3thoughts for the Ides of March 2010 (on the importance of music: music to work to, in society & doing good)

“A painter paints pictures on canvas. But musicians paint their pictures on silence.” -Leopold Stokowski

1. Music and the Visual Arts have a profound connection. Visual artists often use music as a source of inspiration for their work and/or part of their process. We find it difficult to design in silence, though our choice of music to work by varies greatly. Do you use music to fuel your work? If so, what do you listen to and how does influence you?
2. The Visual Arts and Music also share the distinction of being one of the few things you can actually choose to go to college for and people will accuse you of wasting your intelligence. You do well on your SATs and people ask if you are going to be a doctor or an engineer or a lawyer. Say you are going to study graphic design and they look at you cross-eyed. We found a blog post that featured a Welcome Address to an entering class at the Boston Conservatory. The address was given by Karl Paulnack, and he said:
   

   I have come to understand that music is not part of “arts and entertainment” as the newspaper section would have us believe. It’s not a luxury, a lavish thing that we fund from leftovers of our budgets, not a plaything or an amusement or a pass time. Music is a basic need of human survival. Music is one of the ways we make sense of our lives, one of the ways in which we express feelings when we have no words, a way for us to understand things with our hearts when we can’t with our minds.

   The arts are an important part of our society – woven in the fabric of our lives. Yet, in much of that society, art, design and music are given little value. What is up with that, anyway?

3. In the spirit of sharing the arts with our community, we wanted to let you know about a organization who has made it their mission to bring people of all ages together with music. We recently made the acquaintance of  Brewster Productions.  Two years ago, they founded the “School’s Out Summer Concert Series”  to provide “free, outdoor music to people of all ages, including teens, who are often neglected because of the reputation held by their demographic.” The concert series is a non-profit corporation that promotes the arts and the importance of public education. Cheers to the folks at Brewster Productions– an organization that values the arts and understands that music has the power to connect people.

Find Brewster Productions on  facebook twitter and  youtube.

Video courtesy of AlexIsLegend.com.