Beautiful watercolor from Cheryl:

Why do children and adults need to study great art, music, and literature?

"In the light of history, man's pretense to be governed by reason in any ordinary sense of the word seems a bad jest. The critical observer is forced to agree with Napoleon that, not reason, but 'imagination governs mankind.' It does not follow that mankind need be governed by the Napoleonic quality of imagination." - Irving Babbitt

EL PASO PRO-MUSICA 2016 - 17 Pre-Season Kickoff August 19!

For Season Ticket Packets and Information,

go to www. eppm.org or call 915-833-9400 .

The El Paso Pro-Musica Season, “Sound Investments,” is designed to not only bring the finest musical artists in the world to the region, but to “invest” in the future with outstanding Education Programs, Collaborations and Community Engagement. This season features renowned Grammy Award Winning Artists, El Paso Favorites, and Zuill Bailey.

The Pre-Season Kick-off for the Summer is set for August 19th with a Special Concert presented by the El Paso Museum of Art  in conjunction with the “Celebrating Picasso,” and “Posting Picasso,” exhibits.  Artistic Director of El Paso Pro-Musica and World Renowned Cellist Zuill Bailey will perform the works of Manuel De Falla, Stravinsky, Piatigorsky, and Pablo Casals, all contemporaries of Pablo Picasso. The Concert begins at 6:30 p.m. with a Champagne Toast. The Presentation is being made possible in part by the

National Endowment for the Arts. Admission is Free.

This year also celebrates the second year of the Master Class Program with UTEP’s Department of Music. Artists performing at each concert will perform Master Classes for Students within the Department. Zuill Bailey is also a Professor of Cello at UTEP.

The Main Season  officially kicks off on September 30-October 3 with the Grammy Award Winning Ying String Quartet. The Quartet is releasing their newest CD, “Re-Imagined; Schumann and Beethoven, with Zuill Bailey, and their performances in El Paso and Las Cruces will celebrate their new recording. The quartet will also make a special appearance in Carrizozo, New Mexico on October 3, for “Carrizozo Music.”

El Paso Pro-Musica will once again collaborate with Johns Hopkins University and the Peabody School of Music for the Young Artist Development Series. This year, following an audition in Baltimore, Artistic Director Zuill Bailey selected “Marquee Brass,” an outstanding group of dynamic horn players, who will work with area schools and showcase their talents in Community Engagement in a Special Residency from November 8-12. The residency will include concerts in El Paso and Las Cruces.

The El Paso Pro-Musica Chamber Music Festival is set for January 6-28, 2017 with incredible Concerts, Free Events, collaborations and the all new “Twilight Tours.”  The “Complete Beethoven Trios,” will be performed with Kurt Nikannen, violin, Scott Rawls, viola, and Zuill Bailey, cello. The Chamber Music Festival will continue it’s “Bach’s Lunch,” Free presentations each Thursday at Noon presented by the El Paso Museum of Art and Sponsored by United Bank of El Paso Del Norte.

All of the Artists will present “informances,” in preparation for the weekend concerts. A special Piano Duo will also be presented featuring legendary pianist Jerome Rosenthal and his renowned student Michael Brown, for a “four hand piano,” event.

El Paso Pro-Musica and the El Paso Symphony Orchestra  for the 11th year will present the January collaboration concert, featuring Grammy Award Winning Guitarist Jason Vieaux, performing Joaquin Rodrigo’s immortal “Concierto De Aranjuez,” with the El Paso Symphony Orchestra, Bohuslav Rattay, conductor. The award winning guitarist will also showcase his solo technique in concerts in El Paso and Las Cruces.  The Festival will conclude with Concerts featuring Newly Commissioned Compositions for El Paso Pro-Musica featuring Zuill Bailey.

The Main Season continues with Concerts on February 18 and 19 in Las Cruces and El Paso featuring Navah Perlman, pianist, in a “Musical Memoir,” reflecting her journey as the daughter of famed violinist Itzhak Perlman. The interactive presentation will include poignant stories, incredible visuals and amazing music.

