You will; …no, “because.” Know “because”, & You will.
Aries 5:21-934🍫

way too much coffee today

Hank and John Green (YouTubers and etc) answer questions, give questionable advice, and talk about Mars (the planet) and AFC Wimbledon (the 3rd tier English football club).

Composing since the late 1970s! Quirky movie-score style pieces and songs.

Bio:

Arthur Breur started seriously studying piano after his grandmother, Jocelyn— his grandfather’s second wife—passed away when he was eight.  They had been very close, and his weekend stays at her home inevitably included him asking her to play piano for him.  

At ten he started taking lessons, having already taught himself a variety of music, including various movie score themes and ragtime pieces—but he gradually discovered that he enjoyed composing and playing his own music more than playing what was assigned to him by his piano teacher.

From the start, his compositions were very affected by the music in movies and on television.  It is not in jest that he points to the music performed on such television shows as “Sesame Street”, “The Electric Company”, and “The Muppet Show”—not to mention the superb songs of “School House Rock”—as sources of inspiration.  Further, many excellent scores for movies of that time, such as Escape to Witch Mountain, Close Encounters, Star Wars, Raiders of the Lost Ark, Star Trek, and others, fascinated him and formed his ideas on how music should “work”—with accessible, easily remembered themes that can be associated with specific things, people, or feelings.  His music was also heavily influenced an excellent music program at church.

He studied piano performance and composition and got his bachelor’s degree from Millikin University in Decatur, Illinois. By that time he had been studying piano for eight years, had composed more than a dozen pieces, and had previously lied about his age to get into a college-level music theory course.  His college piano instructor worked with his desire to compose by assigning him works by composers that inspired him.  Prokofiev and Ravel in particular influenced his compositional tone and style considerably.  Around this time, Danny Elfman’s film music also came to Arthur’s attention and provided yet another dimension of sound to pursue.

In the early 1990s, Arthur collaborated with lyricist, comedian, and singer, Cristopher Blake.  Between them they wrote more than twenty songs, many of which they performed live in various Los Angeles venues.

Over the more than 36 years he has been composing, he has written more than 140 individual pieces, including works for five weddings, two Christmas revues, numerous videos, and one short film.

The Anthropocene is the current geological age, in which human activity has profoundly shaped the planet and its biodiversity. Here on The Anthropocene Reviewed, we review different facets of the human-centered planet on a five-star scale.

JD Green is a classically-trained vocalist with a love for all things funky, soulful, & free. She is from the old school of spirituals & roots music, stomp-yo-foot blues; of the pocket & a funky groove; sweet ballads; jazz standards, something to pop your fingers & shake your head to. She loves to explode & recombine musical categories while always holding onto the essential kernels of a song's integrity, seeking always to connect to folk on the level of soul.

JD Green uses vocal soul music to engage, encourage, and transform. Though the sweetness of her voice may be what attracts, it is her thoughtful lyrics, her “quirky, yet funky” ability to tell the truth and cut to the marrow of our experiences that make JD Green’s brand of soul music necessary and timeless. 

linktr.ee/londyjamel 

The resident choir of Christ Church Cathedral, Louisville, Kentucky

Acclaimed by the UK magazine Choir & Organ as writing music of “austere beauty” that exhibits the “pressure and presence of personal conviction,” Kevin Siegfried (b. 1969) is a composer with an emerging international voice. His music was recently described as “hypnotic and beautifully written” by The Boston Musical Intelligencer, and is known for its direct expression, lyricism, and accessibility.

Siegfried’s music is published by E. C. Schirmer, Earthsongs, and Trinitas and has been performed and recorded by leading ensembles including The Dale Warland Singers, The Tudor Choir, and Conspirare. The Tudor Choir’s Gentle Words CD, the premiere recording of Siegfried’s Shaker song arrangements, received wide acclaim and was praised as “a stunning addition to the repertoire” by Fanfare Magazine. Siegfried has received grants and awards from ASCAP, Choral Arts New England, New Hampshire State Council on the Arts, and The Carlton Savage Endowment’s “Waging Peace Through Singing” Competition.

A passionate advocate for choral music and the expressive power of the human voice, Siegfried has devoted increasing attention to the composition of vocal music in recent years. From 2006-08, he was in residence with the Nashua Symphony Orchestra and Chorus, as a participant in the Nashua Symphony’s “Ripple Effect” project. The residency culminated in the performance of his choral symphony Three Songs for a New World in 2009. Other recent projects include: Songs for the Journey for chorus and chamber orchestra, commissioned by the Concord Chorale (2010); Three Horizons for chorus and piano, commissioned by the Phillips Exeter Academy Concert Choir (2010); and Child of Earth, a cantata for mezzo-soprano, choir, strings, and harp, commissioned by the Capitol Hill Chorale (2011).

Siegfried graduated from The New England Conservatory with a Doctor of Musical Arts degree in Composition. He studied additionally in Paris, through the European American Musical Alliance, and in India, with South Indian classical musician Sriram Parasuram. His teaching experience includes Harvard University, The New England Conservatory, and The Northwest School in Seattle. Since 2004, he has been a faculty member at The Boston Conservatory.

James is a composer, improviser, writer, and photographer.

MattWetmore is following