News

Metropolitan Opera at the Movies, 2011-12 Season

August 26, 2011

Take advantage of “front row” seats at the Met’s new 2011-12 HD Live opera season, and watch opening day performances (or encore evening showings) at local movie theaters throughout the world. Although nothing beats a live performance at the Met in Lincoln Center, these simulcast live performances on screen are the next best thing, and [...]

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SING ME A STORY: The Musical Approach to Children’s Literature

May 12, 2011

Jill and Michael Gallina share news of their exciting new musical that highlights the importance of literature and reading: If you are interested in a musical that takes place entirely on risers and integrates music and children’s literature into one easy-to-produce package, we hope you’ll consider our latest “Rise and Shine” musical SING ME A [...]

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Olivier Messiaen – Dec. 10

April 26, 2011

“I give bird-songs to those who dwell in cities and have never heard them. . .and paint colors for those who see none.” —Messiaen. He used birdsongs and colors as no musician ever had before, bringing beauty and hope even to fellow prisoners in a German POW camp.

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Domenico Scarlatti – Oct. 26

October 26, 2010

  Painting by Velasquez Born Oct. 26, 1685 in Naples, Italy Died July 23, 1757 in Madrid, Spain Domenico Scarlatti was born into an illustrious musical family, auspiciously in the same year as two other great Baroque composers,  J. S. Bach and Handel. He received early training from his father Alessandro Scarlatti (1660-1725), chapel organist [...]

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Opera for Kids: Free Resources from the Met

August 27, 2010

 Educator Guides to the Operas Plan an opera study unit for your students based on one of the operas in the 2010-11 Metropolitan Opera season, climaxing with a Night at the Opera in a local movie theater or at your school. The Met Live in HD series offers free opera-specific educational guides you can use [...]

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Catch the Met’s 2010-11 Operas in Movie Theaters

August 26, 2010

The fifth season of the Metropolitan Opera’s Live in HD series is coming to a movie theater near you! Enjoy front row seats at these live opening night productions. It is so easy to feel more engaged with opera on a large screen, where you can see everything “up close and personal.”  Feel the pre-performance [...]

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World Cup Music: Shostakovich’s Soccer Match

July 11, 2010

Don’t underestimate the power of either sports or music when it comes to exciting a crowd. Even as a tormented composer writing under the harsh restrictions and demands of Communism, in his 1929 ballet  The Golden Age big-time soccer fan and sometime soccer referee Shostakovich recreated a soccer match. In this ballet, a communist soccer team [...]

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The Music of Soccer: Top 5 Soccer Pieces in Classical Music

July 7, 2010

There’s a lot more to World Cup soccer music than national anthems and the penetrating blare of “vuvuzela” horns.  WQXR classical FM station, highlights the top 5 soccer pieces from 100 years of soccer-inspired classical music.

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Hidden Musical Code in Plato’s Writings

July 7, 2010

A scholar in England just announced his discovery of a secret music code in the writings of Plato.  As a closeted follower of Pythagoras, whose heretical beliefs threatened traditional religion, Plato believed that music and mathematics were closely related, and that music was a reflection of the mathematical principles that governed the universe. Pythagoras codified [...]

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Copyright Laws vs. Teens: The Battle Rages

July 2, 2010

When famed Broadway songwriter Jason Bert Brown discovered his songs were being “traded” freely online by those who had never purchased a legal copy, he thoughtfully requested that the traders stop the illegal trading. Read this fascinating exchange with a recalcitrant yet extremely bright and articulate teenager. Eleanor’s teenage sense of entitlement is absolutely breathtaking. [...]

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Jazz Festivals 2010

June 29, 2010

Here are links & dates for jazz festivals around the world, so plan a trip around an  enticing jazz venue that beckons you to kick back and enjoy live jazz at its convivial best. Jazz Festivals in USA Jazz Festivals in Canada UK Jazz Festivals European Jazz Festivals Worldwide jazz festivals are also listed geographically, [...]

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Vienna Vegetable Orchestra: Veggies Never Sounded So Good

June 28, 2010

Since 1998, the Vienna Vegetable Orchestra has performed on musical instruments they make from fresh vegetables. (I couldn’t make this up.) They shop for veggies at the local produce market, spend a few hours making their vegetable instruments, then after their concert, they throw them into the pot and serve up vegetable soup. Contrary to [...]

