Interlude - July 14
July 14, 2020
Beatboxing talent show submission, Songbook Academy Online, Picard poetry and more
Welcome back to Interlude, your twice-a-week dose of digitally accessible arts and entertainment opportunities!
Songbook Academy is underway!
The 2020 Songbook Academy® has begun, and the online format of this year’s summer intensive makes it possible for you to enjoy some behind-the-scenes moments and maybe even learn a thing or two about singing and music history, as 40 of the nation’s top high school vocalists learn the ropes from arts and entertainment professionals.
On Monday, Assistant Professor Catherine Walker of the University of Michigan delivered a Vocal Technique Lecture that you can watch here on YouTube.
Today, tune into the Great American Songbook Foundation’s Facebook page at 1:45 p.m. for a livestream of Songbook 101, a quick musical history tour led by Michael Feinstein and Songbook Foundation Archivist Lisa Lobdell, with special guests sharing anecdotes about Duke Ellington, Meredith Willson and other Songbook Hall of Famers.
On Wednesday, the Public Masterclass sponsored by Ruth’s Chris Steak House streams live from 3 to 5 p.m. on Facebook, with Feinstein and Broadway’s Faith Prince providing real-time critiques for select finalists.
Each Facebook livestream is archived for later viewing on the Foundation’s YouTube channel.
Indy musicians collaborate for talent show
We’re seeing some fun contributions to the Center’s At Home Talent Show, the latest being a hip-hop/reggae collaboration from two well-known Indianapolis-based musicians: rapper and multimedia artist TJ Reynolds and keyboardist and singer-songwriter Mina Keohane. Thanks to the magic of beatboxing and looping, it sounds like a lot more people. Check it out.
You can enter the At Home Talent Show by uploading a brief video demonstrating your talents at bit.ly/CPATalentShow. Enter by July 21 to be included in our compilation video!
Usher Spotlight: Nancy Miller
It’s Tuesday and time for another Usher Spotlight, where we recognize the dedicated members of The National Bank of Indianapolis Usher Corps. More than 300 volunteers devote thousands of hours each year to serve the community through the Center and the Great American Songbook Foundation.
This week's spotlight falls on volunteer Nancy Miller, a Chicago native who enjoyed a long career in human resources before becoming a super-volunteer. Read more here.
A birthday sonnet from Captain Picard
Best known as the wise Captain Jean-Luc Picard of the Star Trek franchise and Charles “Professor X” Xavier in the X-Men films, Sir Patrick Stewart is in fact a much-heralded Shakespearean actor whose work got him knighted by the Queen of England. While staying at home lately, he’s been putting his magnificent baritone voice to work by recording one of Shakespeare’s 154 original sonnets every day and sharing them on Facebook and Twitter with the hashtag #ASonnetADay.
Stewart recently hit the halfway mark and coincidentally read Sonnet 80 on the eve of his 80th birthday, which was yesterday. So let’s wish Sir Patrick a belated birthday and enjoy the reading.
