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Author Archives: dannyashkenasi
STILLES ENTSETZEN – AWESTRUCK, AWFUL REGRET – One More Week of the Carl Orff Competition’s Public Voting
“Orpheus. Eurydike. Hermes” evokes the lead-up to Orpheus’ fateful turn to glance at Eurydice, the awestruck, awful regret at that moment and its terrible aftermath. “Orpheus. Eurydike. Hermes” beginnt kurz vor den fatalen Rückblick Orpheus zur Eurydike, welches stilles … Continue reading
Posted in Chamber Works, Literary Lyricism
Tagged Carl Orff, Competition, Eigentum, English, Eurydice, Eurydike, frozen moment, German, Orpheus, property, Rilke, translation
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HAPPY SONGS FOR DARK TIMES #1 – A Grand Hotel Extravaganza
Sometimes the right slice of music can be a sure fire happy picker upper. These are dark, soul depressing, body wearying times we live in. More than once I have been hearing people talk about how they feel sick in … Continue reading
Another Year, Another Trio of First Grade Operas.
Three first grade operas have performed in their classrooms in front of an audience of parents, grandparents and loved ones. In three consecutive days 1-3’s “Diamond Kids”, 1-2’s “The Alicorns” and 1-1’s “Imagine” regaled audiences with stories, dialog, lyrics and … Continue reading
MARCHING FOR OUR LIVES IN NYC
March 24 – March For Our Lives – Millions are on the streets in the USA. Here are some impressions from New York City. With appropriate and inappropriate songs that went through my head as Ed and I participated. … Continue reading
Posted in Melodies Linger On, Notes in the News
Tagged A Part Hate, AR-15, Central Park West, Cyndi Lauper, Deathly Hallows, Ed Elder, Foster the People, gun control, Happiness is a Warm Gun, Harry Potter, Imagine, John Lennon, March 24, March for our Lives, New York City, Nick Cave, NRA, O Children, Paul McCartney, Protest, Pumped Up Kicks, school shootings, The Beatles
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GETTING KINKY WITH JAKE AND WAYNE
Ed and I originally saw “Kinky Boots” when it was still in previews. We had treated each other with reciprocal Broadway tickets for Xmas, because we had high hopes for a Harvey Fierstein / Cyndi Lauper musical collaboration. The performance … Continue reading
Posted in LGBTQ Alphabet Soup, Literary Lyricism, Live! On Stage, Melodies Linger On, Two-fisted Touristing
Tagged Al Hirschfeld, Armistead Maupin, Boys Keep Swinging, Broadway, Bye Bye Birdie, Chita Rivera, Cyndi Lauper, Dick van Dyke, drag queen, Gesamtkunstwerk, Harvey Fierstein, House of David, Jake Shears, Kinky Boots, Lea DeLaria, LGBTQ, musical, Wayne Brady, Whose Line is it Anyway
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Five Minutes in Lockdown
A few months ago I was conducting a third grade choir class in a Tribeca school, when an alarm sounded. “Lockdown”, one of the two classroom teachers in the room with me and 25 third graders announced. Swiftly, and calmly, … Continue reading
LIGHT ENTERS THE HOME – with a “light”hearted music quiz
I’ll have a picture with my puzzle, please Longtime visitors to my site will have noticed that I love sharing photos, under the “Two-fisted Touristing” rubric, of scenic vistas from around the world or places and events in New … Continue reading
Posted in Melodies Linger On, The Speakeasy Chronicles, Two-fisted Touristing
Tagged Adam Guettel, Adam Lambert, Annie Lennox, Bernadette Peters, Billy Joel, Charlie Chaplin, City Lights, climate change, Creedence Clearwater Revival, Crystal Bowersox, Dance into the Light, Dim All the Lights, Donna Summer, Downtown Lights, Florence and the Machine, Ian McKellen, illumination, Kelli O'Hara, light, Light in the Loafers, light play, Long as I Can See the Light, Madonna, Mandy Patinkin, Mary Rodgers, Miami 2017 (Seen the Lights Go Out on Broadway), No Light No Light, paw paw, Ray of Light, refraction, Richard Rodgers, Rothko, Scissor Sisters, Shadow and Light, shadow play, Shining Light, Sondheim, Speakeasy, sun tea, Sunday in the Park with George, The Blue Nile, The Light, The Light in the Piazza, Vincent Price, When Pigs Fly
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HAIKU NEW YORK
The sky is paper Bleeding upward from the edge There are ink towers My brother will be There to meet me at the dock Has it been five years? Now there are seagulls Wheeling and diving … Continue reading
Posted in Chamber Works, Literary Lyricism
Tagged a cappella, Angels in America, Anita Hollander, Ellen McLaughlin, haiku, harbor, Immigration, Jeannie Im, Lovette George, music theater, New Dramatists, New York, Nicky Paraiso, Patrick Mellen, seagulls, Statue of Liberty, through-composed
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In the Name of Love on MLK Day
Today our nation commemorates Martin Luther King Jr. Day. The message and significance of Martin Luther King Jr. and what he represents for the aspirations of our country and the world weigh more heavily, sadly, today, than they … Continue reading
Posted in Melodies Linger On, Notes in the News, The Teaching Artist
Tagged Berliner Luft, choir, chorus, Depeche Mode, I Have a Dream, In the Name of Love, Joy to the World, Martin Luther King Jr., Mas Que Nada, Miriam Makeba, MLK Day, Pata Pata, Paul Lincke, People are People, Pride, school, Sergio Mendes, third grade, Three Dog Night, U2
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The Map Room of Madison, Wisconsin
On the second floor of a hundred year old house near Vilas Park in Madison, Wisconsin, is a guest bedroom known as the Map Room. Three of its four walls have been wall papered by huge maps … Continue reading
Posted in Notes in the News, Two-fisted Touristing
Tagged Austria, Berchtesgaden, Churchill, Darkest Hour, East Germany, Ed Elder, Freiberg, funeral, General, Hitler, Island, Kitzbühel, LaFollette, Madison, Map Room, maps, National Guard, North Pole, Pforzheim, Ralph Immel, Vilas Park, War Room, Wisconsin, World War 2
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To the Woman Who Sat in Rear Mezz B 106 During Last Night’s Performance of THE BAND’S VISIT
This post is not really about “The Band’s Visit”, the marvelously unlikely new Broadway musical hit show, enchanting critics and sold out houses. This is about you, the sad selfish woman sitting diagonally behind me. You see, about halfway through … Continue reading
Posted in Live! On Stage
Tagged audience reaction, Beethoven, Broadway, Citizen Kane, Meryl Streep, musical, Omar Sharif, rudeness, sighs, sotto voce, The Band's Visit
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