Saturday, September 12, 2009

A new Listen for Life production in the making...

First, some brief background info: Our hybrid social venture Listen for Life (www.listenforlife.org) is a global family of music listeners, performers, and producers, all working together to restore music as a channel of communication and a unifying force for peace.

We work towards that mission through a variety of outreach, education, and/or conflict resolution projects, live music programmes, and cross-cultural media productions - all funded from our personal pockets and occassional sponsorships/donations.

Well, yesterday LFL Productions filmed a wonderful live concert event, "Folks Songs and Rituals of Old Russia", put on in San Francisco by two different internationally recognised women's ensembles working together - KITKA and KOSTROMA. The part of their programme that I am especially excited to share in our eventual television/video version was an enactment of a Russian village wedding ritual showcasing the conflicting emotions of parents, families, girlfriends, and the participating villages of the two spouses-to-be. This programme will also provide wonderful content for a future unit on Russia within our Travels with Music series (www.travelswithmusic.com) which offers an interactive experience of the world's cultures through the eyes and ears of their master musicians and local villagers as well. More about TWM in a future posting, or you can check out the website for a glimpse at one or two units from Series One - 6 hours of interactive content featuring 15 cultures thus far .....
And if you happen to be in the Bay Area this month and want to catch the Russian village wedding "live" then there are two more performances on the 13th (Menlo Park) and 27th (Point Reyes Station). See KITKA's website for details.
If you prefer to be an arm chair traveler, however, you will be able to catch the performance on our LFL Productions video online, coming soon....
and any professional film-makers, videographers, production crew, editors, cameramen or sound engineers are always welcome to join our existing LFL production teams all over the world or start up a new one in your location and help us to capture special music events and cross-cultural opportunities that can be shared with all peoples as a way to build peace through a greater appreciation and understanding of other traditions. Join us in making a difference through Music in Action! www.listenforlife.org

Wednesday, September 9, 2009

WANTED: your thoughts, ideas and opinions about.....

........Unity - through music! Is it possible?
Nearly every person on this planet listens to music in some form or another.
Research has shown that music can build bridges, ease tensions, create a common denominator for renewed discussion during conflict resolution, express emotions that are too powerful or dangerous for words, lift the spirits and enrich the hearts or minds of those listening in a group.....
So if most people on the planet participate in something with that many positive benefits, why not create a heightened awareness of that potential, and encourage the deliberate use of music as a unifying force throughout the world?

If you are interested in one particular organisation that works towards this mission/cause then you might like to view the following video link:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y6xE0iy7MXk

But I believe that the tremendous potential within the communicative power of music is much too important to be left to the success or failure of any one particular individual, group or organisation in any single generation -
EACH of us can start, in our individual lives, and we can create a positive "cause" or "movement" of sorts by spreading this awareness through social networks and online tools, while also sharing our own ideas or experiences of specific instances where music has provided (or can provide) a positive, all-important tool for mental/spiritual nourishment, conflict resolution, or cross-cultural communication.

I would love your ideas, not only on the potential uses/power of music , but also on ways in which to spread this awareness and message successfully around the globe, particularly to the people and regions that need it most.
We need your advice and participation!