Listen for Life blog

VOTE for Listen for Life's entry in the Pepsi Refresh Project!

2011-12-05T10:20:00.000-08:00

Our Pepsi Refresh Project idea

"Inspire and film musicians playing for peace worldwide on January 8th"

is up for voting at the Pepsi Refresh Project!

PLEASE click HERE and VOTE for Listen for Life’s project to get funded!

WE NEED EACH ONE OFYOU TO VOTE!
YOU CAN CAST ONE VOTE PER DAY FOR OUR PROJECT!

So….what is this project about?
Well, it is connected to our OTHER breaking news!

Most of you hopefully know by now that Listen for Life is doing its first annual NY concert, at Carnegie Hall at 8pm on Sunday January 8th, 2012.

BUT we have also decided to make our Carnegie Hall event the centerpiece of a Listen for Life Multicultural Music Day worldwide, and we are inviting ALL musicians, of any and all genres, to gather your fellow performers from different cultures, and create simple cross-cultural concerts in your own communities on January 8th as a way to raise awareness not only of our global family and mission, but of the POWER of cross-cultural music as a source of nourishment, understanding and peace in the coming year.

So if you are a musician or you know some musicians, please invite them to participate with us, anywhere they happen to be, on January 8th ! And even if you are not a musician, do please VOTE in the Pepsi Refresh project for us, so that we can spread the message and also gather footage from all of the different concerts that are already taking shape around the planet for that day. Obviously, it is not just about one day – it is about the goal of inspiring musicians while helping listeners to discover all the great sounds and music styles that can make the coming year an even more enriching musical experience.

And for you non-musicians and music-listeners out there, we are excited that you can have an opportunity to benefit from our Carnegie event, even if you can’t be with us!

PLEASE VOTE! YOU CAN CAST ONE VOTE PER DAY FOR OUR PROJECT!

Christmas Concert at St Joseph's Cathedral, San Jose, Dec 21st 2011

2011-11-16T19:24:00.000-08:00

regrets to announce that the concert planned for December 21st

at the Cathedral Basilica of St. Joseph has been cancelled.

It is hoped that another concert will be arranged to take its place

-- please see the "Season of Hope" calendar at St Joseph's for further developments.

The Listen for Life Chorale concert at St Leo's Church, San Jose, will still take place

on Saturday December 17, 2011 as planned!

Christmas Concert at St Leo's, San Jose, Dec 17th 2011

2011-11-16T19:10:00.000-08:00

presents a

Concert of Christmas Music

and Community Sing-Along

Saturday December 17th, 2011 at 6:30pm

St Leo the Great
88 Race Street, San Jose, CA 95126 [map]

featuring the

A new choir formed from singers across California,
from Santa Cruz to Sacramento to Berkeley.

This imaginative event is called a Candlelight Christmas Cookie Concert.
Admission is $2 unless you bring a plate of cookies with the recipe on top - then you get in free! After the choral concert there will be a cookies-n-milk feast in the hall, with a live brass band playing Carols!

Musicians Around the World: Create Multicultural Concerts on January 8th 2012!

2011-11-15T16:16:00.000-08:00

Musicians Around the World:

Take the Listen for Life Challenge!

Create Multicultural Concerts on January 8th 2012!

On January 8, 2012, Carnegie Hall in New York

will experience the

"Power of 8"

8 musicians

representing 8 cultures,

playing a total of 8 instruments,

at 8 pm on January 8th.

See www.listenforlife.org/carnegie for details.

We would like the Carnegie Hall concert to be the centerpiece event and launch of a global movement, inspiring musicians worldwide to seek out performers of other cultures in their community and invite them to join in giving multicultural concert together on January 8th as well. We would love for January 8th to become known as Multicultural Music Day worldwide as a celebration of music's power to be a positive channel of cross-cultural communication and a unifying force for peace.

We are now challenging musicians worldwide to give multicultural concerts for peace on the same day (January 8th, 2012) in local venues all around the world!

Team up with instrumentalists of other cultures and play simple, inexpensive concerts open to a broad audience!

Please send us videos/photos made at the concerts, so we can create a film about music being celebrated as a true channel of cross-cultural communication all around the world!

Please write to us about your concert plans to musicaroundtheworld@listenforlife.org, so we can show in how many places around the world peace will be celebrated on that day!

Let's restore music as a unifying force throughout the world!

LFL Benefit Concert at Freight & Salvage (Berkeley, CA), Tue Nov 15th

2011-11-02T06:32:00.000-07:00

Listen for Life Benefit Concert

Tuesday, November 15th, 2011 at 8pm
(doors open at 7:00 pm)

Freight & Salvage

Coffeehouse

2020 Addison Street / Berkeley, CA 94704 ()

Hawaiian & World music featuring:
the Patrick Landeza Project, Kawika Alfiche and H'lau o Keikiali'i,
Faith Ako, Steven Espaniola, Hiram Bell, Pulama,
Matthew Montfort, and Vanessa Vo

$24.50 advance / $26.50 at door
Purchase tickets online

Listen for Life Benefit Concert in Concord, Fri Nov 4th 2011, - CANCELLED

2011-11-01T06:31:00.000-07:00

For reasons beyond Listen for Life's control, the Benefit Concert which was to have taken place on Friday November 4th 2011 at Cue Productions Live! (1835 Colfax St., Concord, CA, 94520) has been cancelled.

However, both Patrick Landeza and Van-Anh Vanessa Vo will be performing on
November 15th at the Freight & Salvage Coffeehouse in Berkeley, CA. See HERE for details.

Take the "50-day challenge" and change the world through music!

2011-10-27T14:20:00.000-07:00

VIRTUAL VOLUNTEERS NEEDED, anywhere in the world, starting TODAY!

If you want to know WHY, continue reading below.

If you don't care why, and just want to know HOW to volunteer and doing WHAT, then skip the sections immediately below and jump to the bottom! :)

Why we need volunteer participants for 50 days, starting TODAY:

Many of you already know that on January 8, 2012, Listen for Life is producing a very unique multicultural concert (www.listenforlife.org/carnegie) at the most famous concert hall in America, if not in the world - Carnegie Hall in NY. The January 8th concert is featuring 8 instruments played by 8 artists representing 8 different music genres/cultures starting at 8pm. "The Power of Eight" is actually an event of global significance because three of the artist-treasures from Israel, Syria and Palestine will be flying in to perform together on one stage as a musical statement for peace in the new year. Also featured in the program will be the Emmy-Award winning Natl Champion of Vietnam (she is also an Oscar nominee), a top award winner in Hawaiian music, a Grammy-nominee jazz-piano phenomenon, a young UK violist who has already played 4 sold out world-music concerts at Carnegie Hall with Yo Yo Ma and the Silk Road Ensemble, and the Artistic Ambassador for both UK and USA who is also a Grammy-category nominee and renowned television host internationally. The program will include the NY premiere of a Native-American based piano work and the world premiere of a work for oud, viola and piano being created at the moment by a major award-winning film composer.

All of the artists are donating their performances and travel expenses in order to be a part of something much bigger than themselves - they are all Listen for Life musicians because they all share the belief that music can indeed be a common denominator, a channel of communication, and a unifying force for good in the world. They also agree that if you "change your music" you can indeed "change your life" ....unfortunately too many people listen to one style of music or the one set of songs that play over and over on global media, without taking the opportunity to discover new sounds, new instruments, and new experiences of music listening that can enrich and elevate their thinking, their spirits or their lives. The program on January 8th in NY will bring traditional instruments of several cultures to Carnegie hall at discounted ticket prices so that families, youth, students and seniors can hopefully attend and "taste" some new sound combinations while experiencing the unity and peace that can be created through the gift of cross-cultural music.

We hope to then replicate this concert program in other cities around the world over the next few years so that we can inspire other musicians to join us, and impact the lives of even more music listeners. But the initial January event itself is a major opportunity to let the media help us to make music listeners worldwide know of our existence and our outreach projects that can help serve their own communities. It is also a chance for us to help other causes, organizations, corporations, foundations, related products, musicians with CD releases, anyone who wants to partner with Listen for Life, to sponsor the Carnegie hall event and thus gain access to not only the live audience members but also to our global audience through our website, broadcast channels, social networks, etc. The problem is, I have been working at doing just that, for 10-12 hours per day, 6 days a week, for months now, and I am only beginning to scratch the surface of the thousands and thousands of people that we could be contacting and offering these partnerships and opportunities to, if I had others to join me in the email and media campaign.

HOW you can be a virtual volunteer, from your own community, and WHAT you can do:

So today I realized that all I need to do (I hope!) is to let everyone KNOW that you can participate and that we not only invite you to join us, we need you to join us! I am now officially inaugurating our CHVW - that stands for Carnegie Hall Virtual Workshop. Think of a carpenter's workshop, where lots of people are busy each doing a specific task but all working to contribute their small piece to the huge edifice of a gorgeous building, or sculpture, or whatever image comes to your mind as being meaningful, beautiful and beneficial for the world.

Since there are lots of special holidays coming up around the globe between now and January 8th, I figure at most we have 50 work days left till this globally significant event - but any publicity, media, sponsorship or advertising deadlines are a minimum 30 days or more prior to an event, of course, so most (but not all) of the tasks involving virtual volunteers online need to happen in the next 1-3 weeks, ideally.

Things you can do:

using a "master copy" email I have written for various categories of media or other contacts, send it to each of the individuals on specific databases that I would share with you.
should you prefer making live contacts on phone or in person, using 'talking points" or "task outlines" I can send you, participate in your own local community to raise the awareness of the opportunity for partnership
We would welcome any and all help from those of you who are social networking gurus and can help us get the word out on your FB, twitter, LinkedIn, blogs, online media access, websites, YouTube channels, and any other social media you know!
If you live in or near the NY area, we have postcard flyers about the event, to hand out anywhere you go.
If you have other ideas of what you would do with our fast-approaching opportunity & event, just let me know!

To get started, all you have to do is contact me by email and tell me how you would like to participate:

dstoering@listenforlife.org

Even if you only have a little bit of free time in which to participate, it all adds up! Take our "50-day challenge" and you will see how much of a difference YOU can make by sharing even just a tiny portion of your gifts and skills to help change the world through music. Get to know us through this campaign and then hopefully you'll find that the benefits to your own life and music experience are so rewarding, you'll even decide to start a Listen for Life chapter and projects of your own initiative, someday, in your own community!

Again, that's dstoering@listenforlife.org

Look forward to hearing from you, as soon as possible!
warmest thanks for wanting to be a part of this,

Donna

The Power of Music

2011-10-22T18:54:00.000-07:00

[This article, written by Listen for Life Founder Donna Stoering, was first published on October 18, 2011 at bodychecklist.com. Reproduced with permission.]

For centuries we have intuitively recognized that certain sounds, intervals, rhythms, pitch combinations, and harmonic vibrations could all be deliberately used to affect the moods of individuals or the emotional tone of entire crowds. But more recently, we have developed the scientific instrumentation to accurately measure reactions in different regions of the brain when a variety of musical elements or pieces are heard – not even listened to, intentionally – just “heard” in the surrounding sound that is subconsciously but constantly absorbed by any human being.
It has been shown, for example, that if we want to de-stress and lower our cortisol levels, we can deliberately play very melodic, horizontal (i.e. single-instrument) pieces in a slower, steady pulse, and this sends direct messages to the part of our brain that affects cortisol levels, lowering them by up to double digits in every study done.

MUSIC AND STUDYING

Again, all of this knowledge can be negatively or positively used ... some experts suggest that certain contemporary pop song composers are deliberately causing depression in pre-teen girls by using specific harmonies and melodic patterns that are known to cause this mood change in the brain: the girls become emotionally attached to the music (because they are down), therefore listen to it even more as it expresses their feelings, and therefore the record labels/media distributors make even more money on repeated downloads or song purchases.
All parents want to help their children. The one simple (and free!) thing that will make the biggest difference for our children is to proactively provide them with specific music listening experiences to meet specific needs or goals.

For example, research has proven that if one is studying a foreign language, putting on some faster-paced pieces by Bach in the background will greatly increase receptivity in the part of the brain that learns languages.
While students of any age are studying/preparing for a test, the faster movements by Vivaldi or Mozart work best in stimulating speed of thought and retention of information.
There have been many different tests carried out about optimal conditions for studying/memorizing, whether it is best to have no music, classical music, or any other kinds of music and the results showed repeatedly that the mathematical relationships in particular Western classical music definitely work best to stimulate learning and retention in several brain regions. The results for “other” kinds of music or no music at all, were neutral.
Obviously we can’t just take control of our childrens’ iPods and insist that they listen to one thing or forbid them to listen to something else. At Listen for Life we believe the solution lies in offering them a healthy but adventurous alternative and that is why we have produced the Travels with Music collection, with six hours of interactive content that offers an experience of the world, with the master musicians of those countries as the tour guides. 300 short music videos from around the world are integrated with four computer games, audio files, informational text, and links to the world-renowned artists who are all the acknowledged representatives of their cultures. This program works well for music listeners aged 4-94 and provides a fun way to re-acquaint ourselves or our families with our own musical geneology and heritage.

And that “geneology” IS important! Music therapists around the world – and even volunteers in most nursing homes – know that non-responsive injured or elderly will suddenly come to life if they hear the songs that may have played when they were in the womb or as a young person growing up, whatever the circumstance.

WHAT ABOUT WHEN A BABY IS IN THE WOMB? WHAT CAN WE DO? PLENTY!!

All tests have shown conclusively that babies do absolutely respond to music and rhythm while in the womb, and it is important to play calm, soothing music of any style, or classical music of any culture, when placing headphones on a pregnant belly, because music that is rhythmically “jerky” such as jazz, or riddled with angst or tense higher frequencies like, say, heavy metal, visually caused babies to become jerky, hyperactive, or rigid with tension. The same would possibly apply when choosing whether or not to attend a live concert while pregnant. Depending on the volume and mood of the music, the consequences would vary. It is absolutely wonderful, if not crucial, to listen to as much music as possible while pregnant, for the emotional and physical health of the mother (and father!) and for the goal of helping to nurture any level of musicality in the unborn child.
I know this from personal experience – when I was pregnant with my first child, I was performing piano concerts right up until the 9th month, and on this one particular piano concerto by Schumann, it became highly uncomfortable trying to stay on the piano bench because the baby would kick (usually low enough to hit my bladder) on every single downbeat that I played! About 4-5 months after the baby daughter was born, I was scheduled to perform that same Schumann piece again, so returned to the piano for rehearsals and I was astonished to notice that every single time I played that particular piece, she would stop absolutely still in her swing or playpen nearby, look wide eyed around the room, and then start bouncing and kicking in exactly the same rhythm with an enormous smile of recognition and joy on her face. (She went on to sing the title female role in Jesus Christ Superstar in England when she was 14, but is now a (very rhythmical) horse jumper and professional equestrian who is married to a composer and is passionate about all sorts of world music).
One does not have to be a professional musician to give the benefits and gifts of music to your children. All of us can sing. Babies respond to singing from the human voice more than to any other instrument – I have found that singing quite softly while making eye contact (and fairly near their faces) elicits the strongest and most alert response. Sometimes they love being bounced rhythmically while we sing something lively to them. And we all know that it puts most of them to sleep quite well if we are patient and they are not tooooo distraught.

In general we all need to remember that music has tremendous power and it is a tool we have been given for communication and enrichment. Just as people today understand that ‘we are what we eat” and have therefore become much more aware of the nutrition value (or lack of it) for each food they ingest, similarly music is nutrition for our mind and our soul – and yes, we are what we listen to.

Oktoberfest One....

