Notes v2i2

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museum of making music 1

VOLUME 2 ISSUE 2 SUMMER 2015

a division of the

Foundation.

director’s note

Summer Fun at MoMM Welcome to this Summer issue of Notes. As I look at the variety of articles included, I find myself struck by a theme that seems to permeate them all—generosity. Whether it’s the committee working to make our Gala on October 4th a success, a community of musicians and artists helping to develop our next exhibition, donors providing funds for the Museum’s outreach programs and artifacts for our displays, or visitors sharing their feelings about what music means to them, each gesture has at its very core a sincere act of generosity. And we are deeply grateful. While we are the recipients, we realize that we are just the first stop for these gifts, whose effects ripple far beyond these museum walls.

It’s been very busy here at the Museum (that’s a good thing), and although we don’t have the space to dedicate a full article to each activity, here are a few noteworthy items I want to mention. First, our inaugural participation in “International Make Music Day” on June 21 was a terrific success. About 500 people came to the Museum to listen to live music in the galleries and to make some music themselves. The young jazz trio featuring high school student Serena Geroe on guitar, Wesley Biasi on drums and Caeden Schlosser on keyboards rocked an amazed audience for a good 45 minutes.

Young pianist Carlos, from Joli Ann Leichtag Elementary School (where we fund the music program for 800 students), brought tears to our eyes as he played and sang a beautiful heartfelt rendition of “Let It Be.” Professional musicians Paul Seaforth, Chris Montgomery, and Bert and Nancy Turetzky treated us to the results of having dedicated a lifetime to music and music making. And longtime museum friends, the San Diego Mandolin Orchestra, reminded us all of how the sounds of yesteryear can remain fresh even today.

Second, I’m very excited that our Sunday afternoon concerts are back! Both Trumpets ‘R’ Us and Yale Strom and Hot Pstromi played to full houses in recent weeks. These affordable, high-quality daytime concerts tie our week-ends up with a nice bow and send us into the coming week with a tune in our hearts and a smile on our faces. Read more about this music series on page 4.

Our summer months are also very special due to our new volunteer training class. Every Tuesday morning through August, about 25 current and new volunteers gather for a twohour class. These interactive sessions are designed to bring to life the manufacturers, retailers and musicians that are highlighted in the museum galleries…so that, by the end of the summer, the graduates of this class will become “Gallery Attendants”—ready to provide information and insights to our visitors. These volunteers play an important role in helping visitors get the most out of their time here at the Museum, and we can’t thank them enough for their commitment.

Finally, I want to mention that we have some exciting new merchandise in our Museum Store! There’s a new line of T-shirts featuring excerpts from notes visitors left in the What Music Means To Me exhibition, including “Music is when words end and life talks,” “Music is what the soul sounds like,” and “Music brings the inside…outside.” We also have a new line of beautiful chimes and a fresh selection of books, drums and shakers for kids. And, of course, we continue to carry our visitor favorites: miniature music boxes, egg shakers and the irresistable kazoo! Everyone should have a kazoo… c a r o ly n g r a n t , e x e c u t i v e d i r e c t o r

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the gala

The Gala Will “Take You There!”

Tickets are now on sale for the Museum’s annual “Play It Forward” fundraising gala! So don’t delay, because like last year, we expect this event to sell out. Besides, you won’t want to miss what will surely be an unforgettable evening with two remarkable musicians—Mavis Staples and Joan Osborne—both of whom have graced our musical landscape with sincerity, courage, dignity and undeniable talent.

MAVIS STAPLES For six decades, Mavis Staples has been the solid rock of American music. With the warm embrace of her voice as her constant, she has traveled a variety of musical paths: from the delta-inflected gospel sound she helped create in the 1950s, to the engaged protest of the civil rights era, to the pop radio of the Stax era with soul anthems “I’ll Take You There” and “Respect Yourself.” Mavis’ unique role in American music has also spread to the wider world of pop as she has performed alongside Elton John in a show-stealing GRAMMY tribute to Levon Helm, and with Justin Timberlake at the White House tribute to Memphis Soul.

JOAN OSBORNE Having grown up with a passion for music and determined to make music on her own terms, singer/songwriter Joan Osborne soared to national fame following the release of her breakthrough album Relish and the top single, “One of Us.” Osborne’s musical integrity and creative longevity led to many more albums and secured her place as a highly sought-after collaborator. She has shared stages with performers such as Bob Dylan, Stevie Wonder, Emmylou Harris, Patti Smith, Melissa Etheridge, Taj Mahal, Luciano Pavarotti and the Chieftains.

3 Mavis Staples

Don't delay, tickets are expected to sell out quickly.

You don't want to miss this!

