Friday, April 21, 2017

Thank you to all our wonderful audiences of the past few months!

Preparing for concerts and programs is: months-long blurs of research, rehearsal, collecting images and creating the slideshow, and basically .... pressure, pressure, pressure.

You wake up with the passages you are practicing humming in your head; this goes on all day, as you walk, you sing a snatch of this or that; as you sweep or dust or make coffee, you suddenly stop and do a few vocal exercises (gotta practice that lift); you can't read anything that isn't related to your research with anything approaching concentration.

Then you give the concert or program. Just before you go on stage, you think, "I am so exhausted, why do I do this, can I sing that passage I struggled with correctly, what's the house like...WHY do I do this it's so intense..." Then you go out, and you see your audience, and it all lights up and falls into place and you're not tired and everyone's smiling, and you look happily over at Jim and you open your mouth to speak, to sing, you pick up your guitar....

There's no better life.

And today I'm utterly exhausted, like a balloon that has been let go and soars while the escaping air propels it upward, and then it drifts back to earth.

And there's still no better life. And you want to do it all again.
Which means you are kind of crazy!

Saturday, January 28, 2017

Please come and share this musical and historical program with us

A SPECIAL NOTE, THE DAY BEFORE:
We have been doing various configurations of this program for 30 years. It's a centerpiece of our work. I've never said this before, please don't take this as "advertising"...but I really feel strongly that if you come to this free program, you may be inspired and encouraged by all the hard-won progress this country has made since the 1760s...and the inspiration to continue. Please come and share this musical and historical story with us.

Please join Jim Dalton and Maggi Smith-Dalton at upcoming FREE music and history programs at The Boston Conservatory at Berklee, Boston, Mass.

This special version of the Daltons’ longest-running program “American History Thru Music™ — 1760s to 1960s-A Musical Portrait of the USA” —
▪ starts January 29, 2017, with “Causes, Crusades, Campaigns!—Get your energy up!”

▪ followed on February 26, 2017, with “Good Times and Hard Times—We’ve All Been there!”

▪ and wrapping up on April 2, 2017, with “Immigration and Migration—Packing Our Bags, Hittin’ the Road!”

WHEN AND WHERE:
Sessions will be held from 2 to 4 p.m. at the Boston Conservatory’s T-401 classroom (31 Hemenway Street Boston, MA 02115)

Directions to campus: https://bostonconservatory.berklee.edu/directions

FREE AND OPEN TO THE PUBLIC
Registration: Contact Rhoda Bernard, rbernard@berklee.edu


SO … WHAT’S IT ABOUT?
▪ Live, historically informed performance of songs & instrumental pieces plus some recorded excerpts where appropriate

▪ Discuss general history (political, social, cultural) & music history for each era … Discover how music both reflected and shaped the course of people’s lives … Opportunities for musical participation provided in each session

▪ Each session will be illustrated, and materials for further exploration will be shared

WHO SHOULD COME? ANYONE! THAT MEANS YOU!
Download a descriptive flyer here: http://singingstring.org/PDF/AHTM%20Special%20Seminars%20version.pdf

And look for us at WorldFest in February and our annual concert “Celebration of American Music 7” in April….more info to come….



_____________________________________


very short blurb:

Join Jim Dalton & Maggi Smith-Dalton
for a 3 session version of the Daltons’ longest-running program “American History Thru Music™ — 1760s to 1960s-A Musical Portrait of the USA” Jan 29, Feb 26, April 2, 2017

2 to 4 p.m. Boston Conservatory’s T-401 classroom (31 Hemenway Street Boston, MA 02115) https://bostonconservatory.berklee.edu/directions

FREE & OPEN TO THE PUBLIC
Registration: Contact Rhoda Bernard, rbernard@berklee.edu

WHO SHOULD COME? YOU!
Descriptive flyer: http://singingstring.org/PDF/AHTM%20Special%20Seminars%20version.pdf

Friday, January 20, 2017

The Dream Will Never Die

This will be my only post today.

"'....That which we are, we are--
One equal temper of heroic hearts,
...strong in will
To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield.'

....For all those whose cares have been our concern, the work goes on, the cause endures, the hope still lives, and the dream shall never die."

Senator Edward M. Kennedy - August 12, 1980

Tuesday, January 3, 2017

Please join Jim Dalton and Maggi Smith-Dalton at upcoming FREE music and history programs at The Boston Conservatory at Berklee, Boston, Mass.



This special version of the Daltons' longest-running program “American History Thru Music™ — 1760s to 1960s-A Musical Portrait of the USA” —
▪ starts January 29, 2017, with “Causes, Crusades, Campaigns!—Get your energy up!”

▪ followed on February 26, 2017, with “Good Times and Hard Times—We’ve All Been there!”

▪ and wrapping up on April 2, 2017, with “Immigration and Migration—Packing Our Bags, Hittin’ the Road!”

WHEN AND WHERE:
Sessions will be held from 2 to 4 p.m. at the Boston Conservatory’s T-401 classroom (31 Hemenway Street Boston, MA 02115)

Directions to campus: https://bostonconservatory.berklee.edu/directions

FREE AND OPEN TO THE PUBLIC
Registration: Contact Rhoda Bernard, rbernard@berklee.edu


SO … WHAT’S IT ABOUT?
▪ Live, historically informed performance of songs & instrumental pieces plus some recorded excerpts where appropriate

▪ Discuss general history (political, social, cultural) & music history for each era … Discover how music both reflected and shaped the course of people’s lives … Opportunities for musical participation provided in each session

▪ Each session will be illustrated, and materials for further exploration will be shared

WHO SHOULD COME? ANYONE! THAT MEANS YOU!
Download a descriptive flyer here: http://singingstring.org/PDF/AHTM%20Special%20Seminars%20version.pdf

And look for us at WorldFest in February and our annual concert “Celebration of American Music 7” in April….more info to come….