2011-10-20T13:14:00.000-07:00

We like to explain to folks that Listen for Life is "a global family of music listeners, performers, and producers, all working together to restore music as a unifying force for good, throughout the world".....and sometimes we find out that we have actually helped to accomplish that mission in a particular community, even without realizing it or intending it! Such is the case with the first annual Oktoberfest that Listen for Life was asked to help produce for a San Jose, CA neighborhood and parish this last weekend.
LfL has been involved in the area for the last 9 months or so, creating a year-round series of cross-cultural concerts and music-based events for the Race St/Rose Garden neighborhood and being held in the good acoustics and ambiance of St Leo the Great parish through the generosity and visionary planning of their pastor Fr Marcelo Navarro. When discussing a program for Fall 2011, LfL had suggested bringing in an authentic German band and doing traditional Oktoberfest music. At the first planning meeting I was in awe at the number of volunteers (from the parish, school and neighborhood) who showed up, the incredible ideas and energy that they brought with them, and the speed with which this simple idea ramped up into a massive event with authentic German food, professional crafted desserts, special outdoor lighting to create a Bavarian beer garden area, children's games, a dancing area near the band.....all was great until I realized, with a sinking feeling, that I was being asked to coordinate the entire event and not just the music. Thankfully, a new arrival in the community, realtor Jacqueline Price, offered to put in just as many hours behind the scenes outlining tasks and connecting all of the people to do them, through constant emails and phone lists, and a rather large army of school parents and parishioners (from both the Hispanic-speaking and English-speaking communities) gradually took shape. The Don Sommerfeld band provided fantastic music and ambiance while the ticket line at the door just grew and grew. The event was a huge success in every way, and now the German Oktoberfest in this primarily Hispanic/English neighborhood is slated to be an annual happening that folks are already looking forward to.
But why is this story in a Listen for Life blog on music? Because we learned something very important through this event as well. Music does indeed have the unique power to be a unifying force, perhaps even more-so on the local community level than on the global level where we are also frequently involved. The night of the Oktoberfest, as it was drawing to a close, several people explained to me in different ways that this was the first time in many years that the various communities within the parish, school and neighborhood had all shared in the planning, participated in the work, enjoyed the event together, and made new friends during the clean-up. The type of music was something unique to most all of them so it became the common denominator for a shared new experience.
So, for all of you Listen for Life music listeners and volunteers out there, or those interested in creating LfL chapters in other cities worldwide, take note! Look for opportunities to be a catalyst for building this unity - donate your energies to create unique music events within the communities where you live, and involve as many of the different organizations or groups within the neighborhood as you can. Nothing is too small to be worthwhile, and nothing is too big to tackle. I am living proof that you will survive (the lack of sleep and extension of your working hours), and help will appear, and you will be so glad to have met and worked with so many new friends and wonderful people! It is a rather magical thing to suddenly realize that your "mission" has been accomplished for you, and by everyone involved. Thank you again, Oktoberfest team!

LFL musician Vanessa Vo to speak at TEDx, Stockton, CA, Oct 12th

2011-10-12T01:18:00.000-07:00

Listen for Life musician

Vân-Ánh Vanessa Võ

will be a Guest Speaker at

TEDx San Joaquin

Wednesday, October 12th, 2011

at the

University of the Pacific
Stockton, California, USA

For full details of this all-day event, please visit www.tedxsanjoaquin.org.

Vanessa will talk at around 4pm Pacific Time, on:
"Breathing New Air into Tradition"

at: DeRosa University Center Ballroom,University of the Pacific, Stockton, CA, 95204 [map]

Note: Vanessa is one of the 8 artists who will be performing in the Listen for Life
concert at Carnegie Hall on Jan 8th, 2012. See www.listenforlife.org/carnegie for details.

[added Nov 18th, 2011]: Here's the video of Vanessa's TEDx talk and performance!

[The entire day's proceedings was streamed live over the Internet at www.tedxsanjoaquin.org.]

From the "Speakers" page at the TEDx Website:

" Van-Anh Vanessa Vo dedicates her life to creating music on the dan Tranh (16-string zither) and fusing her traditional Vietnamese foundation with a freshness of new structures and compositions.

Since settled in California, she has been a collaborator and solo artist with such musicians and groups as Kronos Quartet, Nguyen Le, Paul McCandless, Ali Ryerson, Charles Loos, SOMEI Taiko Ensemble, Wobbly World, as well as lending her talents to fundraising events for several non- profit organizations. Continually cultivates the beauty and versatility of the dan Tranh to feature her beloved instrument in an international music genre, Van-Anh has been co-composer and arranger for the Oscar® nomimated and Sundance Grand Jury Prize for Best Documentary, Daughter from Danang (2002), the Emmy® Award-winning film and soundtrack for Bolinao 52 (2008), and the multiple award-winning film A Village Called Versailles (2009). Recently, Van-Anh released newest CD “She’s Not She” with award-winning composer Do Van-Anh began studying dan tranh from the age of four, and graduated with distinction from the Vietnam Academy of Music. In 1995, Van-Anh won championship in the Vietnam National Dan Tranh Competition along with the first prize for best solo performance of modern folk music. She has since performed in more than fourteen countries and recorded in many broadcast programs inside and outside of Vietnam. Her first CD “Twelve Months, Four Seasons” was released in 2002. She lives and teaches dan tranh and other Vietnamese traditional instruments in Fremont, California."

[This page was first posted on October 1st, 2011]

Slavyanka concert in Clovis (near Fresno, CA), Sat Oct 22, 2011

2011-10-01T21:52:00.000-07:00

will perform on

Saturday, October 22, 2011, 7:30pm

at

Unitarian Universalist Church of Fresno

2672 E. Alluvial Ave., Clovis, CA 93611
Directions / map

Ultra World X-tet concert in San Francisco -- Friday, Oct 21st, 2011

2011-09-24T12:44:00.000-07:00

UPDATE!

ULTRA WORLD X-TET's Gary Schwantes and Winnie Wong were interviewed on KALW's "Bay Area Beats", broadcast on Wed Oct 19th. The interview may be heard HERE.

ULTRA WORLD X-TET
in concert

Fri. Oct. 21, 2011 - 8pm

Old First Church

1751 Sacramento St. (at Van Ness), San Francisco, CA 94109 [map]

(415) 474-1608

Discounted Parking Available at

Old First Parking Garage

1725 Sacramento St.

www.oldfirstconcerts.org/performances/

www.garyschwantes.com/uwxtet.htm

TICKETS

$17 General

$14 Seniors (65 and older)

$14 Full Time Students

Children 12 and under Free

ULTRA WORLD X-TET will present a concert of new works October 21, 2011 at Old First Church in San Francisco. The ensemble’s unusual instrumentation includes 4 Guzhengs (23 string Chinese zither) as well as saxophone, bamboo flute, bass, and percussion. You won't want to miss the X-tet's pioneering mix of music and culture.

The program will be mostly comprised of world premiere pieces. The ensemble's sound draws from Western and Asian traditional and contemporary concert forms, modern jazz, and experimental textures.

Ultra World X-tet: Gary Schwantes, Saxophones/Bamboo Flutes - Winnie Wong, Guzheng – Raymond Froehlich, Drums/Percussion – Krista Gon, Guzheng – Kimberly Wong, Guzheng – Melia Yee, Guzheng, Doug Ebert, Bass

Link to bilingual concert poster: Bilingual Concert Poster

Ensemble website: http://www.garyschwantes.com/uwxtet.htm

Direct Link to Video: Night of the 15th Moon

Direct Link to Ensemble photo: (hi resolution version available on request)

ULTRA WORLD X-TET Photo

The ensemble’s first CD, Moon and Legend is available at many outlets.

Including CD Baby Moon and Legend CD and iTunes Moon and Legend on iTunes

Press contact: Gary Schwantes (415) 601-6575 garyspro@gmail.com

Donna Stoering on "Lena Live" BBS Radio - Tue Oct 4th at 1pm PDT

2011-09-24T11:28:00.000-07:00

Listen for Life founder

Donna Stoering

will be interviewed on

"Lena Live" BBS Radio

Donna will talk about her forthcoming book:

"Change Your Music, Change Your Life"

Tuesday, October 4th, 2011, at 1pm (Pacific Time)

Listen for Life founder Donna Stoering

will be the special guest on

"Lena Live" BBS Radio

Host: Lena Miremonde

Donna's segment of the show will begin at:

1:00pm Pacific Time (US West Coast)

2:00pm Mountain Time (Denver)

3:00pm Central Time (Chicago)

4:00 pm Eastern Time (New York)

This interview will be streamed live over the Internet HERE.

Donna will be discussing music's power to affect our children's (or our own!) moods,

thoughts, mental alertness, cultural attitudes, and behavior in our family or community.

If YOU have experienced a change in your life brought about by changing the type of music that you listen to, please email Donna at cymcyl-stories@listenforlife.org.
She would love to hear your story, and possibly include part of it in her forthcoming book
"Change Your Music, Change Your Life".

Slavyanka concert inTiburon, Sunday September 25th 2011

2011-09-24T08:40:00.000-07:00

will perform on

Sunday, September 25, 2011, 3:30pm

at

Westminster Presbyterian Church

240 Tiburon Blvd
Tiburon, CA 94920

Directions / map

Get Tickets for this concert

Slavyanka concert in Oakland, Saturday September 24th, 2011

2011-09-24T01:30:00.000-07:00

will perform on

Saturday, September 24, 2011, 7:30pm

at

St. Paul's Episcopal Church

114 Montecito St (nr Grand Ave)
Oakland, CA 94610

map & directions

Get Tickets for this concert

Don't forget -- Peace Day Concert is in Oakland TODAY!!!

2011-09-21T07:20:00.000-07:00

Listen for Life presents

A FREE multicultural music celebration
of
UN International Peace Day 2011

for the City of Oakland, California

Wednesday September 21st 2011 from 5pm - 7pm

at the bandstand/stage of Preservation Park
at
Martin Luther King Jr Way & 13th St, Oakland [map]
(7 mins walk from 12th St - Oakland City Center BART Station)

FREE Admission!

[Click poster, or HERE, for full-size version]

Performances will feature these internationally renowned groups, each playing for 30mins:

- Rafael Manriquez and Ingrid Rubis (music of Central/South America)
- Steven Espaniola (award winning and sought-after young performer from Hawaii)
- Pope Flyne and friends (popular African styles from his native Ghana and other countries)
- Rumen "Sali" Shopov & Inspector Gadje (Balkan Romani "Gypsy" Brass Band)

Donna Stoering on Voices on the Net - Mon Sept 12th at 9am PDT

2011-09-12T03:02:00.000-07:00

Listen for Life founder

Donna Stoering

will be interviewed on

Voices on the Net

Donna will talk about her forthcoming book:

"Change Your Music, Change Your Life"

Monday, September 12th, 2011, at 9am (Pacific Time)

Listen for Life founder Donna Stoering

will be the special guest on

Voices on the Net

Host: "JJ"

Donna's segment of the show will begin at:

9:00am Pacific Time (US West Coast)

10:00am Mountain Time (Denver)

11:00am Central Time (Chicago)

12:00 noon Eastern Time (New York)

This interview will be streamed live over the Internet HERE.

[Added Sept 14th]:
This Interview, which was streamed Live and recorded on September 12th, is
now available as a video podcast!

She will be discussing music's power to affect our children's (or our own!) moods,

thoughts, mental alertness, cultural attitudes, and behavior in our family or community.

Donna Stoering on Immaculate Heart Radio, SF, Sept 10th, 7am PDT

2011-09-10T01:18:00.000-07:00

Listen for Life founder

Donna Stoering

will be interviewed on

Immaculate Heart Radio

San Francisco 1260AM

Donna will talk about her forthcoming book:

"Change Your Music, Change Your Life"

Saturday, September 10th, 2011, at 7am (Pacific Time)

Listen for Life founder Donna Stoering

will be the special guest

on Immaculate Heart Radio 1260AM

in San Francisco, California

Host: Elizabeth Campisi

Donna's segment of the show will begin at:

7:00am Pacific Time (US West Coast)

She will be discussing music's power to affect our children's (or our own!) moods,

thoughts, mental alertness, cultural attitudes, and behavior in our family or community.

Oktoberfest celebration in San Jose, Saturday October 15th

2011-09-06T07:57:00.000-07:00

OKTOBERFEST in SAN JOSE, CALIFORNIA!

If you happen to be in the SAN JOSE area on

Saturday October 15th, (6pm-10pm)...

come to an Oktoberfest music celebration

being produced by Listen for Life at:

St Leo's Church - parish hall

88 Race Street (just off The Alameda, near downtown)

San Jose, CA 95126 [map]

European food, beers, wine and family fun will all be available and accompanied by free live traditional Oktoberfest music played from 6-10pm by the Don Sommerfeld Band performing polkas, German drinking songs, etc with accordion, brass, percussion, and song - come dance and have a great time!

The following PDF files may be opened / downloaded / printed:

Postscript:

If you helped to organize the event, or volunteered your time, -- or even just attended!

-- we would LOVE to hear your thoughts and comments below!

Listen for Life founder Donna Stoering has written a post elsewhere on this Blog, in which she talks about some of the steps involved in producing this event.

Also, if you have any good photos of the event, please send them to webmaster@listenforlife.org.

Thank you!

Fundraiser Concert in Los Altos Hills, California, October 2nd 2011

2011-09-02T07:05:00.000-07:00

Dear friends,

Wouldn't you love the chance to see, hear, and mingle with our "local neighborhood star" and former CSMA pupil, Grammy-nominee jazz phenomenon Taylor Eigsti, "up close and personal" in a private house concert ? Taylor is being featured in a special Listen for Life (www.listenforlife.org) benefit event that is generously being hosted at a gorgeous private estate on SUNDAY October 2nd at 4pm (wine reception commences at 3pm and all are welcome).

Other performers for this special house concert will include:

the Emmy-award winner and National Music Champion of Vietnam, Vanessa Van Anh Vo;
award-winning Hawaiian music star Patrick Landeza;
opera prodigy Ricky Garcia, and
internationally renowned concert pianist Donna Stoering.

Taylor Eigsti will be the featured performer with a half-hour set all to himself, because he doesn't get out from NY all that often and the chances to hear him in this intimate of a setting are very rare indeed.

Suggested donation is a minimum $75 per person as this event is a fundraiser for Listen for Life's projects and programs which have thus far impacted the lives of 9 million people in 55 countries.

Listen for Life is a global family of music listeners, teachers, performers and producers, working together to change the world through music. Our global headquarters are here in the Bay Area and we welcome all music listeners to join our family!

For more information on Listen for Life, or to reserve a place for October 2nd, please phone 510 540 8136 or email events@listenforlife.org

FREE Concert for Peace Day, Downtown Oakland, Sept 21st 2011

2011-09-01T08:15:00.000-07:00

[Click poster, or HERE, for full-size version]

Performances will feature these internationally renowned groups, each playing for 30mins:

- Rafael Manriquez and Ingrid Rubis (music of Central/South America)
- Steven Espaniola (award winning and sought-after young performer from Hawaii)
- Pope Flyne and friends (popular African styles from his native Ghana and other countries)
- Rumen "Sali" Shopov & Inspector Gadje (Balkan Romani "Gypsy" Brass Band)

Donna Stoering's recent Interviews

2011-08-30T18:52:00.000-07:00

Donna has been giving interviews (on the radio and streaming-media stations) regarding her upcoming book "Change Your Music Change Your Life". Here are links to some recent ones:

- Sunday Aug 28th 1pm PDT, KSTE (Sacramento) - online stream HERE.
- Sunday Aug 28th 9pm PDT, FCCFreeRadio, online stream HERE.
- Monday Aug 29th 10:20am PDT Voices on the Net [postponed due to Irene]
- Monday Aug 29th 3:55pm PDT BBS Radio - Dresser After Dark
- Tuesday Aug 30th 9am PDT Everyday Wisdom for Families.
Monday September 12th, "Voices on the Net", now available as a video podcast!
Tuesday Oct 4th at 1pm PDT, on "Lena Live" BBS Radio. More...

