I bet you like Music and I bet you like Art…You must be creative! If you are and/or want to learn more about these fields, then, please mark your calendars to attend two outstanding upcoming programs that will bring gentlemen who are tops in their fields to St. Louis for back to back wonderful conversations that are sure to please and inspire us all.
Pictured above is Jonathan Biss.
Mr. Biss will lead a discussion:
Late Moves: Music and Creativity, a panel discussion with Jonathan Biss
Todd Decker, professor and chair of music, will moderate.
Here is Jonathan’s description of his work in this area, I am passing along just because I think it is so interesting:
“The question of an artist’s “late style” has long posed questions for art historians. What effect do years of accumulated knowledge and experience, combined with, perhaps, the realization that death is near, have on creativity? While this phenomenon can be observed in all art forms – think of Francisco Goya, whose “Black Paintings” were painted onto the walls of his house and represent a total retreat from the outside world, or James Joyce, who more-or-less invented a new language to write Finnegans Wake – it is particularly fascinating in the case of music, the most abstract of all the arts, and thus the richest in subtext. For years, I’ve been struck by how much of the music I’m most drawn to comes from near the end of its composer’s life. These works are so different from one another, but they are all hugely gripping. Playing Beethoven’s Op. 111, or Schwanengesang, I feel that I’m living in a heightened reality—it’s a dizzying, sometimes frightening, always enthralling experience.
“Since the 1500s, a remarkable number of composers whose late periods came as early as their 30s or as late as their 80s have found new forms of expression as they approached the ends of their lives. Still more interesting, the change is not consistent from composer to composer. Some become more concise; others, more expansive. Some become fixated on death, while others find an almost child-like innocence. Some wrote their most complex music in their late periods, while others pursued an extreme simplicity.”
What are the odds that we would welcome to St. Louis Jonathan on Wednesday, February 8 and on February 9 a man named Jon?
You will want to come to attend “Life-Story Art and Aging” at St. Louis County Library Headquarters, 1640 S. Lindbergh Blvd., 63131 on Thursday, February 9 at 7:00 pm. For additional information: 314-994-3300 or slewis@slcl.org
You are invited to explore everyday creative practices that help people as they age. Attend “Life-Story Art and Aging” to learn first hand how artmaking can help with recalling and sharing important memories and stories. The presenter, Jon Kay, is a Folklorist and author. His program is sponsored by the MO Folk Arts Program, the County Library, and the Missouri Arts Council. (So that you can have a preview of how approachable and friendly Jon Kay is, I’m attaching the link t flyer that came along to me and this up close and personal picture to the right.)
Life-Story art and Aging
Thanks for reading!
I’ll be there…hope you will, too!
I wish you all the best,
Lynn