The evening will feature a 1½ hour concert in the Museum’s intimate setting, plus a superb array of catered hors d’oeuvres, unlimited wine and beer, silent and live auctions, and dancing (how could you stay seated with Mavis singing…).

And put your tux away that night, because we want you to come comfortably dressed and ready for fun. Blue jeans, blazers, casual elegance—you decide. This is an evening that will delight, inspire and entertain you, but it is also an evening that will help the Museum raise the vital funds it needs to continue its important educational and outreach programs throughout the year!

TO BUY TICKETS visit www.museumofmakingmusic.org/playitforward call Alisa at (760) 304-5820 Seats, which come at a variety of levels, will be reserved upon receipt of payment.

Finally, a special thanks to our Gala committee members: Gala Chair Judy Hauth, Mary Jo Barend, Carol Calvert, Françoise Dahod, Sandy Guendert, Barbara Honig, Kimberly Jones, Rosemarie Kubes, Cliff Lange, Evelyn Lipson, Sandy Radom and June Western.

Joan Osborne

exhibition development

Sound Support!

Like most museums, MoMM’s staff spends a good deal of time fundraising. Events such as the upcoming Gala, membership, foundations and government grants, donations from individuals and corporations, legacy bequests—these initiatives are all part of our fundraising strategy. Raising funds is not the end in itself though, it’s the means...The “end” is the exhibitions, live music performances, educational outreach programs and community music-making opportunities that make the Museum a destination. The “end” is being able to bring the magic of music and the experience of music making into the lives of a broad, public audience.

Many of our efforts have paid off recently (no pun—actually, it was intended!), and we’d like to mention a few and say thanks to our generous funders.

“Summer Sounds,” as the title suggests, is a series of concerts being presented here at the Museum—this summer— featuring performances by some of the region’s finest musical groups. Designed to appeal to a general audience, the concerts include a wide variety of musical styles, from band music and jazz to klezmer and classical. We said “variety,” and we meant it! These concerts are made possible in part by a $5,000 Community Arts Grant from the City of Carlsbad’s Cultural Arts Office.

With a $5,000 grant from the County of San Diego’s Neighborhood Reinvestment Program, and two private donors, the Museum is in the design-and-development stage of incorpo-

Project ACCESS

rating a STEAM initiative for visiting students. What’s STEAM? It stands for science, technology, engineering, art and math.

In this project, the Museum will add a targeted, hands-on component to its school tours—one that reveals the fun and fascinating inner workings of the electric guitar and inspires students to consider the relationship between imagination and creativity in an experiential and engaging way.

And finally, a private family foundation has awarded the Museum a very generous gift of $20,000 to underwrite our Project ACCESS Tour Program for the 2015–16 school year.

In this important program, students from “Title One” schools (those schools categorized by the U.S. Department of Education as being at academic risk of not achieving test and assessment scores and having the vast majority of students living below the poverty level) are brought to the Museum for a hands-on, inquiry-based tour of the Museum’s exhibitions. Here they are introduced to the world of musical expression—how and why people make music—against an age-appropriate backdrop of pivotal moments in U.S. history.

Another key program element entails extensive “hands-on” time with musical instruments. The students not only learn about—but also experience—the potential power and place of music in their lives. Project ACCESS began in 2006 and now serves more than 3,000 students per year from seven different school districts. And because of this generous donation, it is offered FREE to all the participating schools and students.

Quartetto Sorrento 4 Summer Sounds

exhibitions

One’s Going and Another One’s Coming What Music Means To Me, our current exhibition inspired by Richard Rejino’s book of the same name, will be closing at the end of August. (That means you have only a few more weeks to see it!) We (the staff) will be very sorry to see it go. So sorry, in fact, that we are trying to figure out a way to have it continue—by carving out a space in the Museum’s permanent galleries where people can continue to leave their testimonials.

Every morning during the course of this exhibition, we have walked into the special exhibition space to read the new notes left by visitors the day before. Here are two that we found just today: “Without music, many emotions and feelings that words cannot express would be trapped within me.”

“In a world that is supposed to be advancing in ways to communicate, music still reigns as the gateway into the soul.”

Coming next…will be something completely different. On November 7, we open a six-month exhibition exploring the power and beauty of “low register,” or bass, instruments. Visitors will have the opportunity to identify and listen to bass sounds in music, feel and see the resonance of bass, explore ways that bass instruments contribute to the harmony and rhythm in music, and, of course, play a couple of instruments themselves. The display will include examples of bass instruments from the woodwind, brass, stringed (fretted and fretless) and percussion families, among others. And we’ll have a great lineup of concerts and workshops to accompany this exhibition! More news about programs and the exhibition in our next issue. For now though, we want to send a special note of thanks to the local musicians and artists helping us put this exhibition together, including Kamau Kenyatta, Chris Warren, Ariana Warren, Michael Kennedy and Brian O’Donnell.

bass exhibition

what music means to me “Music is the rhythm of my heart, the steps that I walk, the sound of my soul.”