Donna Stoering on "Everday Wisdom for Families", Aug 30th 9am PDT

2011-08-30T07:46:00.000-07:00

Listen for Life founder

Donna Stoering

will be interviewed on

Everyday Wisdom for Families

Donna will talk about her forthcoming book:

"Change Your Music, Change Your Life"

Tuesday, August 30th, 2011, at 9am (Pacific Time)

Listen for Life founder Donna Stoering

will be the special guest

on the online radio station Everyday Wisdom for Families

Host: Kellie Ann Peterson

Donna's segment of the show will begin at:

9am Pacific Time (US West Coast)

10am Mountain Time (Denver)

11am Central Time (Chicago)

12 noon Eastern Time (New York)

She will be discussing music's power to affect our children's (or our own!) moods,

thoughts, mental alertness, cultural attitudes, and behavior in our family or community.

This interview is available via streaming audio,
or may be downloaded for later listening, HERE:

If YOU have experienced a change in your life brought about by changing the type of music that you listen to, please email Donna at cymcyl-stories@listenforlife.org.
She would love to hear your story, and possibly include part of it in her forthcoming book
"Change Your Music, Change Your Life".

Donna Stoering on BBS Radio (online) - Mon Aug 29th at 3:55pm PDT

2011-08-29T15:27:00.000-07:00

Listen for Life founder

Donna Stoering

will be interviewed on

BBS Radio's

Dresser After Dark

Donna will talk about her forthcoming book:

"Change Your Music, Change Your Life"

Monday, August 28th, 2011, at 3:55pm (Pacific Time)

Listen for Life founder Donna Stoering

will be the special guest

on the online radio station BBS Radio

Host: Michael Ray Dresser

Donna's segment of the show will begin at:

3:55pm Pacific Time (US West Coast)

4:55pm Mountain Time (Denver)

5:55pm Central Time (Chicago)

6:55pm Eastern Time (New York)

She will be discussing music's power to affect our children's (or our own!) moods,

thoughts, mental alertness, cultural attitudes, and behavior in our family or community.

This interview will be streamed live over the Internet HERE.

If YOU have experienced a change in your life brought about by changing the type of music that you listen to, please email Donna at cymcyl-stories@listenforlife.org.
She would love to hear your story, and possibly include part of it in her forthcoming book
"Change Your Music, Change Your Life".

Donna Stoering on FCCFreeRadio (online) - Sun Aug 28th at 9pm PDT

2011-08-27T15:19:00.000-07:00

Listen for Life founder

Donna Stoering

will be interviewed on

FCCFreeRadio

Donna will talk about her forthcoming book:

"Change Your Music, Change Your Life"

Sunday, August 28th, 2011, at 9pm (Pacific Time)

Listen for Life founder Donna Stoering

will be the special guest

on the online radio station FCCFreeRadio

Host: Rob E. Davis

Donna's segment of the show will begin at:

9:00pm Pacific Time (US West Coast)

10:00pm Mountain Time (Denver)

11:00pm Central Time (Chicago)

12:00 midnight Eastern Time (New York)

She will be discussing music's power to affect our children's (or our own!) moods,

thoughts, mental alertness, cultural attitudes, and behavior in our family or community.

A Tale of Two Operas: experiencing Glyndebourne

2011-08-22T16:39:00.000-07:00

While here in the UK for a variety of activities and meetings, had a wonderful invite to attend a performance of Benjamin Britten's opera "Turn of the Screw" at Britain's revered summer opera festival at Glyndebourne last evening. While the story of this opera is harrowing and not exactly pleasant to think about (much less try to perform, I would imagine) the entire production was so artistically crafted and unbelievably perfect in its execution that the excitment it engendered in the hall was both palpable and unforgettable.

Before you get any strange ideas, it is said that the opera's title "Turn of the Screw" refers to a musical/compositional technique where variations on a theme are turned through a set of spiraling key changes, tighter and tighter - even though the opera in question was actually based on a sort of ghost story of the same name, written by novelist Henry James. The operatic version has a tiny ensemble cast - no chorus and no minor parts; and all six of the roles were filled by star soloists who seemed to be born specifically to sing/act these specific roles. My two personal favorites were the very young soprano Joanna Songi who sang the part of Flora with an unusually beautiful chestnut-colored timbre, and the very very young treble (boy soprano), 12-year old Thomas Parfitt, who played the role of Miles and stood out for his spookily sensitive acting skills as well as his highly musical singing and clarion tone. Looking over the sumptiously produced Festival programme booklet, I came upon a photo of the opera's composer as a school boy and was startled at the striking, uncanny resemblance between Benjamin Britten and Thomas Parfitt at the same age. Not that I imagine that young Thomas was "channeling" the composer in his youth while playing this role, but it could have just added to the eeriness of the entire evening, perhaps. At one critical point in the opera, Thomas is on stage pretending to be playing very technically-demanding music on the piano (which is actually being played by a professional pianist in the pit). We have all seen piano playing mimed relatively well and/or very badly indeed, on various movies, but Thomas' live onstage miming was by far the best execution of that task that any of us had ever seen, anywhere. The program notes do say that he is a pianist and oboist as well as a boy chorister on music scholarship, but his piano skills have to be considerable to have done all of the required hand/arm/finger movements, chord clusters and frequently changing rhythms to such a thoroughly convincing onstage effect, coordinated precisely with the actual pit performance and during a very intricate, complicated piece with other singing and acting going on all around him. Definitely a young talent to rejoice in and watch for!

The other four roles were all sung by major renowned stars of the British opera world: tenor Toby Spence, sopranos Kate Royal and Giselle Allen, and mezzo-soprano Susan Bickley. Mr Spence does have a quintessentially English tenor voice and was the definite crowd favorite, but all four of them did their roles with such total perfection and complete conviction that I cannot possibly imagine seeing this opera with other singers taking their places. But the largest praise (and also gratitude) needs to be heaped on the conductor Jakub Hrusa and to the London Philharmonic's chamber ensemble that played so brilliantly and beautifully under his incredibly sensitive and spine-tingling direction. Every phrase of the opera was expressively shaped and yet tautly driven to a destination. The singers were given both guidance and space, accompanied or responded to with magical, haunting instrumental colors. I kept tearing my eyes away from the stage and soloists in order to watch Maestro Hrusa's sensitive shaping and direction of the orchestra down in the pit, because the combination of tension and beauty he created was positively mesmerizing.

Hrusa made it possible for every one of the opera's stars to exhibit such absolute identification with their roles that the listeners became completely absorbed into the disturbing story - I overheard various patrons saying at the intermission that they had a strangely difficult time, as they left the theatre for "picnics" on the lawn area (three course meals on china prepared by a world class chef), to pull their minds out of the opera and "back to reality" at this special social event to be enjoyed, traditionally, with both old and new acquaintances.

And therein lies the tale of the second opera, really....the entire setting and grounds and manor house of Glyndebourne combine to create an ideal opera stage backdrop for the intermingled lives and smilingly scandalous tales of England's most fortunate, and they all gather at Glyndebourne each year for the festival and greet old friends among the linen-covered tablecloths that blow in the evening breeze (or gale, if one is unlucky with the weather). Mozart would have had a field day! But in all seriousness, I met some wonderful people and hope to have made some very special new friends...and Glyndebourne is to be highly commended for its huge success in rolling out a new scheme that makes very inexpensive tickets available for each performance, to anyone under 30. There was ample evidence of that under-30 age group throughout the newly renovated opera house (fabulous, intimate acoustics!) and the extensive gardens and lawns as well. Indeed, throughout Britain's concert halls and opera houses there is a concerted effort being made to make opera both accessible and affordable to youth, and it is paying off hugely, with a large and significant percent of increase in that demographic amongst the audience, and the numbers continue to increase each year.

Other countries should take note! The British are succeeding in getting across to music listeners that opera is definitely "for the masses" and "about the masses", weird spooky tales or not. As I explained to one first-time patron last evening, opera is simply telling a story in a way that heightens your senses and your emotional identification with the characters, because the physical act of singing can express feelings at a depth that the acting alone could never do, while the instrumental music beneath it creates colors and harmonies that open your heart to receive those feelings. That may sound a bit unecessarily complicated now in the retelling, but she seemed to think it made great sense at the time! :)

Donna Stoering on KBMW (Wahpeton, ND) - Wed Aug 10th

2011-08-10T04:33:00.000-07:00

Listen for Life founder

Donna Stoering

will be interviewed on

KBMW Radio AM1450

Donna will talk about her forthcoming book:

"Change Your Music, Change Your Life"

Wednesday, August 10th, 2011, at 08:30am (Central Time)

Listen for Life founder Donna Stoering

will be the special guest

on radio station KBMW AM1450

"The Voice of the Valley"

in Wahpeton, ND (also serving Breckenridge, MN)

Host: Jamie Dickerman

Donna's segment of the show will begin at: 08:30am Central Time

She will be discussing music's power to affect our children's (or our own!) moods,

thoughts, mental alertness, cultural attitudes, and behavior in our family or community.

This interview will be available for streaming and download via podcast.
Please watch this space for details!

If YOU have experienced a change in your life brought about by changing the type of music that you listen to, please email Donna at cymcyl-stories@listenforlife.org.
She would love to hear your story, and possibly include part of it in her forthcoming book
"Change Your Music, Change Your Life".

Donna Stoering on VOCM (St. John's, NL, Canada) - Tue Aug 9th

2011-08-08T20:10:00.000-07:00

Listen for Life founder

Donna Stoering

will be interviewed on

590 VOCM Radio

Donna will talk about her forthcoming book:

"Change Your Music, Change Your Life"

Tuesday, August 9th, 2011, at 09:30am (Pacific Time)

Streamed LIVE over the Internet

(To listen online, go HERE, then click "Listen to VOCM".)

Listen for Life founder Donna Stoering

will be the special guest

on radio station 590 VOCM

in St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada,

Host: Brian O'Connell

Donna's segment of the show will begin at:

09:30am Pacific Time (US West Coast)

10:30am Mountain Time (Denver)

11:30am Central Time (Chicago)

12:30pm Eastern Time (New York)
2:00pm Newfoundland Time (St. John's)

She will be discussing music's power to affect our children's (or our own!) moods,

thoughts, mental alertness, cultural attitudes, and behavior in our family or community.

You can also listen in LIVE on the INTERNET HERE (click "Listen to VOCM").

If YOU have experienced a change in your life brought about by changing the type of music that you listen to, please email Donna at cymcyl-stories@listenforlife.org. She would love to hear your story, and possibly include part of it in her forthcoming book
"Change Your Music, Change Your Life".

Donna Stoering on WEGP Radio (Maine) - Monday morning Aug 8th

2011-08-07T18:34:00.000-07:00

Listen for Life founder

Donna Stoering

will be interviewed on

WEGP 1390AM

Donna will talk about her forthcoming book:

"Change Your Music, Change Your Life"

Monday, August 8th, 2011, at 08:30am (Pacific Time)

Streamed LIVE over the Internet

(To listen online, go HERE.)

Listen for Life founder Donna Stoering

will be the special guest on "It's Your Life"

on radio station WEGP 1390AM in Maine,
"We aspire to create a healthier community."

Donna's segment of the show will begin at:

08:30am Pacific Time (US West Coast)

09:30am Mountain Time (Denver)

10:30am Central Time (Chicago)

11:30am Eastern Time (New York)

She will be discussing music's power to affect our children's (or our own!) moods,

thoughts, mental alertness, cultural attitudes, and behavior in our family or community.

You can also listen in LIVE on the INTERNET HERE.

If YOU have experienced a change in your life brought about by changing the type of music that you listen to, please email Donna at cymcyl-stories@listenforlife.org. She would love to hear your story, and possibly include part of it in her forthcoming book
"Change Your Music, Change Your Life".

Donna Stoering on WAXE Radio (Florida) - Monday morning Aug 8th

2011-08-07T18:20:00.000-07:00

Listen for Life founder

Donna Stoering

will be interviewed on

WAXE - 1370AM

Donna will talk about her forthcoming book:

"Change Your Music, Change Your Life"

Monday, August 8th, 2011, at 06:30am (Pacific Time)

Streamed LIVE over the Internet

(To listen online, go HERE.)

Listen for Life founder Donna Stoering

will be the special guest on "The Florida Show"

on radio station WAXE 1370AM in Florida,

hosted by Rhett Palmer.

The Website for "The Florida Show" is HERE.

Donna's segment of the show will begin at:

06:30am Pacific Time (US West Coast)

07:30am Mountain Time (Denver)

08:30am Central Time (Chicago)

09:30am Eastern Time (New York)

She will be discussing music's power to affect our children's (or our own!) moods,

thoughts, mental alertness, cultural attitudes, and behavior in our family or community.

Call in with your questions or comments, at: (772) 564-0400 !

What kind of music do YOU like to listen to?

2011-08-05T00:47:00.001-07:00

What kind of music do YOU like to listen to?

When you're cleaning the house, or walking, or driving...

...or happy, or sad?

Please add your comments below!

If you came to this Blog because you heard me talk on the radio,
please mention which show it was!

Thanks!

Donna Stoering

Donna Stoering on 850 KOA Radio - early morning Friday August 5th

2011-08-03T22:03:00.000-07:00

Listen for Life founder

Donna Stoering

will be interviewed on

850 KOA News Radio

Donna will talk about her forthcoming book:

"Change Your Music, Change Your Life"

early Friday morning, August 5th, 2011, at midnight (Pacific Time)

Streamed LIVE over the Internet

(To listen online, go HERE, then click either "Launch Player" or "Streaming Player" button.)

Listen for Life founder Donna Stoering

will be the special guest for a one-hour program

on nationally known radio station 850 KOA News Radio in Denver Colorado,

with talk show host Rick Barber.

The Website for Rick's show "After Midnight" is HERE.

Donna's segment of the show will last from:

12 midnight - 1am Pacific Time (US West Coast)

1am - 2am Mountain Time (Denver)

2am - 3am Central Time (Chicago)

3am - 4am Eastern Time (New York)

She will be discussing music's power to affect our children's (or our own!) moods,

thoughts, mental alertness, cultural attitudes, and behavior in our family or community.

Call in with your questions or comments, at: (303) 713-8585 !

You can also listen in LIVE on the INTERNET by going HERE,
then clicking on either "Launch Player" or "Streaming Player" button.

If YOU have experienced a change in your life brought about by changing the type of music that you listen to, please email Donna at cymcyl-stories@listenforlife.org.

She would love to hear your story, and possibly include part of it in her forthcoming book
"Change Your Music, Change Your Life".

"Vietnamese Luau" Fundraiser Event in Lafayette, August 25th 2011

2011-08-03T14:00:00.000-07:00

presents

A Vietnamese Luau

Thursday August 25th, 2011 at 5:30pm

[click on graphic above, or HERE, for full-size poster for printing]

featuring

Patrick Landeza (Hawaiian Slack-Key Guitar)

and

Van-Anh Vanessa Vo (Traditional Vietnamese Percussion)

This concert will be a Fundraiser for Listen for Life's
January 8th 2012 concert at Carnegie Hall, NY

This is a very special dinner-concert in a private estate

in Lafayette, California and seating is limited

to the first 70 people who register to attend

- so if you can come, PLEASE RSVP immediately !!

