Happy Birthday
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Orson Welles *V 6 1915 — The Life You Give
Orson Welles, born George Orson Welles, May 6, 1915, Kenosha, Wisconsin, U.S.A., is the motion-picture actor, director, producer, and write who’s innovative narrative techniques and use of photography, dramatic lighting, and music to further the dramatic line and to create mood made his Citizen Kane (1941)—which he wrote, directed, produced, and acted in—one of the…
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The Life You Give: Søren Kierkegaard *1813
Søren Kierkegaard, born Søren Aabye Kierkegaard, on May 5, 1813, in Copenhagen, Denmark, is the philosopher, theologian, and cultural critic who was a major influence on existentialism and Protestant theology in the 20th century. He attacked the literary, philosophical, and ecclesiastical establishments of his day for misrepresenting the highest task of human existence—namely, becoming oneself…
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James Brown *V 3 1933 / The Life You Give
James Brown, born May 3, 1933, Barnwell, South Carolina, U.S.A., is the singer, songwriter, arranger, and dancer, who was one of the most important and influential entertainers in 20th-century popular music and whose remarkable achievements earned him the sobriquet “the Hardest-Working Man in Show Business.” James Brown and Luciano Pavarotti Brown was raised mainly in…
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The Life You Give: Valery Gergiev *1953
Valery Gergiev, born May 2, 1953, Moscow, Russia, U.S.S.R., is a conductor, known for his charismatic stage presence and passionate performances, who became artistic and general director of the Mariinsky Theatre (previously called Kirov Theatre) in St. Petersburg in 1996. Gergiev was the son of Ossetian parents and spent much of his youth in the…
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Montserrat Caballé *IV 12 1933 — La Vida Que Das / The Life You Give
Montserrat Caballé, nacida el 12 de abril de 1933 en Barcelona, España, es la soprano española de ópera, que fue admirada por su versatilidad y fraseo y por sus interpretaciones en las óperas de Giuseppe Verdi, Gaetano Donizetti y Richard Strauss. Comenzó sus estudios como niña en el Conservatorio Liceu de Barcelona con Eugenia Kenny…
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From Callas to Caballé
Who is your successor?“Solo Caballé…” María Callas
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The Life You Give: Florence Price *1887
The first African-American woman whose music was played by a major symphony orchestra, Florence Price was a pioneering figure in 20th century American music. In the 21st century, her music has been performed increasingly often, especially since a large cache of her compositions was rediscovered in 2009. Price was born Florence Beatrice Smith in Little…
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Billie Holiday *IV 7 1915 – The Life You Give
Billie Holiday, born Elinore Harris, on April 7, 1915, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.A., is the jazz singer considered to have been one of the greatest from the 1930s to the ’50s. Eleanora (her preferred spelling) Harris was the daughter of Clarence Holiday, a professional musician who for a time played guitar with the Fletcher Henderson band.…
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The Life You Give: Ravi Shankar *1920
Ravi Shankar, born Ravindra Shankar Chowdhury, on April 7, 1920, Benares [now Varanasi], India, is the musician, player of the sitar, composer, and founder of the National Orchestra of India, who was influential in stimulating Western appreciation of Indian music. Born into a Bengali Brahman (highest social class in Hindu tradition) family, Shankar spent most…
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Herbert von Karajan *IV 5 1908 — The Life You Give
Herbert von Karajan, born April 5, 1908, in Salzburg, Austria, is the orchestra and opera conductor who was a leading international musical figure of the mid-20th century. A child prodigy on the piano, Karajan studied at the Mozarteum in Salzburg. He made his professional conducting debut in 1929 at Salzburg, and he was appointed to…
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The Life You Give: Sergey Rachmaninoff *1873
Sergey Rachmaninoff, born Sergey Vasilyevich Rachmaninoff, on March 20 [April 1, New Style], 1873, in Oneg, near Semyonovo, Russia, is the composer who was the last great figure of the tradition of Russian Romanticism and a leading piano virtuoso of his time. He is especially known for his piano concerti and the piece for piano…
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Akira Kurosawa *III 23 1910 — The Life You Give
Kurosawa Akira, born March 23, 1910, in Tokyo, Japan, was the first Japanese film director to win international acclaim, with such films as Rashomon (1950), Ikiru (1952), Seven Samurai (1954), Throne of Blood (1957), Kagemusha (1980), and Ran (1985). Kurosawa’s father, who had once been an army officer, was a teacher who contributed to the…
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Agnes Martin *III 22 1912 — The Life You Give
Agnes Martin, born March 22 1912, in Macklin, Sask., Canada, was a painter. She moved to the U.S. in 1931 and became a U.S. citizen in 1950. She studied at Columbia University and taught at the University of New Mexico. In 1958 she had her first solo exhibition. Martin was a prominent exponent of geometric…
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Johann Sebastian Bach *III 21 1685 — The Life You Give
Johann Sebastian Bach, born March 21 [March 31, New Style], 1685, in Eisenach, Thuringia, Ernestine Saxon Duchies [Germany], was a composer of the Baroque era, the most celebrated member of a large family of north German musicians. Although he was admired by his contemporaries primarily as an outstanding harpsichordist, organist, and expert on organ building,…
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Élisabeth Jacquet de la Guerre *III 17 1665 — The Life You Give
Elisabeth-Claude Jacquet de la Guerre, also known as Elisabeth Jacquet de la Guerre or Elisabeth Jacquet, Elisabeth also spelled Élisabeth, (baptized March 17, 1665) in Paris, France, is the composer, harpsichordist, and organist, who was the first woman to compose an opera in France. Elisabeth Jacquet was born into a family of artisans that included…
Sila Blume 