Music Playlists
Today's recommending listening includes a playlist of piano music by Chopin, a social distancing playlist and Smithsonian Folkways American Roots Collection. Happy listening!
Get a free Glendale Library, Arts & Culture Library eCard instantaneously. It can be used to access our online resources including eBooks, eAudiobooks, eNewspapers, eMagazines, online classes, online tutoring, and learning games, as well as streaming movies and music, and more.Try listening to a streaming Playlist from Freegal Music, Naxos Music Library or Alexander Street free with your library card. Alexander Street will ask for an academic institution, use Glendale Public Library.
Read About Music
Oxford Music Online includes the Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, the Oxford Dictionary of Music and the Oxford Companion to Music. It is the world’s premier online music encyclopedia, offering comprehensive coverage of music, musicians, music-making, and music scholarship.
The LA Philharmonic has free downloadable children’s activity books. Explore the orchestra, engage with music, and learn about the different instruments in these printable home activity books!
Streaming Music
NPR Music’s Tiny Desk (Home) Concerts are available on their web site. Recent artists have included King Princess, The Lumineers, Jesca Hoop and Michael McDonald.
Streaming Art
How about some art and music? Don Ellis at the San Francisco Museum of Art. The Don Ellis Orchestra performs New Horizons, Open Beauty, Turkish Bath, Concerto for Trumpet and Indian Lady. A production made for television in June 1968, it was never broadcast.
For a third week in a row, Cirque du Soleil will be presenting a brand new 60-minute special on its new digital content hub, CirqueConnect. Check out interviews with creators and performers, behind the scenes, performances and even a face painting demo.
Art Inspiration - Try It at Home
Virtual Tour Sketch Bingo: Art Museum Edition
To make a virtual exhibit a little more engaging try spotting the objects we did while walking around. Take a virtual art museum tour and use the attached bingo cards to play. When you spot an item, draw it in to claim the square (disclaimer this edition of cards do not work as well in contemporary art museums). Explore the Art Gallery of New South Wales, the Getty, the Art Institute of Chicago, Museo Dolores Olmedo, Rijksmuseum, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Van Gogh Museum, or Uffizi Gallery.
Let us know how you did on all our try it at home projects with #brandfromhome
Staff e-Recommendations
Spoiler: In case you missed out on reading Alison Bechdel's mournful 2006 graphic memoir Fun Home on Hoopla, the titular "fun home" is not especially "fun." This unusual coming-of-age tale transforms into a multi-layered study of family dynamics, particularly between Bechdel and her father, that culminates in his death and her coming out at age 20. The memoir is told through various literary references, partly because literature is the main vehicle through which Bechdel and her father connect, but also because it enables her to understand the artifice upon which her family unit is built. Despite needing to process her parent's heartbreaking secrets and their continual emotional unavailability, there is, ultimately, love, literature, and self-discovery for Bechdel. In a way, none of us can escape the "fun home." If we were cartoonists as polished as she, we could turn the experience into our own works of art, but for the rest of us Bechdel's memoir (and the lighter Broadway musical!) will have to suffice. You can find the soundtrack to the Broadway musical on YouTube. -SB
Documentary: Kehinde Wiley: An Economy of Grace follows renowned artist Kehinde Wiley (his most famous work may be his portrait of former President Barack Obama) through his artistic process; from wrangling models off the street, photographing and posing them, and painting the portraits with his team. You get to see the formation of his ideas. To me, the most interesting thing about the documentary wasn’t Wiley, who I think is remarkable. The real stars of the documentary are the models he plucked off of a busy New York sidewalk. Our time with them is limited, but we see them through the process and seeing their reactions to the finished portraits is moving. Wiley is a very thoughtful artist, and the shows he worked on and assembled were a challenge to him. Prior to this documentary, Wiley concentrated on portraying men in his work. For this show he wanted to focus on femininity, glamour and beauty, putting strong African-American women in historic wardrobe. I really enjoyed the documentary. I've always found his imagery powerful, and this allows you to peek into Wiley’s brain. I'd recommend this to anyone needing some inspiration. I've always found listening to other artists talk about their process helps get yourself going. -GG
Finding your Artistic Voice: The Essential Guide to Working Your Creative Magic by Lisa Congdon is a guidebook that helps the artist delve into the evolution of one’s voice or “truth.” It involves creating a style, working on your skill level and choosing a subject matter whether it be realistic or abstract. Learning to innovate with the medium of choice helps define your unique “voice.” Every artist has influences, but these can easily overshadow their work.
The book showcases intriguing interviews with 10 artists, illustrators and graphic designers who come from diverse cultural backgrounds and speak about their journeys. It describes the creative voice as a “superpower,” enabling one’s ideas to be expressed with dexterity and finesse. The two pages of topics listed by the author serve as a creative springboard for the imagination.
There is a cautionary note about following fads, and the book recommends listening to your inspired voice. The author describes a cycle to an artistic project which begins with a “spark,” then propels into experimentation, questioning and eventually resolves in a “creative flow.” I found this book inspiring with its focus on the process to develop and achieve an artistic voice. It is illustrated with whimsical and colorful graphics, which add interest to the book.-CV
Covid-19 Resources
Reliable information about the coronavirus (COVID-19) is available from the World Health Organization, the California Department of Public Health and Los Angeles County Public Health Department.
Resources for Music Businesses And Industry Workers and Playing for Change
Resources for Freelance Artists and Americans for the Arts
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