery visitor and painter.

An exchange…

The State Ballet of Rhode Island, resident non-profit dance company of my home state, is such an organization. Ever since its inception by artistic director Herci Marsden 51 years ago, it has provided a nurturing environment for young dancers to gather and polish their art in the form of choreography as well as motion, and then present the results to the surrounding community. When I was younger, around 10-12, I’d actually been a member, participating in probably three or four of the shows before deciding to do something else.

I was really cute, even though I must have been pretty awful. Even so many years later, I do remember the effort they took to make it a legit ballet performance, rather than a glorified dance recital. My siblings are still active participants, and twice a year, I’ve gone to shows. In the past few years, I’ve noticed that they’ve been making changes, taking steps to “keep up with the times,” so to speak. Some changes were the addition of a Facebook page, another an overhaul of the website, Cultural Enrichment programs at local schools around the state, and still others the addition of several more smaller, more select performances and collaborations placing them in the public eye (such as with the Gloria Gemma Foundation, to mention a recent one).

The most obvious is the changes that they have been making with the performance experience itself. What about the integration of other forms of art, or taking elements from the past or traditional dance styles, and mixing them with new ones?

With this excitement, I attended the State Ballet of Rhode Island’s spring show, Artists in Motion, on April 30, at Rhode Island College.

I was not disappointed.

The program featured three different one act ballets. Tying them together was the fact that each ballet was choreographed by three different generations of dancers, from Shana Fox Marceau to her mother Ana Marsden Fox to the artistic director, Herci Marsden herself. These three different ballets were unique to each choreographer in terms of styling. Fox, as a person who loves making people laugh, favors simple storylines filled with humor, while Shana tends to go for precise, synchronous movements and beautiful symmetry. Marsden’s ballets are always elegant and deeply passionate. In terms of programming, none of the ballets felt jarring or out of place, and each choreographer used her stylistic strengths to her best advantage.

The first ballet was Ana Marsden Fox’s premiere of Petra and the Vuk, or an adaption of Peter and the Wolf. I always like adaptations when done well. Tradition is good, but adding a new angle to an old ballet is always refreshing. Obviously, Peter was replaced by Petra, played by the talented Holly Fusco. As demonstrated through the title of the play, Fox drew on her Slavic heritage for inspiration, incorporating Slavic traditional dance here and there through the piece. The names of the characters were in Slavic. Even the theme, composed by Prokofiev, was played on traditional Slavic instruments at the outset and near the close. The audience was encouraged to laugh at the duck (charmingly portrayed by Peg Chobanian), cheer when the wolf (Mark Marsden) was captured, and clap in time to the music. I liked it.

Impressions of the Sky, by Shana Fox Marceau, followed. This ballet was a distinctly different style, largely impressionistic rather than having any sort of story line. According to my sisters, the ballet was originally choreographed by Marsden, but in the present, they only had a fuzzy video recording that did little to preserve the original. Marceau decided to do a fresh choreograph around what they could pick out from the old version. Similar to Fox’s incorporation of Slavic elements, Marceau used contemporary dance elements to evoke impressions of the sky, from the rising sun, showers ahead, dusk, storm clouds, the calm before, and lightning (the truly exhilarating Zapped).

I’ve watched a couple of Marceau’s dances before, and was hugely impressed by the sheer energy and coordination. This ballet did not fail to disappoint. Marceau’s dancers are always perfectly synchronized. Every step was exactly in place. Whenever one group left the stage, another group would soon follow. Marceau’s insertion of modern dance elements into classical ballet is successful. Each movement belongs. It brings to mind a tapestry with many threads interlocked. One thread breaks, the whole thing might fall apart. I couldn’t help but feel new appreciation for the work of the dancers in synchronizing the movements, as well as for the choreographer for making such an energetic and precisely woven work. Marceau also showed her versatility as well as her creativity through the haunting and enigmatic section “The Cloud,” where dancer Elizabeth Cyganoski as a solo female dancer danced, yet never touched the ground. At the end, I felt exhilaration, and I think many of my follow audience members did, as evidenced by the cheers that erupted.

Click to enlarge.

Concluding the set was Marsden’s Pictures at an Exhibition, music by Mussorgsky. The piano music was composed after the sudden death of his dear friend and artist Viktor Hartmann. Viewing the paintings of Viktor Hartmann, Mussorgsky was inspired to write his suite, with each piece based on a particular painting by the artist: paintings of sound. This collection became his most famous suite of piano pieces, and is often performed today. I have never played them. The version used for this ballet was probably Ravel’s orchestration.

I tried to go online to find examples of Hartmann’s work, and unfortunately, few survived. However, in other bit of ingenuity, Marsden and several of the company members arranged to have artists in different media (paint, photography, digital imaging, charcoal) from the surrounding community and within the dance program bring in artworks that they had made based on impressions they had gotten from listening to the music. Managed by Peg Chobanian, graduate of Rhode Island College with a studio art degree, these pieces of art were set up in a gallery next to the auditorium for the audience members’ viewing pleasure. Entitled “The Artist Exchange,” this was a successful example of how music, dance, and even visual art can be used in harmony to enhance the experience and expand the dialogue amongst different kinds of artists and audiences members.

Throughout the ballet itself, these pieces of art would be projected on the wall whenever the “Promenade” (impression of the composer himself walking around viewing the artwork) was played. There was quite a variety of art involved, and I was amazed at the sheer talent of the artists. This, together with Marsden’s skillful choreography, formed an experience that probably affected me a lot more than I expected. It all started with the paintings by Hartmann. The composer may have painted the characters and scenes of his friend’s paintings into sound, but Marsden brought the characters into life and set them into motion.

click to enlarge

Also, never have I seen such emphasis placed on the music and the genius of the composer than in this ballet. Even several weeks later, I feel emotional just thinking about that final closing scene where the dancers, still in character, come on stage with this long sheet of cloth with the actual notes of the composition (I didn’t bother to check, but I’m taking their word for it) painted on it and dramatically paying homage to the composer by placing the cloth in front of him and kneeling before him in a wonderful act of reverence. You have to see it to believe it. It was a fitting conclusion not only to the piece itself, but the entire program.

So in conclusion, this show was one of the most enjoyable I have been to in a while, and perhaps one of their best in recent years. I would also be amiss if I did not mention the talent of some of the young dancers in the company. They not only have great technical ability and power of expression, but if what I heard is true, they have discipline to get where they need to be, as well as a strong commitment to their art. It is clear to me that SBRI is developing artists who, even if they stop dancing, will always remember this exchange of which they are a part. SBRI is going in a good direction with their thinking, and I am certain that the exchange they have fostered will continue.

Here’s to an exchange…

*Pictures taken by me. Not to be used without my permission, unless you are from the State Ballet of RI. 

For more pictures of the show, check out my public album on Facebook.