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Author Archives: dannyashkenasi
FALLING INTO JACKSON POLLOCK
This Sunday I was at the Metropolitan Museum of Art and found myself in front of their monumental Jackson Pollock “Autumn Rhythm (Number 30)”. And once again I had that hallucinogenic experience I often have in front of Jackson Pollock’s … Continue reading
Posted in Arts-a-Poppin'
Tagged acid trip, African American, art, Autumn Rhythm, Dream, drip painting, Ed Elder, hypnosis, Jackson Pollock, Jon Bunge, LSD, Met, Metropolitan, museum, photography, portrait
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FACES. REFLECTIONS. REFRACTIONS.
Some more expected and unexpected impressions at the Brooklyn Museum First, encounters with some singular faces. It’s hot and humid out, but she is eternally the embodiment of frigid winter.
Posted in Arts-a-Poppin'
Tagged Americas, brooklyn, busts, Ed Elder, faces, glass, idols, museum, Painting, portrait, reflection, refraction, statue, transformation
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WIZARDS AT THE LYRIC
My birthday present – my quite extravagant birthday present to myself – was tickets to the two-part all day performance of “Harry Potter and the Cursed Child” at the Lyric Theatre in New York. And since today is Harry Potter’s … Continue reading
Posted in Literary Lyricism, Live! On Stage
Tagged birthday, Broadway, cgi, Cursed Child, Fantasy, Frozen, Harry Potter, Hogwarts, illusion, J. K. Rowling, Keep the Secrets, Let It Go, Lyric Theatre, magic, Olivier Award, stagecraft, staircases, Time, Time Management, Tony Award
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THEY KILLED MERYL! – but she still left us one or two musical gems
When the first trailers for “Mamma Mia – Here We Go Again” arrived, the absence of Meryl Streep was conspicuous. As were certain lines that hinted at her character Donna Sheridan’s absence in the “Mamma Mia” movie sequel. Her likely … Continue reading
Posted in Cinema Scope, Melodies Linger On
Tagged ABBA, Amanda Seyfried, Andy Garcia, Cher, Dallas, Elaine Stritch, Fernando, Here We Go Again, House of Cards, Jason Isaacs, Mamma Mia, Margaret Atwood, Marilyn French, Mark Kermode, Meryl Streep, My Love My Life, The Day Before You Came, The Handmaid's Tale, The Women's Room
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BEFORE THE SUNSET – with the Sun Song Quiz
The lady saw me walk onto the middle of the street with my phone out, and said to Ed “he’s taking a picture of the sunset” in that universal “that’s so sweet” tone of voice. Except it wasn’t quite the … Continue reading
Posted in Arts-a-Poppin', Melodies Linger On
Tagged A-Ha, Another Day of Sun, Blondie, Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me, Ed Elder, Elton John, Fiddler on the Roof, Fish People, George Michael, Hair, In the Sun, Invisible Sun, Kate Bush, La La Land, Let the Sunshine In, Moonlight, Sun King, Sunrise Sunset, sunset, The Beatles, The Flesh Failures, The Police, The Sun Always Shines On TV
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MAMA MIA – Here We Sing Along Again
Escapism for the New Great Depression I slid the “Mamma Mia” disk into the blu-ray player. I asked Ed whether it we should activate the sing-along function this time? Ed hesitated, then demurred. But I knew he wanted it. So … Continue reading
Posted in Cinema Scope, Notes in the News
Tagged ABBA, Busby Berkeley, Ed Elder, escapism, fascism, Great Depression, Hereditary, Leave No Trace, Mamma Mia, Mamma Mia - Here We Go Again", Meryl Streep, Preston Sturgess, Putin, Seth Meyers, sing-a-long, Sorry to Bother You, Sullivan's Travels, Treason, Trump, Won't You Be My Neighbor
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MOONLIGHT EVOCATION
Moonlight Serenade – Glenn Miller and His Orchestra It’s my husband Ed’s birthday today. And among his wrapped birthday presents he will find another viola piano duet, another Evocation. We’ve been together 25 years, so this year it’s … Continue reading
Posted in Chamber Works
Tagged collaboration, composing, composition, Dream, Ed Elder, Evocation, Evocation 25, Glenn Miller, Moonlight Evocation, Moonlight Serenade, variations
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NATARAJA – The Dancing King
Posted in Arts-a-Poppin'
Tagged ABBA, dance, Dancing King, Dancing Queen, George and the Dragon, India, Nataraja, photography, sculpture, Shiva
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Museum Impressions
Yesterday at the Brooklyn Museum with an unwitting special focus on the feminine
Posted in Arts-a-Poppin', Two-fisted Touristing
Tagged brooklyn, Female form, feminine, feminism, mirrors, museum, nudes, photography, reflections
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BROOKLYN PRIDE
Park Slope Comes Out! Highlights from the June 9 Brooklyn Pride Street Fare and Parade We are Family – Sisters Sledge
BEWARE THE CON! – a cautionary epistolary tale
The following emails are actual. Only certain identifying details have been redacted. Sunday, 7:01pm – Message from D- C- relayed via a service for independent contractors: Hello,My name is D- ,I want lessons for my Daughter,she is 12 … Continue reading
Posted in Notes in the News, The Teaching Artist
Tagged bank, cautionary tale, check, Con, email, epistolatory, fraud, invoice, piano lesson
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These Roses are Ready for their Close-Up, Mr. DeMille!