For tickets and information please call 510.540.8136
or email Listen for Life at events@listenforlife.org

Listen for Life Website: www.listenforlife.org

Slavyanka at Fort Ross Cultural Heritage Day, July 30th 2011

2011-07-30T06:08:00.000-07:00

will be performing at the

Fort Ross Cultural Heritage Day

Fort Ross Celebration of Russian America 1812-1841

Saturday July 30th, 2011

10am-5pm

Fort Ross State Historical Park [map]
Hwy 1, 15 miles north of Jenner,
Sonoma County, California 95450

Slavyanka will sing:
10:00am Russian Secular Music
2:00pm Russian Liturgical Music

with guest soloist Donna Stoering (founder of Listen for Life)

This event is free to the public, after parking fee.

Further details at www.fortrossstatepark.org.

Photos of the event [by courtesy of Kirill Mogilev]: [click photos for higher-resolution versions]

Slavyanka at Fort Ross July 30th, 2011	Slavyanka, with guest soloist Donna Stoering (Founder andArtistic Director of Listen for Life)	Andy Anderson (Executive Director of Listen for Life) addresses the crowds.

Benefit Concert, Saturday July 16th, Milpitas (California)

2011-07-11T07:31:00.000-07:00

Listen for Life recommends:

"Let LOVE Continue"

Saturday July 16th, 2011, at 3pm

Crosspoint Church, 658 Gibraltar Ct, Milpitas CA 95035 [map]

2011 Benefit / Fundraising Concert

[Click image for full-size poster to download / print / distribute]

Guzheng Ensemble, Dance, Instrumental Ensemble:

Admission: $25

Contact: Tel (510) 818-9883 or email: suechan@worldcrm.org

All are welcome to attend this amazing concert, for the benefit of the Next Generation!

"Notes for Nourishment" Concert in Hood River, Oregon Tue May 24th

2011-05-17T08:18:00.000-07:00

presents

A "Notes for Nourishment" Concert

Tuesday May 24th, 2011, 7pm

Riverside Community Church

4th and State Sts

Hood River, OR 97031 [map]

ERIN NOLAN (Viola) and DONNA STOERING (Piano)

FREE ADMISSION
(free-will donation encouraged.)

Concert Program:

Elegie (arr for viola and piano)

Selected dances from the
Unaccompanied Cello Suites
(transcribed for solo viola)

- Andante un poco Adagio,
- Vivace in F Major
(both from Sonata Opus 120 #1 for clarinet and piano, with the clarinet part transcribed for viola)

Gabriel Fauré

J.S. Bach

Johannes Brahms

“A Walk within Winter”
(for solo piano, composed
in 1995 for Donna Stoering)

Brent Heisinger

Donna will announce other solo piano works
that she will play on this occasion.

Audio Samples from this Concert:

[Click playlist text to play audio]

This audio player
requires Adobe Flash

www.listenforlife.org

Further details on Notes for Nourishment Concerts are at www.notesfornourishment.org
and
www.listenforlife.org/notesfornourishment

MUSICIAN BIOS:

Donna Stoering is an internationally known concert pianist and singer, and Grammy award nominee, and has been an artistic ambassador for both the USA and Great Britain. Donna is the Founder and Artistic Director of the Listen for Life Foundation.

Erin Nolan has performed at Carnegie Hall with Yo-Yo Ma and the Silk Road Project and toured as part of the English Chamber Orchestra, the BBC Symphony, and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra.
She is the founder of
Notes for Nourishment.

"Notes for Nourishment" Concert in Salem, Oregon Sun May 22nd

2011-05-17T07:05:00.000-07:00

presents

A "Notes for Nourishment" Concert

Sunday May 22nd, 2011, at 3pm

First United Methodist Church

600 State Street,
Salem OR 97301 [map]

ERIN NOLAN (Viola) and DONNA STOERING (Piano)

FREE ADMISSION

(free-will donation encouraged, to benefit
the Interfaith Hospitality Network in Salem.
If you are unable to attend the concert in person,
donations may be made online directly at the above link.)

Concert Program:

Gabriel Fauré

J.S. Bach

Johannes Brahms

“A Walk within Winter”
(for solo piano, composed
in 1995 for Donna Stoering)

Brent Heisinger

Donna will announce other solo piano works
that she will play on this occasion.

www.listenforlife.org

Further details on Notes for Nourishment Concerts are at www.notesfornourishment.org
and
www.listenforlife.org/notesfornourishment

If you enjoy hearing music from different cultures, please visit
Listen for Life's YouTube channel at www.listenforlife.org/youtube!

"Listen for Life" Events in Honolulu, Hawaii, May 15th and 16th

2011-05-10T08:33:00.000-07:00

presents

Spring Reverie

A "Notes for Nourishment" Concert

Sunday May 15th, 2011 at 7pm

Calvary By the Sea Lutheran Church

5339 Kalanianaole Highway
Honolulu, Hawaii 96821 [map]

ERIN NOLAN (Viola) and DONNA STOERING (Piano)

FREE ADMISSION
(free-will donation encouraged)

Concert Program:

Elegie (arr for viola and piano)

Selected dances from the
Unaccompanied Cello Suites
(transcribed for solo viola)

Gabriel Fauré

J.S. Bach

Other selections for viola and piano duo, to be announced
Erin Nolan, viola, and Donna Stoering, piano

“A Walk within Winter”
(for solo piano, composed
in 1995 for Donna Stoering)

Brent Heisinger

Donna will announce other solo piano works
that she will play on this evening.

Additional events on

Monday May 16th, 2011:

12 noon - 1pm:
"Change Your Music, Change Your Life"
A Talk by Donna Stoering, founder of Listen for Life

Rotary Luncheon, hosted at
Willows Restaurant, 901 Hausten St, Honolulu, HI 97826 [map]

7pm:
"Music and Spirituality"
A Lecture Recital by Donna Stoering,
sharing music and words on the theme of Music and Spirituality

Calvary By the Sea Lutheran Church

5339 Kalanianaole Highway, Honolulu, HI 96821 [map]

Admission to the above events are
FREE to the public.

However, free-will donations will be collected to benefit:

Sounding Joy Music Therapy in Hawaii,
The Honolulu Symphony Orchestra, and
Listen for Life projects worldwide.

Donna Stoering would like to extend personal thanks to:
Mr. Tom Poole at Calvary by the Sea Lutheran Church, for his help in setting up the two events here on May 15 and 16,

and especially to
Miho Miki May, for donating a tremendous amount of time, organizing assistance, contacts, love, support, and generosity of spirit, in making these events happen

www.listenforlife.org

Further details on Notes for Nourishment Concerts are at www.notesfornourishment.org
and
www.listenforlife.org/notesfornourishment

"Notes for Nourishment" Concert in Oakland, Wed May 11th, 7pm

2011-04-27T16:15:00.000-07:00

presents a Benefit Concert

"Nourish Your Neighborhood"

Wednesday May 11th, 2011 at 7pm

(refreshments will be served at 6:30pm, concert starts at 7pm)

Our Lady of Lourdes Church

2808 Lakeshore Ave
Oakland, CA 94610 [map]
(510) 451-1790

ERIN NOLAN (Viola) and DONNA STOERING (Piano)

plus the Listen for Life Chorale
(making their Oakland debut)

FREE ADMISSION
(free-will donation encouraged)

Concert Program:

Elegie (arr for viola and piano)

Selected dances from the
Unaccompanied Cello Suites
(transcribed for solo viola)

Vocalise (arr for viola and piano)

Gabriel Fauré

J.S. Bach

Sergei Rachmaninov

[There will then be a brief pause to appreciate the work of St Vincent de Paul volunteers in our neighborhood and to pass baskets to collect donations to benefit their activities]

“A Walk within Winter”
(for solo piano, composed
in 1995 for Donna Stoering)

Brent Heisinger

Donna will announce other solo piano works that she will play on this evening.

Several choral selections will then be performed by the recently-formed Listen for Life Chorale, making their Oakland debut.

Admission to the concert is
FREE to the public.

However, free-will donations will be collected to benefit the work of the St Vincent de Paul Society services in the neighborhood of the church.

Donations may also be made online here.

www.listenforlife.org

Further details on Notes for Nourishment Concerts are at www.notesfornourishment.org
and
www.listenforlife.org/notesfornourishment

A new choir formed from singers across California, from Santa Cruz to Sacramento to Berkeley.

Singers at this performance will include:

Andy Anderson
Liz Calame
Mario Cuestas
Jenny Griffin
John Kevin Harcharik
Erin Nolan
Erin Stokes Oliver
Rebecca Sulek

Conductor / Accompanist:

Donna Stoering

The Chorale gave
its debut performance
in San Jose on April 20th; the May 11th concert
will be its Oakland debut.

"Notes for Nourishment" Concert in St Louis area, April 30th, 7pm

2011-04-21T10:12:00.000-07:00

presents an Evening of

Classical and Sacred Music

Saturday April 30th, 2011 at 7pm

St Justin Martyr Church

11910 Eddie & Park Road
Sunset Hills, Missouri 63126 [map]

ERIN NOLAN (Viola) and DONNA STOERING (Piano)

will perform the music of

Fauré, Bach, Schubert, and Chopin

NO TICKETS ARE REQUIRED FOR ADMISSION.

Free-will contributions at the concert will benefit the education
of the postulants of the Daughters of St. Paul. You can also donate directly online at fsppostulants.blogspot.com.

THE DAUGHTERS OF ST. PAUL are a self-supporting missionary congregation of religious Sisters serving throughout the United States and the world. Using all forms of social communications, they proclaim the Gospel message. For more information, please visit the website of the order at www.daughtersofstpaul.com.

The complete
CONCERT PROGRAM
is available for download and printing; please click on the thumbnail image at left for the full PDF file (1.5MB).

Further details on Notes for Nourishment Concerts are at www.notesfornourishment.org
and
www.listenforlife.org/notesfornourishment

[Click on poster for larger
version to download /print.]

Many thanks to
Father Weber and
St Justin Martyr Church
for their generosity in hosting this event.

"Notes for Nourishment" Concert in San Jose, April 20th, 7pm

2011-04-14T08:16:00.000-07:00

presents a

Cross-Cultural Music Concert

Wednesday April 20th, 2011 at 7pm

St Leo the Great

88 Race Street, San Jose, CA 95126 [map]

Program:

Donna Stoering, internationally renowned concert pianist, will play works by Rachmaninov, Chopin, and San Jose-based world music composer Brent Heisinger.
Three cellists (Ellen Sanders, Gerald Miller, and Graham Nelson) from the San José Chamber Orchestra will join Ms. Stoering (piano) in playing "Requiem" by David Popper.
The Listen for Life Chorale conducted by Ms. Stoering, will perform several short contemporary sacred works and then conclude the evening with "Service of Darkness" by Dale Wood, a haunting and powerful contemporary setting of the Seven last Words (Tenebrae) which will have spoken meditations by Fr. Marcelo Navarro, IVE before each of the 7 short pieces.

The concert is a Listen for Life "Notes for Nourishment" event hosted by: St Leo the Great parish, 88 Race St, San Jose, California 95126, and will take place in the church but is FREE and open to the public of all faiths, cultures and demographics

Donations will be collected to benefit the work of the St Vincent de Paul Society services in the neighborhood of the church.

Please make any checks payable to St. Leo the Great.

The concert program is available for download and printing; please click on the thumbnail image to the left for the full PDF file (1.5MB).

PERFORMERS:

Donna Stoering is an internationally known concert pianist and singer, and Grammy award nominee, and has been an artistic ambassador for both the USA and Great Britain. Donna is the Founder and Artistic Director of the Listen for Life Foundation.

A new choir formed from singers across California, from Santa Cruz to Sacramento to Berkeley:

Andy Anderson

Don Borges

Bernadette Breen

Liz Calame

Jenny Griffin

John Kevin Harcharik

Catherine Heck

Sarah Klauer

Sara Moravej

Erin Stokes Oliver

Conductor / Accompanist:

Donna Stoering

The three guest cellists:

Ellen Sanders
Gerald Miller
Graham Nelson

appear by courtesy of the
San Jose Chamber Orchestra and its director,
Barbara Day Turner.

POST-CONCERT UPDATE:

Audio and video recordings were made of this April 20th concert,

and excerpts will be posted on this page as soon as editing is completed.

Thank you for your patience!

If you enjoy hearing music from different cultures, please visit
Listen for Life's YouTube channel at www.listenforlife.org/youtube!

www.listenforlife.org

IF YOU ATTENDED THE APRIL 20th CONCERT,

please feel free to add a comment below.

We would love to hear your thoughts!

Slavyanka Performances -- Oakland, Sat April 2nd and Sacramento, Sun April 3rd, 2011

2011-04-02T12:11:00.000-07:00

[San Francisco]

and

[Sacramento]

will perform two joint concerts this weekend

Oakland, Saturday

Saturday April 2 2011, 7:30pm

St. Paul's Episcopal Church

114 Montecito Ave

Oakland, CA 94610

[ Map of location ]

Tickets at the door:
$15 general, $12 students and seniors.

Sacramento, Sunday

Sunday April 3, 2011, at 2:00pm

First United Methodist Church

2100 J Street

Sacramento CA 95816

[ Map of location ]

Tickets at the door:
$15 general, $12 students and seniors.

Listen for Life founder Donna Stoering will sing 3 solos in the concert.
Listen for Life Exec. Director Andy Anderson sings bass with Slavyanka.

Happy Birthday Listen for Life!!

2011-03-31T17:33:00.000-07:00

Today, March 31, 2011, is Listen for Life's (www.listenforlife.org) thirteenth birthday, and from its vast store of proprietary music content it is celebrating with videos from around the world, all of which help with its mission to preserve music everywhere.

If you're not familiar with Listen for Life, check out its website (www.listenforlife.org) and its YouTube channel videos (www.listenforlife.org/youtube).

YOU'VE GOT TO Check out our YOUTUBE channel!! www.listenforlife.org/youtube

Find out what we're all about and say hi!

Find us at Facebook too: www.facebook.com/listenforlife

Follow us at Twitter: http://twitter.com/listenforlife

Listen for Life is a hybrid social venture organization. We are a global family of music listeners and music performers, working together to restore music as a unifying force for good worldwide. We focus our efforts on classical, world, traditional, native/ethnic, cross-cultural or acoustic instrument styles. We have thus far had projects, programs, productions or volunteers in 45 countries, and impacted the lives of 9 million people. Our projects are designed to use music in unique ways that will meet particular needs of each specific location or community.

Listen for Life is looking for Interns/Volunteers in the Los Angeles region!

2011-02-10T19:24:00.000-08:00

Listen for Life is looking for Interns/Volunteers in the Los Angeles region! Interviews near airport (LAX), Feb 10-12.

Listen for Life (www.listenforlife.org) is a hybrid social venture organization. We are a global family of music listeners and music performers, working together to restore music as a unifying force for good worldwide. We focus our efforts on classical, world, traditional, native/ethnic, cross-cultural or acoustic instrument styles. We have thus far had projects, programs, productions or volunteers in 45 countries, and impacted the lives of 9 million people. Our projects are designed to use music in unique ways that will meet particular needs of each specific location or community. We are launching some projects in the LA area that will require on-the-ground volunteers or interns, and we are also looking for cyber-volunteers that can help our global projects online from anywhere.

We are going to be coming to Los Angeles this week to hold 3 days of interviews with any interested individuals age 18-98. You do not need to be a musician - just love music and believe in its power to effect positive change in your own life and in your own community.

