Music
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Tristan and Isolde premiered June 10 1865
To celebrate this masterpiece (156 years after it premiered), I will be sharing a couple of productions on Clubhouse — June 10 2021 at 1pm EST. https://www.clubhouse.com/join/opera-blood-and-te/ey3e6Z01/P0YNYdoX
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Sing, Speak, Scream — a Clubhouse Event
https://www.clubhouse.com/event/xnob5YQQ
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Remembering John Bonham
Before this day ends, on which I have been celebrating the birthday and life of the great mezzo-soprano Shirley Verrett (1931-2020), allow me to mention the exceptional drummer, John Henry Bonham This English rock drummer for Led Zeppelin, was born in Redditch, England, and continues to be valued as one of the most influential drummmers…
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In Memory of Shirley Verrett — May 31 1931 / an Event
Shirley Verrett — the Intimate Black Callas, is a celebration of the unique Diva who was born ninety years ago today. Join a live conversation with her daughter, Francesca LoMonaco, and her nephew, Shaman Durek, as we share memories of one soul who transcended cultural barriers with her talent. https://www.clubhouse.com/join/opera-blood-and-te/IvadYlYj/myb0L0RO
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The Soul is unbound
Ever since we have been traveling this globe, our exposure to the exotic or merely to the other (individual, culture, tradition, belief), has left us impressed, influenced, at least touched. Henry F. Gilbert was born 1868 in Somerville, a town in the Boston metropolitan area where I lived in the mid 1980s. He attended the…
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Sing
If you can’t sing, sing. If you’re happy, sing. When you are sad, sing. Whenever you are confused, sing. If you are angry, sing. If confused, sing. If you want to be in happiness, sing. Sing your heart out. Sing your mind out. Sing your insecurity out, sing your confidence out. If you wish to…
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Celebrating the life of Shirley Verrett
Shirley Verrett was born in New Orleans on the 31st of May in 1931. Her operatic debut was 1957 in Benjamin Britten’s The Rape of Lucretia. Not the best choice, considering her family practiced Seventh-Day Adventism, and was not in agreement with her pursuing an opera career. In 1968 she made her New York Metropolitan…
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Music and Philosophy
Music pushes us to listen. Philosophy pushes us to think.
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to be, to do
Some say: I do philosophy Some say: I make music Some say: I am music Some say: I am a musician And I am wondering, what does that say of each. Notes taken during the room “The thin line between philosophy and music”, in the club “Opera, Blood, and Tears”, on Clubhouse. May 11 2021
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There is a very thin line between music and philosophy
https://www.joinclubhouse.com/join/opera-blood-and-te/DRuOL73J/MEAbXbW0
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Listening while relaying a message
The musician on stage is a hearing conglomerate. He has to listen to himself, perceive what he plays, and react to it. At the same time, he has to anticipate his playing and overlook the complete piece. Simultaneously, he plays for the listeners in the tenth or twenty-third row, and listens, as it were, with…
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Fragility, Hunger, Strength
Art and music can not ever be sold or bought — only the so called pieces may. Seen and heard art can not be class bound. The artist with depth is inherently hungry, just because art and music can not be sold or bought. When I tremble in emotions, in bolts of clarity, in sudden…
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O.P.E.R.A
I’m thinking that opera ought to be dissected. Well, everything in life ought to be dissected. Spread out on a beautiful table. Looked at, again and again. Digested, regurgitated, enjoyed 360 degrees. Dissect love, dissect life, dissect the self, discard of the ego wanting to reach completion. Go on.
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What happens through music once it finishes, before the applause begins?
There is a spiritual, physical, and mental space between the moment understood as the end of a music piece, and that in which no notes are left to be intonated. What is the quality of that space? When is the right time for the expected applause? Should it be expected? Join Vlad Vexler, philosopher and…






