Marina Nebro: Arts and Culture

It’s been a pretty eventful semester if I do say so myself. From the first day of classes to today, my “final final” as I call it, I’ve jam-packed my schedule to fit in as many extracurricular activities as possible. In this blog I want to concentrate on areas that I have not really focused on in the past.

One such example of a previously non-mentioned topic is my involvement with Queens College Hillel. I wouldn’t consider myself a religious Jew of any sort – I haven’t been to temple in ages, and until coming to college, my family had stopped holding Shabbat on a regular basis. And, prior to actually beginning my studies at QC my impression was that Hillel was an overall Orthodox bunch of students, I really had no desire to be involved. The funny thing is, though, that apparently the Orthodox Jewish population on campus is only 1/4 of the entire Jewish population! Anyway, my involvement all changed when I found out about a small grassroots, progressive Jewish movement taking form with the leadership of Alyssa Blumenthal – I would call her a mentor of mine. With her help, I was introduced not only to progressive Judaism, but also Orthodoxy. (more…)

So the semester is over, and I will never again step foot in that strange warehouse/studio looking classroom at the back of Klapper with the same students. I must say, I really enjoyed these past 16 weeks of Introduction to Theatre Design with Meghan Healey (see previous post).

For our final project, we were asked to listen to and read Benjamin Britten’s The Turn of the Screw – a fairly modern and hard to listen to opera. I originally wanted to design costumes, but after seeing The Mystery of Edwin Drood on Broadway, I was inspired to design the set. I created drops to illustrate all of the scenes instead of three-dimensional settings. I used props sparingly, to bring more focus to the grandiosity of the drops, stage, and story. I wanted the opera to feel slightly old fashioned – where the singers come on stage and sing their lines then leave (unlike modern operas when they almost act as if they are in a musical or drama). (more…)

I believe this guitar recital was last minute in every sense – as of last week, my cousin (Zeke Bardash who’s a classical guitar performance major at the Aaron Copland School of Music) wasn’t even sure there would be one! And with regards to me, I woke up at 6:30 today after a nap and planned to regretfully skip it, but thanks to some pushy parents made it there just in time! (more…)

Thanks to my lovely friend Alyssa Blumenthal who applied for an internship through TDF (Theatre Development Fund) to Second Stage Theatre, I was able to see the Quiara Alegria Hudes (In The Heights) Pulitzer Prize winning play Water by the Spoonful for absolutely no cost at all – except for the $7.61 we split at Schnippers pre-show. (more…)

The name “Vienna Boys Choir” is somewhat of a misnomer today. Though the Vienna Hofmusikkapelle is still based in Vienna, the boys that sing in the choir come from all over the world and are not all genuine Viennese children – one of the singers today even comes from Virginia! That being said, I find the history of the group very interesting. Did you know that these young boys used to be shielded away from public eye, only to perform for the imperial court? This was the case all the way up until 1918! Though that is almost 100 years ago, it’s relatively recent in a historical perspective. Today, the boys are split up into groups of 25 and travel the world to perform for the general population. (more…)

Quick fun fact from WQXR: Did you know that “carols” were not originally songs that people sung going from door to door on Christmas? In the 12th century, carols weren’t even choral songs at all, but dances! What one can learn when being softly lulled to sleep by classical radio!

What I’m really here for today is not to talk about the history of the carol, but to talk about the Holiday Gala at the Aaron Copland School of Music presented by the CSCDC (Classical Singers Career Development Club) and NAfME (National Association for Musical Education). The cabaret style performance included many musical numbers including vocal pieces, instrumental, and even a cappella groups! Raffles were available to raise money for victims of Super Storm Sandy – gift cards to music stores, tickets to comedy shows, and even an iPad! (more…)

Men often hate each other because they fear each other; they fear each other because they don’t know each other; they don’t know each other because they cannot communicate; they cannot communicate because they are separated. -Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

CERRU, the Center for Ethnic, Racial, & Religious Understanding, hosted its first annual Innovation Exchange panel featuring eleven notable professionals in today’s progressing world. The format for the exchange was, in honor of the date 12-12-12, a twelve minute lecture from each of these inspirational figures. Topics discussed ranged from religion, economics, social, and cultural matters.

Here is a link to a youtube playlist of all of the speakers from this event!

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All Queens College and CUNY students are urged to fill out teacher and course evaluation forms towards the end of every semester. They are encouraged to do this with the bribe of $15 worth of Q-Bucks for printing and photocopying. For me, however, I think it’s really important to let my professors know how I enjoyed or disliked a class, and how they might improve in the future. That being said, I thought I’d do a brief public evaluation of the first class I ever stepped foot in my first semester of college – Introduction to Theatre Design with Professor Meghan Healey.

Today in class we went around the room reviewing elements of design and how we’ve applied these elements in projects we’ve completed. The list of my projects went as follows (click on project descriptions to visit previous blog posts): (more…)

The Simon Bolivar Symphony Orchestra of Venezuela was founded in 1975 by economist and conductor Jose Antonio Abreu, who said, “An orchestra means joy, motivation, teamwork, [and] the aspiration to success.” This orchestra comprises more than 200 musicians ages 18-28, representing the most polished students who learned music through El Sistema – the National System of Youth and Children’s Orchestras and Choirs of Venezuela. Much more than a music education program, El Sistema is a visionary global movement based on Maestro Abreu’s philosophy that learning music as a collective practice can teach youth values and skills that will help them achieve their full potential in life. The program currently serves 400,000 people across Venezuela, 75% of whom live below the poverty line. There are a growing number of programs modeled after El Sistema in the US.

The above blurb came from the KidsNotes activity booklet that I received earlier today at the Simon Bolivar Symphony Orchestra performance at Carnegie Hall. The concert was geared towards young children. One piece, La Conga del Fuego Nuevo by Arturo Marquez, introduced the different instrument families to the audience as they passed a melody back and forth between the various instruments. Here is the full program (click to hear!): (more…)

Dominant 7 is an initiative at the Aaron Copland School of Music to have undergraduate and graduate composition students have their pieces performed in front of a live audience. There are six recitals every year featuring various student artists. On December 7, at 7:00 PM in the LeFrak Concert Hall, Vanessa Carmela, Anthony Izzo, Michael Lofaso, Britlin Losee, Ely Moskowitz, George Weisman, and Andrew Whitbeck were spotlighted. These students range from 19 to 27 years, showing that compositional talent has no age. The pieces performed were extremely varied in terms of for whom they were written. There were vocalists, violinists, flautists, pianists, and even a marimba player! (more…)

It’s that time of year – the end of the semester – and everyone is getting ready for winter break. While chemistry students are scrambling around to study last minute, and English students are writing their final papers, the students at the Aaron Copland School of Music are ready to perform great music for you!

Queens College Vocal Ensemble
James John, Conductor

Queens College Baroque String Ensemble
Dongmyung Ahn, Director

I would write out the entire program that these two amazing ensembles performed, but they played a lot. So instead, I’ll just write a brief review and “emotional response” to the performance, and then include some links for you to listen to. (more…)

First of all, Queens College’s Kupferberg Center for the Arts needs to get their ticket information straight. Are tickets $12/$14, or are they $14.50/$16.50? Don’t publicize one and charge the other, thank you very much. Second, what is a dance faculty concert when it seems to me that only students were performing – $14.50 for a mediocre student performance? I thought I’d be seeing professional dancers! Not worth the money. (more…)