Classical music is one of my passions. I love it. I love to listen to it in the mornings. It helps me focus when I have a big project, memo, or something that needs to be written or done. I love to go listen to it live, to watch the orchestra or symphony perform together with or without soloists - I have learned many things about myself in doing so. Sometimes it moves me, sometimes I get bored with it; sometimes I wonder how anyone could think that piece was lovely, and sometimes I get swept up in the artistic moment and beauty of it all. Being relatively close to DC and the Kennedy Center, I have had the privilege to see some of my favorite soloists and conductors, as well as to discover some others that I had never heard of.
This week I get the privilege to cross off another one of my classical music idols, Gustavo Dudamel and the Los Angeles Philharmonic. They are playing at the Kennedy Center, along with another one of my all-time favorite pianists, Jean-Yves Thibaudet. Gustavo Dudamel is only a year older than myself and in his short life has managed to help transform, not only the musical world, but the lives of inner-city children by sharing his passion with them and offering them another route, another path in life.
60 Minutes has done several pieces on Dudamel and the Simon Bolivar National Youth Orchestra, the youth orchestra that he founded in Venezuela and they just recently did another piece on Dudamel and his vision for the inner-city youth of America. If you have a spare few minutes and are interested in one way that a person is using his passion to help change lives, watch the video below.
Watch CBS News Videos Online
Showing posts with label Jean-Yves Thibaudet. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Jean-Yves Thibaudet. Show all posts
Monday, May 17, 2010
Thursday, January 7, 2010
Adios 2009, Hello 2010
It is already 7 days into the new year! How did that happen? It never ceases to amaze me how fast time passes by. Maybe it is because everything else seems to move more slowly in work time and then when I lift my eyes up and look at a calendar I become shocked at how fast the days and weeks have melted by. So before too much more time passes in '10, I wanted to take a moment and reflect back on 2009.
Quite a number of things happened in '09. I went to the Kennedy Center many times and saw amazing musicians (Jean Yves-Thibaudet, Lang Lang) and Cate Blanchett in my new favorite play "A Streetcar Named Desire" by Tennessee Williams. I also got to go to several amazing rock concerts, starting with Muse/U2 in Charlottesville and then MuteMath in DC. I am so blessed that I got the opportunity to experience such wonderful art and performances by these musicians.
Though I didn't do much traveling last year, I did get to NYC for probably the highlight of my year, Red Bull BC One. I love New York - I love visiting and being a part of the city. I can't wait till I go back again. Great things always seem to happen to me when I go to New York - or maybe it's because I go there for great things. And as much as I love NYC, I love that I got to be a part of Red Bull BC One. I wish I could put into words how much I love this event and what it represents to me and how incredible it was to watch world premiere b-boys battle each other. It also just shows to me how unexpected life can be - who knew that in March, when I first saw this event on MTV, I would just a few short months later be in the actual crowd?? That I actually got tickets when they sold out in half an hour? It's amazing that I got to go and something I will always treasure.
Lots of great books were read, lots of great music listened to, and lots of wonderful fun times full of family, friends, work, baseball, and Young Life. I don't really want to get into too much depth about all that spiritually happened - if you're really interested, check out this previous post from a few weeks ago.
There are a lot of things that I want to do in 2010. I want to have a new attitude about life. I want to be very intentional about what I do and where I am going. I want to travel, to go places - near and far. I want to be present in my life, be intentional in the story that I am living. I do confess to having fear about what that actually means, but that is part of what this year is going to be - overcoming those fears and moving forward in spite of them.
And I think 2010 wants me to be more intentional and fearless. The few movies that I have seen recently as well as the books that I have read are all agreeing on this point, so I'm taking the hint. Here's hoping that I can learn, listen, and grow.
Quite a number of things happened in '09. I went to the Kennedy Center many times and saw amazing musicians (Jean Yves-Thibaudet, Lang Lang) and Cate Blanchett in my new favorite play "A Streetcar Named Desire" by Tennessee Williams. I also got to go to several amazing rock concerts, starting with Muse/U2 in Charlottesville and then MuteMath in DC. I am so blessed that I got the opportunity to experience such wonderful art and performances by these musicians.
Though I didn't do much traveling last year, I did get to NYC for probably the highlight of my year, Red Bull BC One. I love New York - I love visiting and being a part of the city. I can't wait till I go back again. Great things always seem to happen to me when I go to New York - or maybe it's because I go there for great things. And as much as I love NYC, I love that I got to be a part of Red Bull BC One. I wish I could put into words how much I love this event and what it represents to me and how incredible it was to watch world premiere b-boys battle each other. It also just shows to me how unexpected life can be - who knew that in March, when I first saw this event on MTV, I would just a few short months later be in the actual crowd?? That I actually got tickets when they sold out in half an hour? It's amazing that I got to go and something I will always treasure.
Lots of great books were read, lots of great music listened to, and lots of wonderful fun times full of family, friends, work, baseball, and Young Life. I don't really want to get into too much depth about all that spiritually happened - if you're really interested, check out this previous post from a few weeks ago.
There are a lot of things that I want to do in 2010. I want to have a new attitude about life. I want to be very intentional about what I do and where I am going. I want to travel, to go places - near and far. I want to be present in my life, be intentional in the story that I am living. I do confess to having fear about what that actually means, but that is part of what this year is going to be - overcoming those fears and moving forward in spite of them.
And I think 2010 wants me to be more intentional and fearless. The few movies that I have seen recently as well as the books that I have read are all agreeing on this point, so I'm taking the hint. Here's hoping that I can learn, listen, and grow.
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