SOME of the skills we need could include:

Webmaster(s)
Web designer
social media gurus
people-skilled persons to represent us in one-to-one meetings with city officials or in phone calls
grant researcher(s)
grant writers
PR
marketing - both locally and internationally
videographers
audio recording interns
audio/video editors
digital graphics artists/interns
cultural anthropology and/or ethnomusicology research students for our upcoming educational productions
copy writers
data entry volunteers
admin assistants for specific projects or time periods
performer liaisons
event planners
event producers
video production assistants
event production assistants
lobbyists
CD duplicating, cover designers
fundraising advisors/assistants
social mavens to help liaise with potential individual donors
accountant
bookkeeper(s)
financial oversight/CPA
languages/translation/interpreters
volunteer coordinator

We have worked out arrangements/agreements with high schools, colleges and universities for credits from volunteer or internship positions in other regions, so we do not anticipate any difficulties in being able to offer similar benefits in LA. We would also welcome employee-volunteer partnerships with LA-based corporations.

We also welcome potential interested board (or advisory board) members to apply.
If you are retired or currently under-employed and would like to share your skills, knowledge, expertise and time - or learn a new skill while volunteering for a cause that helps many other causes all at once - then please contact us via email to send your resume and set up an interview slot for later this week - interviews will be conducted at a hotel near LAX airport. If you have friends who would like to be involved in something, but do not have email access, just phones, those friends can come along with you.

Thank you!

Donna Stoering [Founder and Artistic Director, Listen for Life]
dstoering@listenforlife.org

Baseball and Brahms, World Series vs. World Music

2010-11-01T21:43:00.000-07:00

As I write this our Bay Area team the San Francisco Giants have just this moment won the 2010 World Series. Their road to the playoffs against all odds and all predictions made an interested fan out of me (and thousands of others, no doubt). I know I am a relative beginner in appreciating all of the finer points of baseball, while lots of musicians have probably been knowledgeable, passionate fans of the game for decades or more. So I am wondering how many musicians, like me, have noticed the intriguing parallels that can be drawn between baseball and music in terms of psychology, personal highs/lows, practicing, performing, competing, strategy, choices that have to be made.....not to mention muscular coordination and skills required, whether an individual is having an "off day" or not.......

Regarding that last point, for example, the sports announcers would comment on how some pitchers "didn't have" all of their pitches at their disposal on a given night so they had to choose which pitches they could rely on for that game. How many of us performers walk onto a stage to commence a concert sometimes feeling like we wish we could change one of the pieces on the program because for whatever reason in our pre-concert rehearsal we found that our body just wasn't "in the zone" on a particular technique required by that piece, or our mood isn't readily connecting with one of the works we had chosen to program months or years previously. It's kind of reassuring to know that major athletes don't always have their bodies cooperating either, but at least they aren't always forced to include their less-confident pitch all night, regardless!

But that is just one example.....the analogies between a sports team and an orchestra have been drawn up by hundreds before me, so I don't need to go there, and in fact since I am not an orchestral player my thoughts did not tend to go in that direction very often as I struggled to tear myself away from solo piano rehearsals to watch snippets of each World Series game this week. It was the duel between the pitchers that fascinated me the most, and it was the young catcher Buster Posey that impressed me the most. But in general I was most emotionally drawn by the personal conflicts sometimes going on within each of the individual team players when at bat or in the outfield, as they struggled to perform at the top of their potential in every inning and every game. I also loved the humility with which every single one of them, when interviewed after any game, would compliment and thank the other players and never answered the reporter's questions with an "I" response, regardless of how the question was phrased and even when they had truly done some incredible feats individually.

I have always been horrified by the amount of money that is paid to major league players in any sport, and I still am. But what came across in watching this particular team, time and time again, with both the older players and the (many) unbelievable rookies, was the obvious joy with which they played baseball, using all of their gifts to the absolute maximum. I honestly don't think they were thinking about their pay or comparing themselves (negatively or positively) with their teammates or the opposition in terms of talents or in pay scales. They were blest with particular gifts and talents, and they knew how fortunate they were to be able to use those talents to give enjoyment and uplift to many many others who could only watch. When one has done something since childhood, as many music performers no doubt have, it could probably be easy to start taking things for granted sometimes and so whether as performers or teachers of budding artists, we need to think about ways to keep that appreciation of our gifts and our opportunities alive, never taking them for granted. I remember that once we were producing a world music concert and one of the performers was a bit nervous. Before the concert began I happened to notice a person in the audience who was in a wheelchair and had a 'hook" on one arm as an "artificial hand".....I remarked to the musicians that that audience member was not thinking about whether we were nervous or not - he/she was probably thinking that they would give anything to be able to play at all, and that our joyful task was to play in that person's place and to express for them what they could not do in a physical way but might feel very passionately about in their ears, mind and heart.

But I digress......back to the Giants and the World Series: None of the players were absolutely perfect throughout the series, and even if they were individually having an "off night" or an "off week" where nothing went right, they could remind themselves that they were still the ones chosen to be in that place on that ball diamond on that night and not someone else, and the humiliation of being so obviously human (as in, imperfect) in front of millions, would have to be the price that one sometimes has to pay for the gift. At least, I hope they understood that. I know I am a lot harder on myself than that when I am on stage, and I suspect most of us are. So from now on I will just have to remember Baseball and the night that a team of so-called "individualists' and "misfits" that had not played nearly as well (individually or collectively) as other teams had earlier in the season, won the World Championship - by working, playing, and sharing their gifts - with perseverance, determination, and Joy.

Catching up - and a frantic reflection on Peace

2010-10-07T17:11:00.000-07:00

So....Peace Day 2010 has now come and gone, and after a year of work in the build-up to those events, we thought we would now be taking a short breather - but things at Listen for Life seem to be even faster-paced (and therefore less peaceful? or maybe not) than before!

My last blog entry was written from Europe, so a little catch-up report and reflection might be necessary:
In mid-September I was honored to give UN Peace Day-related performances in Croatia, Bosnia, and in England, before returning to Oakland California 2 days prior to Listen for Life's inaugural launch of Peace Day events for our home city. None of us knew what to expect from our 1st Annual (we hope) Festival for Peace in Oakland, in terms of audience turn-out, reaction to the scheduled programs and events we'd put together, any press attendance/coverage, or the overall response to our year of work on the part of the city, the participant listeners and performers, or the dedicated volunteers who helped us dramatically in the final 24-hour push after my return.
In the end, the day (and its aftermath) has been an absolute roller-coaster of emotions, reactions, and energy levels, for all of us....a "top ten" list of those emotions might read as follows:

1. Urgency: In the hours prior to Peace Day we had been offered the opportunity to place musicians in yet another additional venue which was in an important downtown location, so on September 21st after 3 hours asleep we awoke at dawn to create last-minute flyers that volunteers then handed out to nearby office workers, city hall employees, and passers-by in an attempt to draw an audience there unannounced.

2. Gratitude: Busy with that urgent task, I couldn't get the chance to visit a city senior center/shelter and soup kitchen where one of our musicians James Brooks (JB) was meanwhile serenading the elderly guests with songs of their era, but I heard later from the staff there that everyone loved his suave voice and outgoing, friendly participation in their Peace Day activities so much that they are begging him to come back on a regular basis - and he has generously agreed!

3. Excitement: Thanks to the proactive work of one of our enthusiastic senior volunteers, another senior center in town picked up the Peace Day purpose in a big way and had an entire day of activities including a meaningful drum circle where the Alzheimers patients, especially, were a huge success!

4. Surprise (and gratitude): Some press showed up! So did our wonderful ally at the Special Events commission, Jim McIlvaine, who gave us tremendous encouragement and moral support in trying to "put Oakland on the map for a positive reason" over our last 11 months of work. And so did our equally supportive and very active city councilwoman Nancy Nadel, who was kind enough to respond when I spontaneously invited her to come up to the mic and speak to the audience and press with me, in front of City Hall, about the year-round significance of Peace Day for our city. Her words were very moving and exactly on target - I couldn't have hoped for more, if we had planned it!

5. Dismay: despite the hard work of our Listen for Life team and volunteers over many previous weeks/months and the assistance of seasoned PR professionals on our team - contacting newspapers, radio, TV, online Oakland blogs, and printing/distributing over 7,000 color flyers that listed all of the venues for free music concerts throughout the city - we learned the hard way just how challenging it can be to start something new! We had been warned that when looking at all of the really big, successful music festivals or city celebrations in any community, it is easy to forget that in their first one or two years, very few people knew about it or participated. These things apparently take a long while to spread by word of mouth, and some people wait to see the quality of the event and the artists in the first year or two before getting involved. But that didn't alter the feelings of exhausted disappointment while surveying the smaller-than-hoped-for crowds at each of our venues on the day, we have to admit!

6. Joy (and gratitude): The musicians, at every single one of the venues, were absolutely incredible! And they played with heart regardless of the number of people in their audience. I felt so gratified that these nationally and internationally renowned performers had all agreed so freely to come out for Listen for Life on a weeknight and donate their time - and amazing talents- in an attempt to build something positive and new for the citizens of Oakland through the sharing of cross-cultural music. It was wonderful to watch the joy that they gave to their listeners, and it was even more wonderful to see the musicians stay to listen to each other perform, create new friendships amongst each other, and discuss future jam sessions combining their instruments and cultures. This was an unplanned but very important result from the year of planning!

7. Pride: Listen for Life was proud to have the support of so many fantastic musicians for this cause that we could create non-stop cross-cultural music programs at several different simultaneous venues across Oakland. And without exception, at each of those venues, every audience member asked our volunteers if those particular musicians would be back next year, saying that they had never, ever heard such incredible musicians perform, all under one roof, and all for free. They also thanked us for creating such a nice way to raise awareness of the message and meaning of Peace Day for Oakland.........

8. Relief: So......the musicians all thought it was fantastic, and I am humbled that so many of these world-class musicians have taken the time to write us thank-you notes (for letting them share their gifts for free?!), saying what a wonderful experience it was and how appreciative the audiences were and to definitely put them down for "next year" .....the venue administrators have all written to say how impressed they were the performances and how gratified they felt to be part of this inaugural Festival for Peace in their city, and to please put them down for "next year" (adding that they promise to help more with publicity-sigh)......the volunteers and press have all told us they thought it was a huge success......

9. Exhaustion: (compounded with jet lag, and regret about lack of TV or radio coverage, but enough said....)

10. Discovery: We have learned a tremendous amount. We started this process a year ago at the request of UN-related organizations in Geneva that have asked Listen for Life to create music festivals or concert performances around the world to raise awareness of the UN Millennium Development Goals and/or of UN Peace Day. We already knew that some of our musicians would be performing in Peace Day-related events in various countries, like my concerts performances in Croatia, Bosnia, and the UK. But we looked around our US headquarters in Oakland and thought about the tremendous positive impact that the celebration of Peace Day - and the use of cross-cultural music to create that celebration - could have on this city. If we had known how much work it would take over an entire year, for our very small Oakland based team of volunteers - in the midst of our many other separate and simultaneous projects like the MusicMessage Campaign and Notes for Nourishment and the Travels with Music production series - I do not know if we would have started. But once we started, our team became "the little engine that could". When one of us got discouraged with the lack of resources or hours in a day, another person would jump in with energy and enthusiasm. We took turns encouraging each other and sharing tips on how to stay awake on long nights of work! But in the end, what we have realized is that OUR mission is to the MUSICIANS. Pure and simple.
------------------------

What we have learned is that the Peace Day performances were NOT, as we had thought, the completion of a year-long work process but were actually the celebration, beginning and LAUNCH of a whole 365 day process of planning, working, and thinking about ways to promote peace in our hearts, homes AND community - through music! We have no intentions to be the event-planners for Oakland Peace Day the next zillion years hence. Our role is as the catalyst - to create the model, let other organizations (hopefully!) run with it, and simply continue to provide the musicians who have heart enough to do this - not only in Oakland, but in cities and towns all across the world, wherever we are invited and wherever we have Listen for Life musicians and volunteers to make it happen!

So here is what I said to the 120+ musicians who took part in our 2010 Festival for Peace when I wrote to thank each one of them this past week:

"What we have realized is that OUR mission is to the musicians themselves - to YOU!

Our mission is to inspire YOU and to help you create the opportunities to continue to share your gifts in ways that will inspire OTHERS. Only then will we have fully succeeded. Only then can we rest a little bit. And between the Listen for Life work and my own global concert tours each month, believe me, I could use a little rest - so please, come be inspired and come join us in inspiring others!

If you like the idea of giving performances in your own community or countrywide YEAR-ROUND to help raise funds for various causes, then check out our newest global project called Notes for Nourishment (www.listenforlife.org/notesfornourishment) and tell other musicians you know in ANY location and any country about this concept, as our goal is simply to be the catalyst for more events, ideas and positive musical ACTION worldwide. If meanwhile you have thoughts, venues, volunteers, suggestions or ideas for next Peace Day in your own communities please let us know asap! If we organize things NOW for next Peace Day (September 21, 2011) it will be ......maybe?.....a little less frantic and a little more Peace-filled....."

--------------------------------

One activity we will be launching in the next 1-2 weeks is the creation of a short weekly video on YouTube that will outline steps/action items for any musicians in other cities/countries wishing to organize Peace Day music concerts in their own communities for next year. Some of those initial steps need to happen this month and next, so if you do know musicians or groups in other cities/countries who were excited and inspired by what you did for Oakland, get them to watch these videos or let us know who they are and we will be happy to contact them with support and help.

As for me, I have spent the days since Peace Day trying to play catch-up with some of the other Listen for Life projects, including upcoming Notes for Nourishment concerts in Hawaii November 15-22 and in Washington DC, Maryland and Virginia November 28-December 8.
But meanwhile, Listen for Life musicians Winnie Wong (China) and Vanessa Vo (Vietnam) are combining forces (and cultures) in a very rare duo concert later this month in San Francisco so our immediate project is to help with the PR and get the word out about that - so please stay tuned! [Please see this post for full concert details!]

Concert on Sat October 23rd 2011 at 3pm - China and Vietnam in SF!

2010-10-05T23:01:00.000-07:00

Saturday October 23rd, 2010 at 3pm

First Christian Church

599 Duboce Ave (at Noe St)

San Francisco, CA 94117

A Musical Journey... China and Vietnam

Winnie Wong (guzheng) and Van-Anh Vanessa Vo (dan Tranh, dan Bao. and Trung)

Full details are available here.

[click on poster for higher-resolution version]

Come join us for an afternoon of music from Guizhou, Yunnan,

Xinjiang, and a sample of Vietnamese folk music, along with the exciting

premiere of a collaboration between Winnie Wong (guzheng) and
Van-Anh Vanessa Vo (dan tranh).

Presenting:

Winnie Wong - Guzheng soloist

China's Spirit Music Ensemble

Guest Artist: Van-Anh Vanessa Vo - Vietnamese Folk Instrumentalist

Youth Artist: Reylon Yount - Yangqin soloist

This concert is sponsored by Listen for Life.

General Admission $15 and $25

Tickets: (415) 515-5797 or email chinasspiritme@gmail.com

[Added October 27, 2010]: Read the concert review by at Johnathon Bakan at examiner.com!

How (NOT) to meet a European journalist on a plane

2010-09-16T19:24:00.000-07:00

OK so I am in the middle seat of a smallish airplane on a late evening flight from Zagreb to Dubrovnik, in Croatia, and we have all been given very welcome glasses of water. I am studying my music for an upcoming performance this week and minding my own business, glass of water in hand, when jetlag suddenly takes over and I fall sound asleep mid-swallow. The next thing I hear is a startled but quite polite shriek from something or someone next to me so I manage to open one eye and groggily begin to notice that the suave young European gentleman next to me seems to be wearing thoroughly soaked jeans. Rather bemused at my gradually awakened state and profound apologies he actually has the courtesy to THANK me for the invigorating bath:

Gentleman: You know, I have to be very awake when we land as I am being met by some people and I was having a hard time keeping myself awake but now I am quite alert in fact - thank you for that unique experience!