Paul Jacobs, the only Organist to win a Grammy will perform in El Paso, on March 18th.  The Season will end with the one of the world’s great cellists, Steven Isserlis, who is one of only two living cellists featured in the Gramophone Hall of Fame. His concert is set for April 24th. He has  recently teamed up with violinist Joshua Bell for a new CD, “For the Love of Brahms,” to be released this Fall.

               

Your brain on ART:

Your Brain on ART
German neurologists at the University Hospital Erlangen have been studying the brain on art.
According to a recent experiment, while painters have their ups and downs, it’s not painkillers
they’re releasing. Instead, artists are engaged in the refinement of grey matter — building
connections between regions of the brain for higher, more integrated functioning. In the
study, 28 men and women took a “resilience scale measurement” psychology test, agreeing or
disagreeing with statements like, “I can usually find something to laugh about,” and had their
brains scanned. Then, once-a- week for ten weeks, they either learned to paint or attended an
art appreciation class where they analyzed and discussed artwork with an historian. After the
ten-week period, participants retook the resilience test and had their brains rescanned.

Researchers noticed that the painters saw raised levels of brain function connectivity and a
considerable bump in psychological resilience, while the appreciation group remained
unchanged. The painters’ brain improvement was pinpointed to within their default mode
networks — an area responsible for introspection, self-monitoring and memory.
Scientists ‘read dreams’ using brain scans. Rebecca Morelle,
Perhaps you already knew this. Art-making demands our experiences and observations be
processed in inventive, abstract ways, with focus and emotional alertness — or as the
researchers concluded, painting requires “enhanced memory processing, which is indeed
required when stored knowledge is connected with new information to create creative
works.” Squeeze out. You’re only a painting away from a better brain.
Esoterica: Because with age the default mode network begins to decline, the neuroscientists
at University Hospital Erlangen studied the brains of older people. Their test subjects were
men and women aged 62-70 — each retired for a minimum of 3 months and no more than 3
years. A significant improvement was found in the visual art production group. “Our results
have important implications for preventative and therapeutic interventions,” say Bolwerk and
Maihofner. The verdict is in: Picking up a brush at any age can strengthen brain connectivity
and build confidence and emotional resilience. “Art is a guaranty of sanity. That is the most
important thing I have said.” (Louise Bourgeois)

Le Cygne

Psalm 100!

A Psalm of praise.

Make a joyful noise unto the Lord, all ye lands.

Serve the Lord with gladness: 

come before his presence with singing.

Know ye that the Lord he is God: 

it is he that hath made us, and not we  ourselves; 

we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.

Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, 

and into his courts with praise: 

be thankful unto him, and bless his name.

For the Lord is good; his mercy is everlasting; 

and his truth endureth to all generations.

Romans 4:7 KJV

Saying, Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven, 
and whose sins are covered.

He is Love Love Love -

https://youtu.be/n4Li_BDcoBs
Graham Cook tells it colorfully!

John 10:28-30

And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. 29My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father's hand. 30 I and my Father are one.

The LORD the LORD
Signs of Life
Inlay weaving by Barbara

We who are His are plucked up into His glorious sounds. Celestial warp meets weft. Smiles.

Suite No. 2 in D Minor, BWV 1008: V. Minuet

salt & pepper now, and a little cinnamon!!!

Something awesome special seems so ordinary like home & friends.

Some preliminary sketches of the music set to generic music for now (because I can't fit the actual Bach Suits on my iPhone yet).  Signs of life are always great to experience within.

OK, maestoso was the title of one of my first digital drawings that i loved. This is fun. 

