Be the Change: Author Talk
Author Paula Yoo will discuss From A Whisper to a Rallying Cry: The Killing of Vincent Chin and the Trial that Galvanized the Asian American Movement, a compelling, suspenseful, nuanced, and authoritative portrait of a pivotal moment in civil rights history, and a man who became a symbol against hatred and racism. Join us for more virtual programs and weekly content on our YouTube channel.
Call for Art
Brand Library & Art Center announces its 49th Annual National Juried Exhibition of Works on Paper. Brand 49 welcomes Marvella Muro, Director of Artistic Programs and Education at Self Help Graphics and Art (SHG) in Los Angeles, as this year’s juror. Entry Deadline: May 23, 2021. All submissions must be made via CaFE. Brand 49 is organized by the Associates of Brand Library & Art Center.
Music Playlists
Today's recommending listening is Demi Lovato, The Philadelphia Orchestra, Roy Ayers, and Gamelan from Central Java.
Listen to a streaming playlist from Freegal Music, Naxos Music Library, Naxos Jazz Music Library, Hoopla or Music Online from Alexander Street free with your library card. Alexander Street will ask for an academic institution, use Glendale Public Library.
Are you interested in listening to some K-Pop but don’t know where to start? We have books and ebooks about K-Pop in the collection. Also check out this article from Billboard K-Pop’s ‘Dynamite’ Year.
We are often asked about throat singing from Mongolia and Tuva. It’s amazing and ethereal and singers can often sing more than one note at a time. You can find albums on Alexander Street Music Online, here are a few titles to start with. You can also watch the movie Genghis Blues on Hoopla which is the story of a blind blues singer who travels to Tuva to study throat singing.
Jazz Podcasts
NPR’s Jazz Profiles is a long running documentary series hosted by legendary jazz singer Nancy Wilson. Episodes have profiled luminaries such as Ellis Marsalis, McCoy Tyner, Ella Fitzgerald and many more.
The Checkout is a thrice monthly jazz podcast from WBGO in New Jersey. Recent interviews have included Bela Fleck, Brad Mehldau and Immanuel Wilkins.
2021 Bookmark Contest: Calling all artists!
Celebrate the Summer Reading Challenge by designing a bookmark that reflects this year's theme: “Reading Colors Your World.”
To enter the contest: Download and print the contest form OR pick up a printed copy at any of our Glendale Library, Arts & Culture locations currently open to the public.
Draw your original bookmark design directly on the form.
Return the completed form by June 30th in-person to any of our locations currently open to the public OR by mail to the Glendale Central Library: 222 East Harvard Street, Glendale, CA 91205.
2021 Brand Associates Dance Series
This series, curated by acclaimed choreographer, teacher and producer Jamie Nichols, presents top dance companies from Southern California performing site-specific work in non-traditional performance spaces around Brand Library. This year performances will be streamed on our YouTube channel. The Dance Series includes interactive Sunday workshops with an opportunity to meet the artists.
Rangoli Dance Company features Bharatanatyam, the vibrant dance form that has its origins in south India. Drawing from the myth and spirituality of the cultural heritage, artistic director Malathi Iyengar creates dance landscapes that dwell in both traditional and secular, and rhythm and stillness.
Performance: Saturday, June 5 - 6 (watch here)
Live Workshop: Sunday, June 6, 11:00am - 12:00pm (register here)
For over 13 years, Versa-Style has promoted the empowerment, artistry, and value of hip-hop dance culture through full-length street dance theater productions, educational performances and deeply rooted social justice work in the community.
Performance: Saturday, June 19 - 20 (watch here)
Live Workshop: Sunday, June 20, 11:00am - 12:00pm (register here)
Mixed eMotion presents Gatsby Redux, a vintage yet contemporary dance experience. The audience is invited to join the garden party by dressing in 1920’s attire.
Performance: Saturday, June 26 - 27 (watch here)
Live Workshop: Sunday, June 27, 11:00am - 12:00pm (register here)
Explore L.A. Chinatown
Stories and Voices from L.A. Chinatown is the first in the series Archive Alive, a new collaboration between The Huntington Library, Art Museum, and Botanical Gardens; the Library Foundation of Los Angeles; and the Los Angeles Public Library.
Archive Alive activates historic photographs, documents, and maps drawn from the Huntington’s and LAPL’s vast collections through online exhibitions, site-specific installations and displays, and interviews with community members, whose personal reflections and connections bring the archives to life.