Me: (trying not to be too obvious in noticing that the majority of my glass of water had chosen to hit the absolute worst possible location on the front of his jeans): Umm.....you say you are being met by people and have to be working when you land (oh great!)??

Me: (changing subject while hoping the flight were longer so his jeans would try before landing): What do you do?

Gentleman: I am a journalist in Austria and am being sent to Dubrovnik to cover a major charity event there for UNICEF, with Roger Moore and John Malkovich and other stars helping to raise funds to combat violence among youth for peace....

Me (never miss an opportunity, no?): oh, you write up charity events about peace or related to UNICEF.....what about UN and peace day and renowned musicians from many cultures donating their time and talents to do a big event for Peace Day?

Gentleman (strategically placing the myriad of napkins I by now had procured from our airline steward while filling him in on all the details about Oakland and why this event would matter to his magazine readers throughout Europe): You know that sounds really interesting and if you can send me some good pics of the events I will write up an article about it with pleasure though of course I can't promise my editor will include it right away.....but you say you have internationally recognised musicians involved yes?

SO I explained that they are not famous as in hip hop or pop culture celebrities but are much more important for the representation and encouragement of their own cultures, and why we work so hard at Listen for Life to give them opportunities to make that happen, either through concert series like Notes for Nourishment or events like Peace Day or interactive broadcast programs like Travels with Music. He asked more about that one and when he heard that Travels with Music content has now been acquired by the BBC, which they watch in Austria where he is based, he got even more enthusiastic

Maybe he was just extremely polite but he said we should see how we can work together, and while giving me his card he said "one thing is for sure - I will NEVER forget how we met!"

With that we were landed and off to the baggage claim, where - spied him ever so nonchalantly walking with his leather jacket draped down long over his arm which was folded in front of his body "just so"

Thank you, sir.....for letting me live to tell the tale and smile while sharing it.

Work in progress - a dispatch from London en route to Zagreb!

2010-09-07T02:30:00.000-07:00

Philosophers say we are all a "work in progress" and that is certainly true, not only of individuals but also of global organizations with local teams, like Listen for Life - and most especially of the major new city-wide event that we are in the middle of producing for Oakland, California! Only two weeks to go before Listen for Life produces the 1st annual Festival for Peace on September 21st in Oakland, involving 7 venues/ events and over 100 internationally renowned musicians performing for free throughout the city to raise awareness of UN International Peace Day and its potential meaning for a wonderfully diverse but challenged community like Oakland: [http://www.listenforlife.org/peaceday]

Listen for Life volunteer staff teams - music listeners, performers, educators and producers alike - are struggling valiantly to accomplish a trillion small tasks in a rapidly diminishing number of days, so anyone reading this is warmly invited to join in, from wherever you are! Our tech and Web guru from the UK has been brushing up on long-forgotten (to him) graphic design programs in order to create publicity flyers, our PR head is acting as driver since our logistics person had his car totalled last weekend, and on it goes.....

This present opportunity is literally creating work around the clock for our small but energetic team in Oakland, but we all believe passionately in the reasons behind Peace Day and in Listen for Life's potential to use cross cultural music to bring the many disparate groups of our community together in a wordless discussion about peace ....

And in the midst of this, while recently returned from doing a series of Listen for Life Notes For Nourishment concerts throughout the Pacific Northwest, I now find myself on a flight to Europe to perform Peace Day-related concerts that were primarily scheduled well over a year ago!

- have just landed in London en route to Zagreb so more on that in my next dispatch...... A work in progress, indeed!

On Tour in Salem, Oregon

2010-08-24T13:47:00.000-07:00

Have arrived in Salem on Notes for Nourishment concert tour of Washington, Oregon and California....have met so many incredibly inspiring people who are either giving their lives to make a difference for others, or are soldiering on in great faith and endurance in the midst of huge trials. Either way, they are all very inspiring, memorable, and so appreciative of our donating our concerts as fundraisers to try and help their causes.

They said that they hope other musicians will take up the idea and create their own benefit concerts anywhere in the world they happen to live, so if you are a musician we are encouraging you to do that, and we will help you in any way we can! www.listenforlife.org/notesfornourishment

Welcome to the new Listen for Life blog!

2010-05-24T14:01:00.000-07:00

As part of the ongoing process of consolidating all of our online ventures into a single easy-to-navigate portal, the Pomoja! blog has now been ported over here to the Listen for Life blog.

Although the blog itself is currently still hosted at blogspot.com (owned by Google), the easiest address to remember to get here is www.listenforlife.org/blog.

All of the old posts and comments from the Pomoja! blog are now here, and this is where new posts and comments will be added.

Have fun reading posts and writing comments, and please come back frequently!

Donna

600,000 Swedes do WHAT?

2010-04-11T22:55:00.001-07:00

Yesterday I was invited to attend a concert given by the San Francisco Symphony Chorus under the direction of their highly renowned Swedish conductor, Ragnar Bohlin.

Because of his background, they presented a very unusual and interesting program with the first half consisting of works by a variety of Swedish choral composers spanning different time periods. The two folksongs that concluded the first half were an especially wonderful glimpse into a part of Swedish culture, harmonies, dark humor and folkloric tales. I would have loved to hear more of them!

But the central point in the first half was a very contemporary account of the ascent out of hell from Dante's Divine Comedy, called "....a riveder le stelle" by Ingvar Lidholm (1973) and I believe that the final 2 minutes of this piece was one of the very few times in my music-listening life that a performance left my jaw "on the floor" - eyes wide and mouth hanging open, you get the picture - this was absolutely astounding in both the music composition itself and the exquisite, incredible performance given by the chorus and the soprano soloist for this piece, Pamela Sebastian. At this point in his piece, the composer was using the portion of Dante' text to portray "We climbed, he first, I following, till to sight Appeared those things of beauty that heaven wears, Glimpsed through a rounded opening, faintly bright; Thence issuing, we beheld again the stars"......by the time that the choir was singing about "a rounded opening" the composer had created the illusion of this vast cavernous sound space, through the juxtaposition of two different chordal tonalities alternating at different dynamics and timbres in the choir sections, and all of a sudden it just simply "opened up" and the lone voice of the soprano positively soared upwards in ecstatic arching phrases, like a soul released heavenwards in repeated but gentle bursts of energy - and one's ears could honestly "see" the stars twinkling. Even now in remembering that moment the sense of the musical and spiritual power of that composition and performance is renewed within me. The piece was fairly long (14 minutes) and the first 12 minutes or so did not leave any particular impression, other than a lot of polytonal and poly-rhythmic angst, but in retrospect it was necessary to portray the struggle on Dante's "secret road" to get upwards out of hell, and most definitely needed in order to set up the powerfully unmistakable sensation of reaching the light - and most definitely worth listening to, in order to arrive at the experience of those last two most incredible minutes of music making. If you can find an online recording of this piece, do give it a listen although I suspect that the live experience is necessary for the complete 3D effect of the sound caves and the soprano floating upwards through the "hole" they create. It also goes without saying that the choral conductor's technical/musical expertise and confident leadership is absolutely paramount to "pull this off" to such rare effect and Ragnar Bohlin is the leading interpreter of Swedish choral works so we were fortunate to hear it in San Francisco.

The Chorus itself, as a nearby colleague remarked, is very clearly "American" in its bright-edged sound and range of timbres. The singers have amazing technique, particularly for singing contemporary or dissonant works, and entire sections of the chorus came in confidently on obtuse pitches from seemingly "out of nowhere" during difficult unaccompanied works. The blend within sections was usually excellent, particularly amongst the tenor and bass sections - very occasionally individual women's voices would "pop out" of the whole in soprano or alto section solos.

The second half of the program featured two very beloved choral works - segments from Rachmaninov's "Vespers", and Leonard Bernstein's Chichester Psalms. I personally thought they did a wonderful job with the Bernstein and it was, afterall, written for American choral groups and audiences. I thought the organ solo seemed too unwaveringly metronomic but maybe that is the way Bernstein's markings request it to be played or conducted. The entire work is brilliantly composed and I love the piece, but in listening to the opening two sections I suddenly wondered why the Bernstein estate has not tried to sue Andrew Lloyd Webber for completely "stealing" entire fragments from this piece for use in his Requiem and some of the musicals.....?

The Rachmaninov "Vespers" left a different impression altogether.......absolutely gorgeous sound, radiant non-screechy (as they can often get in this work) sopranos, a tenor solo (Vesper No 4) like velvet, Vesper No2 having the chorus parts floating in heaven with the wonderful alto soloist providing a contrast down in earth, lovely dynamic shading of the phrases and great ensemble singing in Vesper No3, radiant light in No6.......all in all, amazing choral technique and lovely sound that let in much "light" - BUT, as colleagues around me also felt, the entire performance did not feel as if one had heard Rachmaninov nor "Russian" prayer music.....nor experienced any of the culture that Rachmaninov was sharing through this intentionally spiritual piece. While we were admittedly not in a Russian Orthodox cathedral or monastery or even a San Francisco church, for the piece itself to have its true power to reach the souls of its listeners I believe we would have liked it to be slower, more personally expressive and a touch darker/richer in vocal colors - or in effect, more "prayerful" rather than fascile, light and rather faster than we are used to hearing/performing it. One audience member (who said he has sung this work many times in a variety of settings/cultures) commented that it was perhaps the placement of the Vespers in the program that bothered him - with the "brash American" sounds of the Bernstein coming immediately afterwards, the Vespers came across as simply a "Russian choral piece" being demonstrated on the program for a demonstration of choral repertoire because all potential meaning or experience was forgotten once the opening of the Chichester Psalms began. He saw this programming more as a sad commentary on our tendency to always have "loud, fast, or showy" works trump the "soft, slow or spiritual" ones. I would love to know others' thoughts on this......so please, send in your comments!

Personally I wondered if the conductor's pre-performance research on the Vespers had perhaps unfortunately colored his impression/understanding of the piece regarding Rachmaninov's purposes in composing it. I know that some of Rachmaninov's biographers had given information stating his supposed lack of religious activity/beliefs and also his dates of leaving Russia, or reasons for composing specific works, that now clash with current research and information. This matters to me only because I have spent much of my life researching Rachmaninov in preparation for performing some of his known and lesser-known works, such as singing the alto solo in the Vespers many times, or giving the first live public performance of his 1st Piano Sonata in d minor, in many halls around the world, and while presenting television programs about many different composers on international networks. During my research I was intrigued to learn that many of the older "assumptions" about Rachmaninov's religious beliefs/feelings were indeed erroneous. His deeply held spiritual beliefs actually had strong impact on his methods and his reasons for composing many of his works, including the Vespers.

In general it was very interesting to listen to audience members around me during the intermission or while exiting Davies Hall at the conclusion of the concert. The large hall was filled and I suspect, judging from the overheard comments, that many of the listeners were choral singers and/or conductors in other Bay Area vocal ensembles or churches. Which brings up a second topic that I would love to hear other's comments on - according to the Program Notes explaining the profusion of Swedish composers that write choral music, "an estimated 600,000 Swedes- nearly 7% of the county's total population of 9 Million - sing in choirs ranging from amateur to world class"......

Seven percent of the country's population! Does anyone know the statistics of other countries - or even individual cities - that can rival this number of choirs or choral singers? I know I read a few years back that the San Francisco Bay Area has over 500 registered choral groups, not counting the choirs in houses of worship. What can we learn from this and how can we apply it in ways that help music to be a conscious form of unity and peace-building in our cultures, societies and communities?

on pop stars, Olympic ice skating and piano recitals......

2010-04-10T20:32:00.001-07:00

Last week someone remarked to me that for those who are not lifelong concert artists, there can often be a strong fascination with the details, moods, experiences and activities of a performer or musician, and (in that person's estimation), this fascination played a large part in the initial popularity of Twitter because young fans of pop stars could now follow their idols' every move or imagine more closely their daily lifestyle. This person went on to suggest that more of us "classical musicians" should likewise share our experiences from the "onstage view" and I thought that made sense, so here is my first installment on that topic.

Over the past three days, I have performed the same solo piano program to three different audiences, in two different venues, so I thought that this experience might be a good place to start.

First of all, I would say that all three audiences were equally appreciative and excited afterwards when coming up to speak with me, although among the two recitals held in the same venue, those two audiences were actually very different in the way they seemed to listen and the level of "energy" that came back to me onstage while performing. This could have had something to do with the time of day for each concert (as this affects the audiences even more than the performer, in my opinion) as well as the overall age group in each audience.

I was also intrigued by the fact that after each of the three concerts, as people would come up to tell me what piece was their favorite, there was always one piece that got more votes than any other - but, that "audience favorite" piece was different at each of the three performances, even though all three concerts had the same program. And none of the pieces named by audience members as their "favorites" ever matched the ones that I myself most enjoyed performing at each concert! There are many different discussion topics or potential "psychological insights" that could probably arise from these observations, but for now I'll simply move on because today (rather typically of most performers, I am sure) my adrenalin and brain cells are rather drained :)

Two of the three concerts were recorded for potential broadcast. People often ask me if there are any surprises when I hear a recording of my live performances or if the interpretations sound indeed exactly as I hear them "in my head" while rehearsing or playing. Having just today listened to the recording of the first concert, my response would be that pretty much everything sounded exactly as I "heard" it while performing, except for one thing - the very fast pieces always come out sounding much much faster than I "feel" I am going at the time. I am sure this is a reaction akin to that of tennis players viewing tapes of their successful matches or shots when they felt they were "in the zone" - so many players have said that the ball seems to be coming at them in "slow motion" and that they are not aware of how rapidly they are responding or moving.

And perhaps also akin to a tennis match or a golf tournament, I never expect to have an absolutely technically perfect solo-recital performance over a 90-minute program encompassing maybe 300 pages of memorized music from a wide variety of composers. I have no doubt that many of my colleagues do achieve this, and repeatedly - but my hands are some of the smallest in the concert world (they barely reach an octave, even though some of my best reviews have been for Rachmaninov, Brahms, and Chopin) and when under the adrenalin rush of live performance, they can sometimes betray me a bit and hit two notes at once or misjudge a leap - just occasional things like that.

Pianists also have the added technical challenge of not being able to bring their accustomed instrument with them to each venue, so it would be like golfers having to use completely foreign clubs at each competition - or tennis players never having any choice in their racket or competing ice skaters having to wear used skates that were handed to them at the competition day itself. There is a level of technical comfort that is just simply not possible sometimes in these situations, because certain pianos have an action that is unexpectedly heavy or light, or one that works great for Debussy but not Brahms, or have a key that doesn't repeat, or any number of other challenges. Personally I quite enjoy these added challenges (and often joys) that come with discovering new instruments (with their own potential tone colors) at each venue, but that doesn't diminish their existence.

My reason for mentioning all of these factors is simply to share that in assessing a live performance (my own or others') , technical perfection does not rank as the No1 consideration in my overall feelings about that concert, and some non-musicians who greet me after concerts with "Wow that was amazing- I didn't hear a single wrong note the entire concert!" are often surprised when I assure them that yes, there were a few wrong notes, but hitting all "right" ones is not the ultimate goal. They then sometimes ask me, "well then, what is?" . Keep in mind, I am talking about a few tiny glitches or clinkers here and there - obviously if someone has a "bad night" for whatever reason and the piece becomes a complete and total mess technically, that is a different story akin to an unexpected sporting disaster.

