notesong

My students often ask, where do you think African American music will go next?    Lately, I usually smirk and respond, "What genre?"  (Knowing that they want me to comment on Hip Hop culture and Rap music.) Then, after a few moments of reconsidering, I refer them to works by amazing young musicians who cross genre borders as they consciously fuse contemporary sounds. In our twenty first century, we have a quantum array of natural ambient and artificially constructed sounds. Today's composer's combinatorial aural pallet choices are exciting from the blend of programmed electronic sound with written acoustic scores to improvised vocalise with eclectic instrumental orchestration. Add to this our newest media technology/accessibility and our young musicians can free-jam world wide, or collaborate to notate a terrestrial symphony with the touch of an App. Consider a few of the elders whose shoulders this African American Millennial generation (Af-AM Mills) stands on. ...

It is an honor to update the CarpeNoctum2 global community on the activities of a philanthropic organization that continues to help community youth and families in San Diego. Dad Hill (yes, I get to call him that) and the staff of San Diego Young Artist Music Academy(SDYAMA)  is on a mission to provide quality, extensive musical education in the arts at relatively little parental expense. Personal expenditures, donations and grants keep this worthy organization going.   http://www.mada-choir.org/programs/music A few days ago, I watched dad Hill present SDYAMA and its programs to a discussion chaired by District 7 Council member Marti Emerald http://www.sandiego.gov/citycouncil/cd7/staff/emerald.shtml during a City Council meeting on the arts. Dad Hill is articulate, an advocate for the arts dedicated to bringing hope into young people's lives. He and his family are spiritually inspiring.We can thank those like them who personally sacrifice to keep arts education alive as...