because we're finally moving back to Manhattan on Thursday!
But meanwhile, the healing power of music is recognized everywhere - even in North Korea.
To me, one of the most wonderful things about music - and art in general - is its ability to transcend the differences between us and to bring our commonalities to the surface. All humans feel love, pain, anger and joy, and music exquisitely amplifies those feelings into an emotionally powerful shared experience.
May the Philharmonic and the people of North Korea share the gift of music together, and may it be a small step towards unity and away from the divisive Bush Doctrine.
But meanwhile, the healing power of music is recognized everywhere - even in North Korea.
The New York Philharmonic arrived in North Korea Monday, becoming the most prominent American cultural institution to visit the isolated, nuclear-armed country.
North Korea made unprecedented accommodations for the orchestra, allowing a delegation of nearly 300 people, including musicians, staff and journalists to fly into Pyongyang on a chartered plane for 48 hours.
The Philharmonic's concert Tuesday will be broadcast live on North Korea's state-run TV and radio, unheard of in the impoverished country, where events are carefully choreographed to bolster the personality cult of leader Kim Jong Il.
[snip]
[Zarin] Mehta told reporters Monday before leaving Beijing that politics was not part of the trip. "We are going to do master classes, we'll do chamber music, rehearsals ... that's what we're there for. Politics is not our game, we play music," he said.
To me, one of the most wonderful things about music - and art in general - is its ability to transcend the differences between us and to bring our commonalities to the surface. All humans feel love, pain, anger and joy, and music exquisitely amplifies those feelings into an emotionally powerful shared experience.
May the Philharmonic and the people of North Korea share the gift of music together, and may it be a small step towards unity and away from the divisive Bush Doctrine.
5 comments:
Have a safe move!
I loved that story about the philharmonic. I thought it was great that they were playing Gershwin and other American classics!
Thanks Southern Beale!
I also loved that they were playing traditional Korean music too. Very cool.
When I was at Manhattan School of Music, about half the student population was Korean. Music is extremely important to them. I hope this is a great experience for everyone involved.
so, now i have a place to crash if i want to come up and do some auditions? for a year or so?
i hope the worst is over by now...
i'd like to think i've moved for the last time...at least doing it all by myself...
in fact, i can safely say i would rather wrestle rattlesnakes and alligators on a bubbling asphalt parking lot littered with broken beer bottles and empty syringes at noon on any summer day in oklahoma city... than move myself again...
thanks, woody! colorful imagery there. :-) the worst is over, I think, although we are still waiting on some furniture.
and dirk, hee hee hee...
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