Posts Tagged ‘Music’

Yoko Ono

     Dressed all in black, except for the  red flower at the tip of her men’s fedora, Yoko Ono claimed the stage last night on the eve of her 77th birthday with a primal scream that seemed to contain all at once, grief, rage and intense, existential joy. Her journey that night at the Brooklyn Academy of Music began with a poignant series of home movies from her childhood in pre-war Japan and moved from there to  her provocative life as a performance artist in the early 1960’s — and then — to her epic romance with John Lennon.
      Her comrades that night included her son, Sean Lennon — as well as members of the We Are Plastic Ono Band, Justin  Bond,  The Scissor Sisters — as well as members of the original Plastic Ono Band.   That band was launched in 1969 with the hit single “Give Peace a Chance,” and that’s how Yoko ended the evening. W ith everyone singing about peace and love.
     “Love everyone,” she implored. ”Hug everyone, she smiled. “Give peace a chance.”
     

Gregg Breinberg

      Teacher Gregg Breinberg is  The Whiz Kid behind the Whiz Kids otherwise known as the PS22 Choir.  Made up of 4^th and 5^th graders from PS22 on Staten Island, they’ve  performed at Madison Square Garden, sung for movie stars and politicians and melted hearts  all over the world.
      But for their fearless leader –  what’s most important is helping students find the heart and soul of a song — and of themselves.
      In an interview with OpenEducation.Net, Breinberg told writer Thomas Hanson the key to their successful collaboration is having High Hopes, Great Expectations and Kindness. And it doesn’t hurt to be a Bit of A Clown yourself. ‘Kindness and patience are #1 with me,” Breinberg said in the interview. “I also think it’s important to be willing to try things, step outside your comfort zone, embarrass yourself, make mistakes — because you can never forget that’s basically what you’re asking from all of your students at some point or another.
     The kids have taught him as well, Breinberg said.
    As Joey, one of the kids in the choir told MSNBC:   ‘Mr. B, he’s a handful — he teaches us but we teach him — he’s not just a regular teacher — he is un-ordinary.’   Check out the  whole interview with the ‘Un-Ordinary’ Breinberg  and his Extraordinary work with the PS22 Choir here.     

      The Beatle walked out onto the set that was once the stage for the Ed Sullivan show last week,  45 years after it had all begun. Not the band — of course.  That had begun many years before that, in Liverpool where he and some mates had decided: Hey, Let’s Put on a Show! 
     Sir Paul McCarney had been 22 years old then and he thought He Knew it All.  He told David Letterman he felt so much older at 22 than he does now.  S o when the stage manager asked him that night in 1964 right before he was to go out and sing ’Yesterday,’ whether he was scared, he said ’No.” “You should be,” the stage manager told him. “There’s 73 million people watching.”  McCartney admitted to Letterman: “I was scared.”
        His  face is more lined now — a bit more careworn. He’s been through his share of tragedy and triumphs. He’s had a hit record or two. He’s now known as a Sir.  But underneath, the carefree kid with the killer smile and the Mod haircut is still there.
      That night in 1964 , on black and white televisions, all over the country, in Living Rooms and Dens, the people watched the Beatles on the Sunday night ritual known as The Ed Sullivan Show.  Fathers were incredulous.  Mothers smiled.  Girls screamed. The Dog Barked.
     The Mop Tops Had Come to Town.  And everything Changed.