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Gotham Chamber Opera Presents 'The Tempest Songbook' at the Metropolitan Museum of Art: Co-Production with Martha Graham Dance Company, Directed by Luca Veggetti

Gotham Chamber Opera’s final production of the 2014-15 season will be "The Tempest Songbook.""The Tempest Songbook" is comprised of incidental music for "The Tempest" composed in 1695 and attributed to Henry Purcell and Kaija Saariaho's 2004 "Tempest Songbook" for soprano, baritone and period instrument ensemble. This is the show's U.S. and world-stage premiere.The performance will be a co-production with the Martha Graham Dance Co. The Martha Graham Dance Co. has received international acclaim from audiences in more than 50 countries throughout North and South America, Europe, Africa, Asia and the Middle East. The Gotham Chamber Opera has also received many accolades and has been recognized as a pioneer in creating opera productions in alternative venues."The Tempest Songbook" will explore the themes of William Shakespeare’s "The Tempest" using dance, movement and song. The singers and dancers will express the words and actions of various characters, which will result in a lyrical vision of Shakespeare's iconic play."I am thrilled to be invited to share my vision for 'The Tempest Songbook' with Gotham Chamber Opera," said director and choreographer Luca Veggetti. "Through my association with Kaija Saariaho, I became acquainted with her 'Tempest Songbook' and her suggested pairings with Purcell, which serves as the starting point for the production."
By Jaime Prisco

  • Lego Organ Being Created for Lego Replica of Durham Cathedral

    Organ builders Harrison and Harrison have begun work on the first instrument made out of Legos. A Lego organ is being built to go inside a Lego model of Durham Cathedral in England.The organ is a Lego replica of the instrument built by Henry Wallis in 1876 and restored by Harrison in 1905 and again in 1978. The brick model of Durham Cathedral is being constructed to raise money for the cathedral’s Open Treasure Project. The Open Treasure program aims to transform some of the Cathedral’s most historic spaces, creating an exhibition route that will include the Monks’ Dormitory and finish in the Great Kitchen, where the treasures of St. Cuthbert will be displayed, alongside other cathedral treasures and visiting exhibitions.Gaye Kirby, head of development at Durham Cathedral, said, “It is wonderful that Harrison’s have chosen to recreate their magnificent organ in miniature in our Lego Cathedral and we are very grateful to them for their generous donation and support of the Open Treasure appeal.”
    By Jaime Prisco

  • Studies Show that Listening to Classical Music Can Help You Ace Your Finals, Always Helps to Lower Blood Pressure

    University research in France has recently found that listening to classical music while studying can actually help students score higher on tests.Research published in "Learning and Individual Difference" found that students who listened to a one-hour lecture where classical music was played in the background scored significantly higher in a quiz on the lecture when compared to a similar group of students who heard the lecture with no music. Researchers speculate that the music puts students in a heightened emotional state, which makes them more receptive to information“It is possible that music, provoking a change in the learning environment, influenced the students’ motivation to remain focused during the lecture, which led to better performance on the multiple-choice quiz,” they wrote.
    By Jaime Prisco