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The Met Brings Opera into the Classroom

June 15, 2010

Bring full-scale Metropolitan Opera productions into your classroom! The free Live in HD school program from the Met is now available in some school districts around the country, and online educational guides put the icing on the cake.  Teaching guides for each Metropolitan opera production include classroom activities, musical highlights, story synopses, accompanying audio clips, [...]

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The Fine Art of Listening: for Musicians & Audiences

June 11, 2010

Listening skills should be stock in trade for musicians, but experienced musicians face the same challenges of concentration and active listening that audiences do.  Timothy Walker’s keynote speech at Great Britain’s ISM (Incorporated Society of Musicians) hopefully didn’t fall on tin ears. Walker, Chief Executive of the London Philharmonic Orchestra, realistically addresses the difficulties musicians [...]

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Arts & Language Requirement for High School Graduation at Risk in California: Fight Back!

June 6, 2010

These are hard times, especially in nearly bankrupt California. But are we content to see the California legislature gut the heart (i.e., the arts) out of education? The arts and foreign languages are fundamental to education, especially in the world we live in today. If creative thinking and global communications were ever needed in this [...]

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Enjoy Operas from the Met: At the Movies or Online!

June 3, 2010

Can’t go to the opera? Does your busy schedule or a pinched pocketbook or an illness make you miss the magic of the live performance? While there is nothing like the excitement of being in the theater for the real event, there are now 2 wonderful and affordable alternatives: Option 1. Opera Night at the [...]

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Music Hath Charms to Soothe the Savage “Beast”

June 1, 2010

  Is music something we share with the animal kingdom? Or did they first introduce us to music? This is the musical chicken-or-egg question, and I might just lay my bet on the animals. From singing whales in the seas to birds in the trees, frogs on a log to crickets in a fog, the [...]

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Boomwhackers on Steroids: Plastik Musik

June 1, 2010

If you thought boomwhackers were just for kids, think again. Better still, listen to the percussion group Plastik Musik in their astounding Boomwhacker performance: The first time I met Craig Ramsell, creator of the Boomwhackers, was  in Phoenix, Arizona, about 15 years ago at a music education conference.  At the time, I knew his newly [...]

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Should School Kids Sing Praise Songs to the Prez?

May 29, 2010

  There are a few lines that should never be crossed in a democracy. One of those is the line separating church and state. For very good reasons, our founding fathers (while most of them shared the same basic Christian faith) had seen what happened in Europe when religion and politics got mixed. Heads rolled [...]

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Boys & Men Finding Their Voices in Barbershop Singing

May 23, 2010

The hills are alive with the sound of men singing in Great Britain. Television shows like Glee and The Choir, along with increasing numbers of You Tube videos of barbershop music,  may be contributing to the surge of popularity in Great Britain for close harmony singing. This week over 2500 eager singers are heading to [...]

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New Opera Explores Dementia & Alzheimer’s

May 17, 2010

The Lion’s Face, a new opera on the effects of ageing and memory loss, premieres in Brighton, England May 20, 2010, then tours the UK for the summer.  The music is by Elena Langer, and the lyrics by Glyn Maxwell. The creation of the opera involved an intense collaboration with scientists and doctors at the [...]

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Terror on Broadway: The Show Must (not) Go On

May 2, 2010

The scene was straight out of Hollywood. As my husband Jim and I left our small hotel room on 49th Street we had only 20 minutes to go before the curtains rose at Broadway theaters throughout the district. I had only 30 minutes earlier purchased tickets at TKTS (the half-price ticket booth on Times Square—see [...]

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Free Shipping for Music in Motion Facebook Fans

April 21, 2010

Free Shipping  for Facebook fans on all prepaid orders in the USA through April 25.  Sign up now if you’re not already a fan, and use the Promocode posted on our wall when you shop at Music in Motion. 

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50 Festivals & Places to See Live Jazz

April 21, 2010

Keep this schedule handy, support live performances, and best of all enjoy yourself at these wonderful live jazz events: Jazz Festivals & Places to See Live Jazz Part 1  Jazz Festivals & Places to See Live Jazz Part 2 Jazz Festivals & Places to See Live Jazz Part 3

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