Another year… another June… This year the rose garden at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden had received a “hard cut”, as we heard a passerby explain. Which made it still lovely but less lush than in years past. So I’ll focus … Continue reading
Posted in Arts-a-Poppin', Two-fisted Touristing
Tagged A Rose by any Name, Angela Lansbury, Bernadette Peters, Beth Ditto, Bette Midler, Blondie, botanic garden, brooklyn, Debbie Harry, Ethel Merman, For the Boys, Imelda Staunton, James Horner, June, Kate Winslet, Linda Lavin, Makin' Whoopee, Patti LuPone, Rosalind Russell, Rose, Roses, The Rose, Titanic, Tyne Daly
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ARTS-A-POPPIN’
There’s a new category here at Notes from a Composer: Arts-a-Poppin’. (This category, like all the others, can be accessed on the right side of every site page, just below the tweet stream.) After posting a double bill of selections … Continue reading
Posted in Arts-a-Poppin', Notes in the News
Tagged Arts-a-Poppin', Brazil, Hellzapoppin, memorial, New York, Notes from a Composer, Painting, photography, sculpture, Visual Arts
2 Comments
SHIFTING PERSPECTIVES at ART NY 2018
Part 2 of my glimpse into ART NY 2018. Some more “celebrity sightings” in artist and subject just as in Part 1. Even more “shifting perspectives”, featuring videos of art work that show how they change, either because they include … Continue reading
Posted in Arts-a-Poppin', Melodies Linger On
Tagged 2018, Alexandra Pacula, art, ART NY, Badlands Cockney, Bjørn Okholm Skaarup, Brandon Murphy, Bruce R. Macdonald, Carole Feuerman, Chagall, Chris Antemann, Diadji Diop, Dick van Dyke, Etienne Garceau, Florian Eymann, Frederico Uribe, Fredy Hadorn, Hendrik Kerstas, Henry Calso, John Atwood, Kaï, Klar Reis, Klari Reis, Leonor Anthony, Marck, Marilyn Monroe, Mark Jenkins, Mary Poppins, Michael Moebius, Nemo Jantzen, Niloufar Banisadr, Norah Jones, Oliver Czarnetta, Paint it Black, Painter Song, Patrick Rubenstein, Pavement Artists, Picasso, Puzzles, Roberto Fabelo, Rolling Stones, Roy Lichtenstein, Shepard Fairey, Speedy Graphito, Tom Otterness, Victoria Kovalenchikova, videosculpture, Will Kurtz, Yong R. Kwan, Zhang Hang Yi
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The Views from THE VIEW
Ed and I were treated to dinner at The View restaurant on the top of the Marriott Hotel in Times Square. 48 stories high, the whole restaurant is perched on a circular platform that, like a very slowly rotating record, … Continue reading
Posted in Arts-a-Poppin', Melodies Linger On, Two-fisted Touristing
Tagged ABBA, Billy Idol, Billy Joel, Charlie Chaplin, Chrysler Building, City Lights, City of Stars, Cole Porter, Down in the Depths (in the 90th floor), Hot in the City, Hudson River, I am the City, Kate Bush, La La Land, Manhattan, Marriott, Miami 2017 (Seen the Lights Go Out on Broadway), Portia Nelson, restaurant, Ryan Gosling, skyscraper, The Lion King, The View, Times Square, Top of the City
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