Music

Mali: A country under siege; its music silenced.

January 18, 2013 Without music, life would be a mistake. ~-Nietzsche, Twilight of the Idols Why They Hate Music? When the Ayatollah Khomeini seized power in Iran in 1979, he said the following: “Music is no different than opium. Music

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Adversity and Ingenuity: Partners in Creation

October 11, 2012 Human beings have shown amazing ingenuity in fashioning musical instruments, often in less than ideal conditions. Many of these instruments were conceived and designed by people at the bottom of the social spectrum, most of whom were

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OUR RICH ACCESS TO KNOWLEDGE

August 16, 2012 The other night I read–well, actually just perused—Malinowski’s Kiriwina: Fieldwork Photography 1915-1918–an amazing book about the Polish-born father of modern cultural anthropology’s stay in Papua and the Trobiand Islands. He went to New Guinea and studied the

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Henri le Chat and Erik Satie: Partners in Ennui

April 19, 2012 My friend Jasmin S. Kuehnert, a cat lover like myself, sent me this video of Henri, a very French kitty. The music—most appropriate for this video– is by Erik Satie, who left the Paris Conservatory—his teachers called

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Music and Art: Tools for Survival

January 26, 2012 Classical pianist Alexis Weissenberg recently died. He was considered one of the great virtuosos of the last century. He was a child prodigy in Bulgaria when he and his mother were taken prisoner by German soldiers in

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Whatever Happened to Music Education?

December 1, 2011 In writing a recent blog, inspired by LA Philharmonic’s Music Director Gustavo Dudamel’s orchestral version of a popular Puerto Rican band’s hit song, I began to muse on the subject of music education: in Venezuela and the

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Education and the Arts: A Cultural Crossroads

November 17, 2011 Everything changes. Everything is connected. Pay attention. –Ancient Buddhist Proverb What does it feel like when your world is out of balance, off kilter, or out of control? Koyaanisqatsi, the Hopi word meaning- A life out of

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Music and the Brain: An Enduring Partnership

November 3, 2011 Ever since I became entranced by Coltrane’s song “India” in my bedroom when I was sixteen and living at home, I’ve been aware of the power of music to affect the heart, soul, and spirit. Music has

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