Symphony for Cello and Orchestra, Op. 68, I. Allegro maestoso
https://photos.app.goo.gl/XAiVNK4VF4oKVQPr9

Maestoso by Barbara

Zuill Bailey J.S. Bach Suite for Solo Cello No 3 Prelude

El Paso IS pretty cool:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iGwT5e4DYOk
Thanks, Anne W.

my teaching philosophy is found here:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/13mA70RtJEGU3268_I3BiAu-K9Qj0LsKbx2UJdXwhBa4/pub

Oh dang, I can no longer access this note. BIG CHANGE has come through some great studies! Easter Eggs have NOTHING TO DO WITH ASHTEROTH. What joy. Any day is a good day for a decorated egg. Yay!

A Ukrainian epiphany:

♫ שׂלּמּ Pattern & Praise שׂלּמּ ♫

Drifting off to sleep, finally, after some hours at the 
Ukrainian Egg tray, I saw beautiful swirls, dots, curves 
and dashes arrayed like a sunset – somewhere. Is it 
inside my eyelids &/or on the screen of the inner eye? 
Somewhere where that other place lingers after exerting 
creative endeavor. An epiphany came at the crossroads 
of this mysterious inner encounter, like a reward or a 
happy invitation to come partake in the love of friends 
mingling together, celebrating life. Maybe this is why 
pattern is so important to God! He gave so much detail 
about His preferences to good ole faithful Moses, the 
man of God, the servant of God. His Word records 
much delightful detail, all embodied in the Holy Spirit, 
in His Son, our Savior, in our utterances of 
His very Name.

As I merrily canoed along this stream so effortlessly, 
I saw people, I felt their hearts. I pray for them at once, 
naturally! My patterns are a shimmering weaving of our 
lives! Each mark stitches an intersect because of prayer 
in my own spirit, where the Holy Spirit is ever invited to 
dwell. It is a happy place amidst the chaos of the world. 
Paris, the New York Twin Towers, the Pentagon, 
individual griefs all around the world. So much! 
Somewhere, somehow in the midst of 
woundedness springs forth new life, hope, 
vitality and Shalom. He is Shalom. Whatsoever we 
would do to the glory of God honors Him; it invokes 
the Spirit's going forth to bless, to bring His presence. 
Our work is the action side of the contemplative. Our 
awareness of Him brings forth great windfalls of fruit. 
We should be more creative in these episodes 
together. The church, especially, needs more of the 
action side of our contemplative worship, thought & 
praise. His touch is in the pattern, as we might have 
suspected, with the delight that comes here, there, 
and everywhere. Thank you, Father, for giving us so 
much counter balance, springs of living waters, and 
joyful fun. Let your rivers of mercy, faithfulness and 
truth flood the nations. The world should know that it 
is OK to rejoice in You. II Chronicles 8

Photography with Jody opened up new vistas!

https://goo.gl/photos/6uRxNPZ7AL11yJ2x6

Zuill!!!

The greater the artist, the humbler the person!

Chatting with pianist Alon Goldstein after the concert by the Chamber Music Festival at Western Hills tonight, I hadn’t wanted to ask these questions publicly because they are so personal in the moment:

Is/are the artistic spirit(s) of your great composers present with you? (Bernstein, Beethoven & Dvorak). Does the trio work in harmony to keep that spirit in check and not your own egos? Or, as you master their work, do you take over at some point. And is the listener a fifth party to the marriage between the trio and the composer, as Tolkien suggested regarding the work of visual art, which he declared carries the artistic spirit of the artist to the viewer. I kind of asked all of these at once. His answers were surprising and very interesting.

"It is the music that takes over. The self disappears! So does the composer!" Oh wow.

This reminded me of Michael Cardew’s response to a question at a Ghost Ranch workshop. He was asked if a great pot by an artist breaks, does it die. He said no, the spirit lives on without the piece. Mr. Goldstein loved that because as we agreed,  music is so temporal to begin with.

 

And the cellist, Amit Peled reminded me of Roger Federer - same amazing zeal & grace. But, we learned that he was born in Yisrael, and not Switzerland. Susi E got over it, OK.
  I enjoyed the music and the people this evening!