Art in Internment
There were ten World War II-era Japanese American internment camps around the country, most in the western United States. Two were in Arkansas: Jerome and Rohwer.
Explore the Rosalie Santine Gould - Mabel Jamison Vogel Collection. The collection includes several hundred paintings and other works of art produced by U.S. citizens of Japanese descent who were interned during WWII. The art was created in the camp under the tutelage of high school art teacher Vogel, who collected and saved her students’ art.
Explore the photographic record of Manzanar, one of the most comprehensive of any of the War Relocation Authority centers. The WRA hired Dorothea Lange, Clem Albers, and Francis Stewart to photograph the camps. Ansel Adams also volunteered to photograph Manzanar at the request of Ralph Merritt, the director of the Center.
Watch Toyo Miyatake: Infinite Shades of Gray a penetrating portrait of this photographer's search for truth and beauty in a world of impermanence. LA's Little Tokyo's foremost studio photographer, Miyatake smuggled a lens and film holder into the U.S. WWII camp he was incarcerated in and captured life behind barbed wire with a makeshift camera made of scrap wood.
Learn more about the Rohwer Japanese American Relocation Center in Arkansas. Between 1942 and 1945, more than 8,000 Japanese Americans were interned at Rohwer - a 500-acre camp surrounded by barbed wire and armed guards. Although most physical remains are gone, important stories remain to be shared. Watch remarks by actor George Takei, interned with his family at the Center.
Checkout some art books from the library in person or using our Contactless Pickup Services.
Brand Library Staff Reviews
George Takei, original Star Trek superstar, wrote the graphic memoir They Called Us Enemy about his experiences growing up in a Japanese American internment camp during the Second World War. Takei was raised in East Los Angeles, but after the Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, anti-Japanese hysteria rose in Los Angeles leading to the racist calls to “lock them up.” Politicians joined these calls, and President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066 on February 19, 1942 banning anyone of Japanese ancestry from residing in “military zones,” or the entirety of the West Coast. Japanese Americans dealt with countless injustices before being forced from their homes: their bank accounts were frozen, their property was sold or seized by the government, they could not travel far beyond their home or work, and then, shortly thereafter, they were gathered up and sent to detention facilities. Five year old George Takei and his family were taken to Santa Anita Racetrack and temporarily housed in horse stalls before being sent to the Rohwer Relocation Center in Arkansas and then Camp Tule Lake in California; in all, they spent four years in internment losing their rights, home, business, sense of community and country. The drawings and text reflect a child’s view of the ordeal, both the heartbreak at watching his parents anguish and the moments of happiness that alleviate their constant uncertainty. The story for his parents becomes more complicated as the war comes to a close. We know George Takei went on to a wonderful life and career, but not everyone was so lucky. They Called Us Enemy is a reminder of the dark underbelly of American history and the fight for the accessibility of the American Dream. They Called Us Enemy is available digitally in English and Spanish, and in print. I recommend the expanded edition! -SB
J.S. Bach: Goldberg Variations BWV 988 arranged and performed by Parker Ramsay, harp (Choir of King’s College, Cambridge Records). Bach’s Goldberg Variations on harp? The first issue with this idea is that Bach composed the Goldberg Variations for keyboard so it sounds quite different on a harp. However, Bach did make many transcriptions of his own works for different instrumentations. I have a feeling if the composer were alive today he would not have an issue - especially with a harpist as magnificent as Parker Ramsay. The harp is a much more difficult instrument than most people realize as there are 7 pedals the harpist uses to get sharps and flats so some pieces and passages can be very difficult or impossible to transcribe. Ramsey goes over these issues and others in this NY Times interview. I did notice some of the variations are also slower and he does mention that is because of the difficulty of the instrument when compared to keyboard instruments. An amazing achievement on Ramsay’s part and however you think the Goldberg’s should be performed I think you will agree that this is as beautiful an arrangement as you will hear. A booklet is included. Most performances are on piano or harpsichord so after listening to this you might want to hear Glenn Gould’s famous 1955 recording. There are also many other recordings of the Goldberg Variations on Naxos Music Library. -BW
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Covid-19 Resources
Reliable information about the coronavirus (COVID-19) is available from the World Health Organization, the California Department of Public Health, the Los Angeles County Public Health Department, the City of Glendale, and the Library, Arts & Culture department.
Resources for Music Businesses And Industry Workers, Playing for Change, Sounding Point LA
Resources for Freelance Artists, California Arts Council, Americans for the Arts, National Endowment for the Arts