But for example, my own personal goal over these three concerts this week was to recover a level of "abandonment", fun, and "emotive freedom" in live performance that I recently concluded I had partially lost, at least in comparison with the first performances of my career as a child, probably due to the increased focus on technical perfection as a professional. Again, I am sure this is totally normal for most lifelong performers and there are as many causes for this phenomenon as there are people in the performing world, each with their own history and experiences. But the dilema became clear to me only a month or so ago, while watching the ice skating championships during the Winter Olympics and listening to the commentary of the ex-Olympians who were comparing the skaters, their practice routines, and their goals. The winners in this instance were those who practiced the hardest in order to be as physically, mentally and technically ready as possible so that they could "let go" in performance and inspire the world with the beauty, freedom and expression of their interpretive artistry and their heartfelt (as opposed to intellectualized) "presence" during their skating. They still had occasional tiny glitches, but it didn't matter - at their peak performances it was as if there was no separation between the skaters, the music they were skating to, nor the feelings they (and that music) were expressing through their physical movements - they seemed to become the music, and their movements on skates became the physical expression of their hearts and souls. Watching them, I realized that this, surely, should be my goal as a concert performer as well. I know that seems obvious, but sometimes we need to be woken up and reminded of such things!

So - with that as my focus during the intense rehearsal sessions leading up to these recitals, was I fortunate enough to meet my personal goal in these particular concerts? I am happy to report the answer is Yes! Does that guarantee I will be able to do so the next concert, and the next? Possibly not.....

But this particular concert program added to my enjoyment as well. Many people do not realize the great amount of planning, rehearsing, deciding, re-rehearsing, changing, and re-deciding that goes into the final creation and deliberation of the concert program that is ultimately handed to the audience members as they enter a venue. In this particular case I decided on the theme of a "round the world" tour, with the composers as the tour guides. This program approach and the "travel commentary" I provided before each piece, proved extremely popular with all three audiences. More on that topic, and my feelings about classical piano music as the World Music of its time, in another blog post.

For now, it's time to do as any good but exhausted post-Olympic athlete eventually does, and get some sleep!

To Be or Not to Be......Hamlet as Opera

2010-03-30T17:08:00.001-07:00

Have any of you had a chance to attend the Met Opera's live HD broadcasts at your neighborhood cinema screens? This past Saturday in NYC they performed an operatic version of Hamlet composed by the relatively unknown Ambroise Thomas, beamed live in HD to millions of people around the globe, who were watching (and presumably cheering, as our audience was) in theaters that had to be open during the middle of the night in some timezones. Regardless of the broadcast time, reports show theaters in all locations are absolutely full at each of these live Met Opera HD broadcasts and having to open adjacent theaters in cinema complexes to accommodate the overflow crowds.

And now I can see why! Hamlet, in this case, was an all-around amazing, energizing and unexpectedly fulfilling experience both in terms of the shared media performance in the packed cinema, and in the quality of the opera's music and the singers performing it. I had not had a chance to hear/see either of the two principals in a live performance previous to this, and was astounded at the acting ability (Simon Keenlyside, playing Hamlet, in particular) on top of the glorious vocal techniques. Gone are the days when typically-very -large opera stars stood still in place and sang their arias, then moved stiffly across the stage to their next blocking position to await another vocal cue. In virtually all of the operas I have seen lately, the singers are (almost all) quite trim, stylish and youthful - if you met them on the street you would have no idea what they do for a living - and their staging requires them to do varying feats of near-acrobatics in aerobic levels of movement while portraying the stories and action with the other characters.

Marlis Petersen, playing Ophelie, was beautiful to watch with a lyrical tone to match, singing demanding technical passages with absolute tonal assurance and heart-wrenching emotion in the "mad scene". The back-stage drama involved with her doing this role almost equaled the onstage story - due to illness of the scheduled soprano she was contacted in Europe, agreed to take the part on little more than 48 hours notice, and received coaching from the opera conductor via Skype until she could finish her current performances and fly to the Met in time for opening night! So we have yet another reason to rejoice over the benefits of modern media in its combination with classical music, beyond even the fact that non-wealthy music listeners everywhere can now, thanks to media advances, watch live performances of the Metropolitan Opera in NY with much better seats than the patrons in the opera hall!

The camera crews - placed not only on stage but also in the orchestra pit and backstage - are obviously extremely talented, experienced and well prepared, aimed on specific solo instruments in the orchestra interludes at exactly the moments they begin their particular solos, and catching tiny changes in facial expression or eye contact among the "characters" on stage. There were delightfully enlightening and honest interviews with the stars as they came off stage at intermission - for example, it was quite inspiring to hear Simon Keenlyside admit that he "doesn't read music very well at all" and learns his music/notes pretty much by ear, as he acts out the part - simply singing his feelings rather than expressing them in speech. The fact is, he is a more powerful and intense actor than most that are seen in movies or television - he just happens to have an incredibly expressive singing voice to go with it. It would seem to me that this makes him an ideal opera singer for the "masses" of folks who might never have ventured into exploring that dramatic form of music.

I hear that there is an encore broadcast of this performance being shown again the cinemas, perhaps this coming weekend or next. My recommendation would be to find out where, and "just GO!"

between heaven and earth: Mahler's Resurrection Symphony in San Francisco this evening

2010-03-12T22:35:00.001-08:00

This blog is called "Pomoja" precisely because it was intended to discuss some of the ways that music can "unify" people, causes, cultures, or disparate groups in a shared goal or experience. For those of you who have never had the exhilarating and unifying experience of being present amongst a huge audience during a live performance of the Mahler Second ("Resurrection") Symphony, my enthusiastic recommendation would be "just GO!"

And if you ever have the opportunity of hearing Maestro Michael Tilson Thomas conduct this special Mahler work with the San Francisco Symphony (joined by the San Francisco Symphony Chorus and guest soloists) then my enthusiasm would turn to urgent pleading: "you HAVE to go!".
Which is exactly what I was fortunate enough to do, just this evening.

The only unfortunate part, in my personal opinion (but also that of the audience members around me whom I talked to), was that the performance took place in Davies Symphony Hall, the home of the San Francisco Symphony for many years now, which has acoustic and ambiance issues that diminished the experience a bit for those of us who happened to be seated in sections that are beneath balcony "overhangs".
When one has been fortunate to hear a beloved work (such as this Mahler Symphony is for me)in many different halls worldwide, it is impossible not to "compare" the overall affect of the experience and ambiance in each location. This evening I tried very hard not to compare some very memorable experiences in much larger halls - with stages that could accommodate choruses 2-3 times the size of tonight's excellent (but less powerful) ensemble, where the sound of the timpani and brass threatened to blow the roof off the building, and the close of the work found the entire chorus, orchestra and audience in visible tears because the ambiance and structure of the hall assisted in creating that unified moving experience.

Because I feel strongly that the San Francisco Symphony's conductor Michael Tilson Thomas (known affectionately as MTT in these parts) is the greatest living conductor/interpreter of Mahler, I went to Davies Hall tonight hopefully expecting an equally memorable and spiritually uplifting experience. The fact that this did not quite happen in spite of MTT's (and the orchestra's) brilliance of execution and affinity for the composer, was most probably due, I suspect, to a couple of things: 1) this Friday evening concert began at 6:30 so that city workers could attend before going home - great idea but I wonder if the orchestra was still a bit emotionally exhausted from the regular 8pm performance of the work the night before, and not quite "warmed up" to this slightly unusual start time? 2) as mentioned earlier, our being seated under the overhang of a balcony, which dampened a lot of the power and "immediacy" of the orchestra's live sound, making their presence on the stage feel more emotively distant and less personally involved (as my seat neighbors also remarked)...and 3)again in comparing experiences (even subconsciously), I could not help but be amazed at the amount of noise and distracting movement going on throughout the audience in general - constant coughing (but some folks seemed to save it up for the most important silences in particular), rustling of programs or throat candy wrappers, shifting in squeaky seats, etc...in contrast, as I mentioned, I have heard this piece performed live in halls 2-3 times the size, where one could have literally "heard a pin drop" throughout the entire symphony. Obviously I am not sure if this was due to the hall acoustics actually being excellent in the wrong direction, or to the current cough bugs inhabiting San Francisco, or if Friday evening audiences are restless in particular, or all of the above....
So- having digressed a bit to describe my own slight personal disappointments vs expectations, am I still urging and begging you to go? Absolutely! And if you happen to be in San Francisco area this weekend, March 13 or 14, DO go to Davies Symphony Hall and try anything you can to beg, buy or steal a ticket for the two remaining performances of this symphony (just don't get seats beneath the overhangs!)

Why? Partly the piece.....and partly the conductor.
In my opinion and that of many of my musician colleagues, MTT is rightfully referred to as "Gustav Mahler incarnate". When MTT walks out on stage to conduct Mahler, one almost feels that discussions of his "interpretations" seem perhaps an irrelevant or even inaccurate assumption, because the phrasing, orchestral shading, rhythmic nuance, dynamic contrasts - and above all, the emotion in the perfectly-timed "silent pauses" - all seem to flow naturally from within, as if Mahler were there, composing and conducting it, all at the same time.
And that was certainly true this evening as well. As previously mentioned, I have been fortunate to hear this work in live performances with many recognized Mahler conductors, and of course in countless recorded versions. But I have never, before tonight, been made so effortlessly aware of tiny distinct details that revealed emotive changes and personality characteristics within each phrase, each color, each instrumental section and each thematic change of direction.

The performance of the first movement in particular gave entirely new meaning to the concept of "story telling" in music. The opening phrase was perfectly crafted both technically and emotionally, raising a question and suspense before an entire cast and characters seemed to appear in bold colors or sinister shadows. The care and tenderness that MTT lavished on the lyrical phrases was so heartbreakingly beautiful as to be almost painful, and this seemed to be partly due to the uncanny amount of spaciousness with which he allows the lyrical lines to unfold, while giving much meaning and energy to each pause. Tension built in the contrast between dry cellos and basses in their descending lines and a sweeter, almost "heavenly' instrumentation given to ascending lines - meanwhile this gentle pulse, like a heartbeat, beneath it all. "Beauty" battled with "ugliness" at moments when Mahler intentionally uses piercing woodwind or brass instruments to cut into the proceedings, and even more impressive than the final three notes of the movement were the perfectly judged spaces between them. It brought to mind something a friend of mine often says - if you go to an old cemetery and look at the tombstones, they usually have two dates carved on them - the date of the persons' birth and their passing - and those dates are usually separated by a dash (-)....so my friend points out that what matters in life is what we do in the "dash". It is so often the same with music - it is most profound, moving and unifying by what we do in the silence between the notes. Both Mahler and Michael Tilson Thomas would seem to be unparalleled in that aspect.

Mahler actually stipulated for an extended period of that silence (or break) to occur after the first movement, so that listeners could "clear their minds" before continuing with the next four movements that complete this massive work. The following movements offer a marvelous juxtaposition of many different musical genres, as if glimpses into different periods of a character's life....the Viennese elegance of waltz and minuet, superbly played by the orchestra this evening, and then immediately a Kletzmer-like episode that was brilliantly shaped by MTT and played with just the right amount amount of "attitude" even at tempi that were a bit faster than this writer has normally heard in that section.

Mahler Second Symphony is often called the "Resurrection" Symphony due primarily to the words that Gustav Mahler chose as the sung text for the choir and vocal soloists that join the orchestral forces in the final movements, and I have been told that this piece also has the interesting distinction of being mentioned the most times (of any classical music work), by people describing a permanent or life-changing "spiritual experience" that occurred unexpectedly when attending a live concert. If these "conversions" are true, I would suspect they most often happen in the shining moments of the final movement or the magical entrance of the Mezzo soprano solo in "Urlicht".
Soloist Katarina Karneus performed that role with great dramatic passion, conviction and warmth of tone, though from our seat location I wished for a more legato line and effortless sense of soaring, particularly in the highest notes of the mezzo part. Soprano Laura Claycomb seemed on this evening (again perhaps due to acoustics in my region of the hall) a bit weak, lacking in radiance or color and at times drowned out by the musical goings on. The Symphony Chorus, as mentioned earlier, was generally excellent despite a couple of slightly ragged entrances and being restricted in numbers (one assumes) by the space availability above the stage. The orchestra, even if they might not have been quite as zealously energetic as in other Mahler symphony performances under MTT that I have attended in Davies Hall, were still phenomenally good, particularly the piccolo and percussionists, but it seems unfair not to then mention the strings and the french horns and the woodwinds and the brass in general....and on and on. (If you want to see each member of the orchestral family in full action, and hear its unique colors and capabilities, go watch a live Mahler symphony performance!)

The real star of the evening was Gustav Mahler, an incredible composer who was, first and foremost, a human being who endeavored to portray every possible human emotion in his music so that generations to come would have the opportunity, in live performances, to experience through his music a unity amongst their humanity. But with Mahler's music as perhaps with no other composer, the humanity, insight and genius of the conductor leading the performance becomes the all-important ingredient that determines the quality of that live experience for the orchestral players and for the participating audience members. Any orchestra and every audience is fortunate indeed if their Mahler has MTT at the helm.

So if you can't make it to Davies Hall in San Francisco for the remaining two performances of Mahler 2nd Symphony this weekend, try to catch another concert date, especially for any of the Mahler symphonies with MTT conducting.
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{A little tip: in symphonic programs where no choir is involved, the hall sells the seats behind the orchestra, up at the back of the stage. Personally, as a musician and performer when attending a concert, that is my absolute favorite place to be, where one can watch the orchestra members each contributing their part of the whole, watch the conductor living the piece in union (hopefully!) with the orchestra, and watch the audience beyond them respond to the thoughts, feelings, values and experiences being so timelessly expressed. The sound of the instruments is also the most "immediate" and "live" from this unique vantage point although of course the blend of instruments may not sound the same as from out in the balconies and rows}.

2010-02-26T22:31:00.001-08:00

Planning Meeting This Sunday (Feb 28th) in Oakland, California!

Meeting *OPEN TO ALL* to plan Oakland's participation in UN-sponsored International Day of Peace.

St Paschal Baylon church
3700 Dorisa Ave, Oakland, CA 94605
(Golf Links Road exit off hwy 580)
[map & directions here]

For more details, see Listen for Life "Peace Day 2010" page.

Campaign volunteers and musicians sought for life-changing opportunity

2010-02-20T12:43:00.001-08:00

There is an exciting new campaign about to be launched worldwide. Starting with our elementary school children, it can definitely make a permanent difference in the lives (and communities!) of the next generation. This program is called the MusicMessage Campaign and it needs the help of every single one of you to make it effective!

Here's the scoop:
During our various LfL outreach projects both nationally and internationally, we have become convinced that the music and lyrics our young people listen to, profoundly affect their cultural attitudes about themselves and others, and consequently impact their behavior and therefore the communities where they grow up. Three powerful reminders of this fact, recently, have been:

1) in media interviews with the youth being tried in the Richmond, CA gang rape, newspaper articles quoted them as saying that their music taught them cultural attitudes that females had no value and were not "human", and that rape was a positive action, etc...
and
2) at the Oakland International Film Festival a few months back, there was a film called "Through the Walls" - this groundbreaking documentary video was created inside San Quentin Prison by the inmates themselves, and in their own "language" and style of rap music, several inmates acknowledge that the lyrics and music that their gang cultures had adopted, had absolutely been the single largest influence upon the negative thinking and violent actions that landed them in prison.

Our Listen for Life music listeners, volunteers, musicians and educators all concluded that if music can be used as a powerful weapon for inciting violence and negativity, then it has equal, if not greater, power for good – but that power and potential will remain largely untapped (at the conscious level) until we demonstrate the possibilities, and inspire the next generation to deliberately view (and use) music as a positive unifying force.

