Aisle Be Seeing You

Yo-Yo live on WGBH radio

Hear Yo-Yo Ma perform amidst pastoral splendor at Tanglewood
(you'll be listening from wherever it is you hang out)

First ballot cello hall of famer, Yo-Yo Ma, performs with the Tanglewood Center Orchestra and conductor Carlos Miguel Prieto (son of renowned cellist and MIT-grad Miguel Prieto) at 2pm this Sunday, August 3. If you are among those of us who aren't going to be in Lenox this weekend you can listen on WGBH 89.7 FM or online at wgbh.org/classical.

Of course, Yo-Yo Ma will also be performing two separate, distinct, different, and really not at all the same programs on March 8 & 9 at Symphony Hall with The Silk Road Ensemble for the Celebrity Series of Boston. Check these shows out and more at www.celebrityseries.org.

Judith Jamison on Charlie Rose

The great Judith Jamison, long time leader of the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, spent some time with Charlie Rose back on July 3. She talked about her life and career and the vast preparations for the 50th  anniversary of the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater:

Judith Jamison on Charlie Rose

Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater celebrates its 50th anniversary in Boston from April 28 to May 3 at Boston's Opera House (the April 28 performance includes the a capella ensemble Sweet Honey In The Rock). Subscription tickets (3 or more events) are available now; individual tickets go on sale September 8: www.celebrityseries.org.

Johnny Griffin, 1928-2008

Another jazz giant has passed. The great jazz tenor saxophonist Johnny Griffin has died. Not a Celebrity Series artist, but a great musician.

New York Times obituary (Ben Ratliff)

Washington Post obituary

Downbeat.com

Jazz Times

Chicago Tribune obituary (Howard Reich)

Los Angeles Times obituary

AFP (Paris)

Johhny Griffin playing an up tempo blues at The Village Vanguard (video)

Welcome to the neighborhood, Central Square Theater

There's a new kid on the theater block (please make him feel welcome, class). Have a look at the Central Square Theater.

Mikis Theodorakis turns 83

Anthony Quinn and Alan Bates dance to the music of Mikis Theodorakis in a scene from Zorba the Greek

Today is the birthday of Greek composer Mikis Theodorakis. He began his remarkable life in 1925 on the island of Chios. Most Americans know Theodorakis for his scores for the films Zorba the Greek, Z and Serpico, but he is also a prolific composer, having written numerous symphonies, chamber works, hymns, cantatas, operas and music for various stage productions.

Theodorakis is also known for his political activism and controversial statements on issues of the day. He was imprisoned by the Greek junta, The Regime of the Colonels in 1967, and only released after intense international pressure was brought to bear on the government. He has also served several terms in the Greek parliament.

In honor of his birthday, here are some relevant links:

Mikis Theodorakis official web site

Mikis Theodorakis wikipedia page

Theodorakis sings Romiosini Part I, Part II

Theodorakis sings Ki esi lae vasanismene at a 1974 concert, shortly after the fall of the Regime of the Colonels

Zorba live (2001)

Zorba the Greek wikipedia page

Z wikipedia page

Serpico wikipedia page

Intuition Records (Schott Music)

Orchestra Mikis Theodorakis

Patricia Zander, 1942-2008

Pianist, educator and longtime New England Conservatory faculty member, Patricia Zander has died after a long battle with cancer. Ms. Zander performed for a decade with cellist Yo-Yo Ma, though she only appeared with Mr. Ma on the Celebrity Series once, a Symphony Hall recital in March 1986 (when we were the Wang Celebrity Series). A greater, but perhaps less obvious impact of Ms. Zander's life and work are her many accomplished former students. Former Boston Globe classical music critic, Richard Dyer, thought Zander to be, "Probably the most influential music teacher in the city." Among Ms. Zander's former students, baritone Sanford Sylvan, pianists Judith Gordon and Max Levinson, and violinists Stefan Jackiw and Irina Muresanu, have all appeared on Celebrity Series stages.

Boston Globe obituary

New England Conservatory Announcement

Wish Leon Fleisher a Happy 80th Birthday

The venerable pianist Leon Fleisher turns 80 this year. The Celebrity Series will be celebrating with an all-star lineup of Mr. Fleisher's former students on October 3.

Mr. Fleisher's management has set up a way for the public to post personal birthday wishes for the birthday boy. You can read the posts here. At the bottom of the page is the link to post your own.

Six figures

 

I'm not bragging (boasting? yes, bragging? no), but this blog recently registered its 100,000th page view.

It will also celebrate its third anniversary on August 15 (OK, I'll celebrate, the blog will do whatever it does when I'm not looking). Maybe I'll hire a clown or something...

Stunning dance pics available online from Jacob's Pillow

Dance, compared to the other performing arts, does a great vanishing act. It lives in the moment (most of the time) and then is gone. But in an under appreciated symbiosis between art forms, dance has inspired a steady stream of unforgettable photography since shutters first began clicking in the 19th century.

Now a small slice of one of the dance world's finest collections of historic photography has just been made available for purchase in print form on the Jacob's Pillow web site. Follow the link to the Jacob's Pillow Online Custom Photo Store and click on thumbnail images for each of five categories: 1) Ted Shawn 2) Ruth St. Denis 3) The Men Dancers 4) Around the Pillow and 5) Pillow Artists.