So, we're inaugurating a new LFL program we've called "Musicmessages" that could help turn this situation around in a positive, concrete, cross-cultural and creative way, starting with the youth - our next generation - who are most vulnerable and easily influenced by the music listening choices of their older siblings and relatives surrounding them.
To make this happen, we need volunteer organizers, admin assistants, teacher training assistants, educators, youth, parents, presenters, and positive, inspiring musicians of all ages, cultures, languages and countries.....in every single location, large or small, on the planet!
We also need virtual volunteers to help us get the word out via social networks and start a grassroots fundraising campaign so that we can bring the MusicMessage program to more schools.
If each music listener around the world donated $1 (or the equivalent) on the Listen for Life website for the MusicMessage project, we could influence the hearts, minds, and music listening choices of the entire next generation within a much shorter time frame - and that would prevent a LOT of potential violence in our communities!

Since LfL (www.listenforlife.org) is based in Oakland California, which has real challenges with gangs and youth violence, we are starting the campaign there - so if you happen to live in the Bay Area and can help in any way, we need to hear from you NOW because we are bringing the program to the Oakland schools in the most at-risk neighborhoods in a few weeks' time! Contact us - dstoering@listenforlife.org

Interested??
Do you like more detail?
Then read on.......
and if not, please still read the very bottom bits in BOLD!

There are five segments to the MusicMessage campaign, starting with a simple 45-minute assembly (combining multimedia and live performance)in each participating school, given at no cost to the school through Listen for Life volunteer musicians, presenters and organizers. Sponsored small-group follow-up sessions in the school then help each individual child to create his/her own positive music message (ie a melody or drum beat or lyric) and those messages of peace will be sent via mobile phone technology to individual students in another city or country. This will help each child to know that they do not have to have popular but negative musicians/groups to "speak for them' as they will have discovered the power of their own voice - and their own choice, in what music will influence their lives and their communities in the future.

The goal is to eventually help every child (and adult!) throughout the world to discover his/her own voice and positive message for others. Listen for Life is starting with the elementary schools in Oakland California, where our headquarters are, but we have an exciting, simple and successful template for this program that can be adopted by any group of volunteers, teachers, parents, and musicians in any country or culture.

The program can be carried out during class times or through after-school programs and community centers.
The MusicMessage project is designed to have five principal components:
a) through LFL-led school-wide assemblies that combine media examples (our interactive, cross-cultural Travels with Music series, and age-appropriate segments from a few films) and live interaction with visiting master-musicians of all genres, we raise the students’ awareness of music’s effect on their thoughts/behavior, and its potential for both negative and positive consequences in the community
b) as a LFL “mini-residency”, in follow-up small-group sessions (either during school time or in after-school programs, depending on the wishes of each particular school) we facilitate/encourage EACH of the students to create their own music (with or without lyrics) that they feel will deliver a positive message of peace to their peers; and then
c) we help the students to send their music messages to other students in another school/state/country via mobile phone technology
d) we combine all of the schools' musicmessages into an actual composed piece, and teach the kids to perform this piece that they helped compose, to be shared in their community as a city-wide celebration of UN Peace Day (September 21st each year worldwide).
e) At least one copy of the cross-cultural interactive education resource Travels with Music will be licensed to each school as part of this program, for subsequent use by all teachers (as desired), using multicultural music to integrate their lessons in social studies, geography, history, ESL, literacy, computer skills, and (where provided in the curriculum) music and arts.

Based on previous research, experience and successes, we are convinced that youth can be helped to discover that the music and lyrics they hear repeatedly will have a profound impact on their thoughts, their outlook, and their cultural assumptions. And they can be inspired to believe in the power of their own voice, to deliver messages (through music) that can uplift others and change the world.

Personally I cannot think of any one single campaign that could be more important in our present world, or for future generations......which is why my every waking moment has been rather consumed with developing and launching this newest project, and I haven't exactly kept up my promise to post on this blog on a more regular basis! (But that shouldn't stop all of you from commenting and adding to it, please!)

Also please remember - we need to encourage all of our youth to listen.....for LIFE!
And to do that we need YOU - not just your friends and the musicians you recommend and the music listeners in your social networks and the wonderful donors who could hopefully contribute $1 each to the campaign - yes, we need all of them too, but we ALSO need YOU!

Spread the (music)message..... THANKS!

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

2009-09-12T14:52:00.001-07:00

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

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

2009-09-09T22:27:00.001-07:00

........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!

2009-03-20T23:03:00.001-07:00

Yet again I have to apologize for the very long time since my last posting. My global organization Listen for Life has been extremely busy, focused on a number of projects on three different continents, but I would like to tell you about just one of them at the moment.

As most of you will recall, January 2008 was a nightmarish time of post-election violence in Kenya. A member of Listen for Life's advisory board has been a highly respected youth leader for years in Kenya, and we heard from him first hand about his mother being chased from her home in the rioting, and running - with her next door neighbor - from the torch-brandishing youths of conflicting tribes, who were told by warlords that they would be paid for each home that they burnt. While the two women were trying to escape into the woods, her neighbour was shot with an arrow and his mother had to keep running. She hid for days and eventually our friend was able to collect enough funds to charter a small plane and ferry her and many other women and children of that village out of the area. His mother only recently returned to her home but there is nothing left and the situation is actually much worse for everyone there, now, than it was before the violence. Before, people from the various tribes lived and worked together but now there is distrust, animosity, and lack of peace.

He therefore came to Listen for Life some months ago and asked us to come to Kenya and set up a project there, because he is convinced that the very best way to make a permanent, positive impact in this situation is through music.
Listen for Life has therefore teamed up with another organization called the World Youth Alliance (WYA) and the deputy director of that global organization is in Kenya. Together we have planned what we believe to be a very worthwhile project of great potential and power: at specific youth events of music and dance, scheduled for late April and early May, we are bringing together the youth and leaders from the 7 principal (previously warring) tribes and we are flying in professional media producers from Listen for Life in USA and Europe. They will then teach workshops for those gathered, about filming and recording their own native musicians - thus giving them a new job skill, potential employment, and helping to preserve their cultures, while at the same time giving them an activity that promotes peace, centered on the one common denominator: music. They will also help them to set up their own radio station and/or programming, in order to give the future generations of Kenya a voice for positive change rather inciting others to continue the divisive violence.

The WYA has contributed what they can to support and organize these unique, imaginative events which are scheduled to take place in 3 locations of Kenya over a 12 day period, but they contacted us recently saying that their funding source for the project itself had suddenly evaporated and they are now reliant on Listen for Life in the USA to find funding or donations from any individuals, groups, micro-lenders, corporations, etc (of ANY country), in order to cover the $8000 of budgeted expenses for all of the project and its three events - but if we don't find that funding THIS WEEK, they will be forced to cancel or postpone the events until a later time because we won't have time to get the Visas for the LFL production people to travel to Kenya to teach the workshops, and the WYA will also not be able to secure the venues for the music and cross-cultural sharing and dialogue that has been set up as part of this important project.
Meanwhile, as I have been getting the word out in Kenya about the scheduled workshops, we have had wonderful offers of other locations and regions of Kenya that would like to host the events at a 4th location during the same time period. So far, over 200 youth from all over Kenya are signed up to attend the workshops and events. Keeping in mind that in Africa, a "youth" is traditionally someone up to age 35, and the potential for impacting both current and future generations with this potential project, becomes quite evident. If we end up having to postpone the events, then I will believe that was meant to be, but for now I am sharing this with everyone just in case some of you feel that it should definitely take place NOW and want to be involved in some way or know someone who might be able to help. If so, please get in touch with Listen for Life (which is a 501c3 organisation) immediately ! The website is www.listenforlife.org or you can email me (dstoering@listenforlife.org) or the Executive Director, Andy Anderson, at aanderson@listenforlife.org THANKS!

Know any teachers? or Students? of course you do! (I hope!)

2009-02-17T17:33:00.001-08:00

Hi everyone. Sorry for the delay of several days now since my last posting but I have had several performances in the interim - as singer, pianist, and/or conductor - in different venues. I really appreciate all of you who have taken the time to share your comments on my first posting, and am especially grateful for your enthusiastic encouragement for our mission!

Speaking of that "mission", I will be writing from Geneva (Switzerland) next week! I will be there February 22-28 for a variety of meetings with individuals, organisations, NGOs, UN-related offices, and potential funders for our projects. I have also been asked to speak at an international conference there, about the creation of online communities and cybervolunteering as a way to improve cross-cultural sharing and human rights issues. Since Listen for Life, the global non-profit that I founded, has projects or affiliates in 45 countries worldwide, we are endeavoring to set a real model for cybervolunteering (as well as on-the-ground teams in each location, of course).

I mention this trip to Geneva in particular, today, because I want to tell you about one of the organisations there that we are working with. They are called GenevaWorld and they have a beautiful website (well, in my opinion anyway) in both French and English at www.genevaworld.com ...There you can find a separate section about their "191" project - a group of 191 art works created by children around the world, expressing their own cultural views to the world and to each other - with the intention of touring this exhibit worldwide and letting the youth inspire the adults towards a desire for unity.

Listen for Life has now committed to organising some music from all of these same cultures/countries to be performed at each exhibit location worldwide, including some representative youth performers on each concert. And we have received one generous offer of a host venue for this touring "191" exhibit (and concert) in the USA, for which the GenevaWorld directors are very grateful - and they will be even more excited, I know, if more significant host venues are forthcoming so that people across North America can be made aware of the project.

But that is not the main purpose of my writing this post today. Jean Cordey, the GenevaWorld founder, is a wonderful visionary, constantly seeking ways to let children and youth be the inspiration and driving force for peace and cross-cultural understanding. He is launching a new project and touring exhibition this year, similar to "191" but with a different focus and theme - that of "Children's Views of Child Labour".
To quote him directly:
"We are looking for children (maximum 16 yrs) from all over the world, who are or have been child workers - as well as children who have never been exploited in this way, {but will hopefully have learned about the issue in school from their teachers} - to express their feelings, and share their suffering and/or hope, through their artworks".

There is more specific information about the Child Labour project on the GenevaWorld website, of course, but the important thing to note is that the deadline for receiving the artwork in Geneva is March 31, 2009. That is only 6 weeks from today. Jean tells me that they have activated their own network of correspondents, schools, and teachers throughout the world and they have already received many many drawings....but they can only choose one or two from each country that are submitted, because ideally they want to have representation from each country and culture of the globe in the final exhibits. However, they do not have many contacts in North America and they would ideally like to have 100-150 drawings from this region to choose from, so Jean asked me to get the invitation out to as many teachers/students as I can, as quickly as I can! (there are also some other specific regions where he has fewer contacts, so if you are reading this blog from a location that you suspect may not be included in his current submissions, by all means contact him - or me).....

There were some inspiring discussions that arose from my last posting, about music teachers and the pivotal role they can sometimes (even unknowingly) play in the lives of individuals. In matters of sociology, citizenship, or cultural understanding, parents and teachers (whether in a classroom or home-school environment) again play a pivotal role in creating opportunities for discussions that raise awareness of critical issues around the globe. Both the youth and adults in North America can sometimes run the risk of being isolated from news about human rights or cultural issues that, at first glance, may not seem to affect their lives directly - but once the students learn that their peers in other countries do experience a direct impact from these injustices, then the students in general tend to respond very strongly and with a very empathetic desire to DO something. If we , around the world, can use art and music to harness that instinctive and generous response to action, then Jean Cordey believes that global change on these issues can occur - and more quickly than any governmental bodies would be able to inspire. Don't you agree?

SO- if you know any children up to age 16, or know any teachers (of any subject) with access to students up to age 16, please encourage them to discuss the issue of child labour- its existence, its causes, its impact on the lives of these youth - and to check out the GenevaWorld website for more information on the type of art works being requested, as well as the address and instructions for mailing them.
And once all of the artworks have been submitted in March, and 1-2 have been selected from each country, culture, and age group for the exhibit locations in Geneva and elsewhere, then you are also invited to tell me/us of gifted young musicians whom you might know from each culture, as we begin to plan the cross-cultural music performances that will accompany these powerfully emotive artworks, wherever possible.

Have any of you been directly impacted by child labour issues or experiences, and in what country/culture? I know that we are certainly not immune to these challenges in North America, even if it is less prevalent, obvious, or accepted.

There is an increasing use of music or art as "therapy" to encourage and help people of all ages to express their subconscious feelings about an experience or situation. All art forms can provide a powerful outlet for non-verbal communication, without any need for special skills or years of training in order to benefit from the activity. Some of us probably respond more to music, and others to visual art, while others are helped more by dance and physical movement. General wisdom holds that music is a more "universal" language for use in therapy of this sort, but I am sure each of the art forms will have its supporters. Any thoughts or experiences you would like to share or discuss?

Pomoja : Music in Action

2009-02-12T01:42:00.001-08:00

Greetings! The word pomoja means "unity" or "together" in various African languages. I hope to create an online community that can be a pomoja (unity) amongst those of us- individuals, groups, and organisations, alike- who are working to make a difference in the world, while harnessing the power and unifying force of cross-cultural MUSIC to help achieve our goals.

Some of us may be educators, volunteers, or founders of NGOs; advocates for specific causes, diplomats, hospital care providers, or piano teachers; media producers, music composers or performers; staff members at non-profits or CEOs of new hybrid social ventures; donors, investors, and cultural travel enthusiasts....or simply avid music lovers!

I know that there are numerous websites or blogs that endeavor to provide information and inspiration to specific target groups, gather volunteers for a particular cause, or assist NGOs and foundations that are focused on a unique set of issues. And similarly, there are (almost literally!) innumerable websites featuring music of one type or another.

Nevertheless, musicians of all countries and all ages are looking for more opportunities where our hard-won skills can be used to help change people's lives; to know where we can volunteer time and talents to organisations that believe in the power and value of what we have to offer.

And those of us who are not musicians, but are looking for some uniquely potent ways to reach the hearts and minds of the individuals or groups whom we are trying to help, might be surprised to learn about the ways that music is currently being used as a critical tool in such important activities as conflict resolution, international relations, education (for all subjects and at all levels), cross-cultural diversity training, human rights issues and the UN Millennium Development Goals, gang prevention, music therapy for healing of refugees' traumas......to name just a few examples!

The goal of this blog, therefore, is to create a worldwide online community that can share experiences, contacts, ideas, resources, and inspiration which we can in turn share with the world. I hope that this site can become a catalyst that will bring many different organisations, websites, and individuals together around the common interests of music and service:

"Music in Action"!

I look forward very much to hearing from all those whom I've already met during my global travels in this exciting work (some might call it a "mission"), but I am also eager to "meet" new friends from all cultures and continents who will hopefully contribute your comments to this blog so that we can share in your ideas, experiences, vision, contacts and life stories.

We are unified in the belief that we can achieve community and global change most effortlessly and powerfully through music, but we can only do it "together": Pomoja!

Afghan Concert at Ohlone College (Fremont CA) with Donna Stoering

2002-09-29T00:45:00.000-07:00

Afghanistan: Music of Tradition and Transition

Presented by the Fremont Symphony Orchestra and cosponsored by SAP

Sunday, September 29, 2002

2:00 pm and 7:00 pm

Smith Center for the Performing Arts

Ohlone College, 43600 Mission Boulevard, Fremont, California

Free parking provided

Tickets: 510-794-1659
$12 adults/$6 children for the 2 pm concert And $20 all seats for the 7 pm show

"Evening concert features a guest appearance by world-renowned vocalist Ms. Farida Mahwash

and a debut composition by Babrak Wassa in honor of Ustad Sarahang,

performed by internationally acclaimed pianist Donna Stoering."