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Michael Kennedy

in their own words

We Asked: “Why Do You Volunteer at the Museum of Making Music?”

“I volunteer at the Museum because it’s a great way to be in contact with happy, satisfied people. Because most of the people, when they leave the Museum, have smiles on their faces.”

“By volunteering at MoMM, I have found a group of people I can share my deep involvement and love of music with… But best of all, I enjoy giving tours to children, which keeps me in touch with young folks after retiring from my teaching career.

Where else could I find all this?” betty

helena

“I feel being associated with the Museum is my little place in this huge world. I am surrounded by music and by people associated with music in all different ways…great people, people who care.” terry

“Because it is joyful and fun... Meeting new friends who also share music as a lifelong passion and hobby inspires me to keep learning every day… My life has indeed been enhanced by the volunteer opportunities at MoMM, and I am very thankful.” marilyn

We are thankful to Marilyn, Betty, Terry and Helena, and to the many others who volunteer here at the Museum, for their commitment and dedication. For their good will and generosity of spirit. For sharing their love and knowledge of music making with our visitors and our community. And for their truly indispensable contribution to the Museum.

Our thanks go to ALL of our wonderful volunteers for their countless hours of service. Wait, did we say “countless”? Actually, we have been counting: from January 1 to May 31 of this year, our volunteers have donated 3,030 hours of their time. And since we opened to the public in 2000, volunteer hours total 56,700. Truly amazing.

And speaking of the “beginning” of the Museum, here’s one more comment about volunteering, from Naomi: “When I re-

Want to join the “club”? Call Bill at 760-304-5819 for more details.

tired in 1998, I was looking for something to do, as I did not want to just sit home and watch TV. My husband Alan was to have attended a lecture at the Museum, but I went in his place. I had heard that there was a music museum in the NAMM building. Had no clue what NAMM stood for. Turns out, going to the Museum that day was one of the most important decisions of my life—as I became a member of the first volunteer class at MoMM. Sixteen years later, I am still happy with my decision to volunteer. I am not a musician, but I have attended many great lectures and performances, learned and enjoyed so much, and have seen the Museum grow and flourish. The best part of being a volunteer, to me, is that I get to meet people from all over the world and watch as they discover and enjoy our Museum of Making Music.”

These are just a few of the beautiful testimonials from our great volunteers. You can tell they love what they do. And we love them for it.

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new acquisitions

Recent Additions to the Museum’s Collections For those of you who have visited the Museum’s exhibitions (and we hope that’s most, if not all, of you reading this), have you ever wondered how the Museum acquired the amazing and often unique instruments it puts on display? Such as that 1905 Steinway Art Case Grand in Gallery 1 or the Fender Stratocaster guitar from 1954 in Gallery 4…

Some are on extended loan from their owners, but many others are donated—given by musicians, instrument makers, collectors, or friends of the Museum. Talk about a true gift.

Here are just a few of the wonderful donations the Museum has received recently.

Zorko Electric Standup Bass 1961, Serial #089 Rudy and Ed Dopyera (members of the inventive family responsible for National, Dobro and Supro guitars) designed this electric upright bass. Patented in April 1961, the fiberglass Zorko “bright star” bass featured a full bass scale, an adjustable maple neck, double bridges, volume control and a telescoping stand. In November 1962, the Dopyeras sold the rights to Ampeg who renamed it the “Baby Bass.” Only 200 basses were made under the Zorko name. Ampeg sold the Baby Bass until 1970, and reissued it in the ‘90s.

G I F T O F M I C H A E L & B E AT R I C E F R U C H T E R

Hammond XB-2 (1991)

Schiedmayer Celesta, 1964 The Celesta was invented and patented in Paris by Victor Mustel in 1886. While it may visually resemble an upright piano, it has a distinctive “tinkling” or “celestial” sound which is created by a specific action: pressing keys activates felt hammers which strike metal sound plates from above, sending its sound into a wooden resonator underneath each plate.

This innovative orchestral instrument was quickly introduced into compositions of the 19th century. Tchaikovsky used it in his fairy-like “Dance of the Sugarplum Fairy.” Mahler, Holst and Bartók also used it in their works. In more recent years, the instrument is heard in the song “Cherish” by The Association, “Sunday Morning” by The Velvet Underground and Buddy Holly’s “Everyday.” And if it’s still not ringing a bell… think of the beginning of “Won’t You Be My Neighbor” in Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood.

G I F T O F S C H I E D M AY E R C E L E S TA

Hammond XB-2, 1991 The XB-2 was one of the first attempts at putting sampled Hammond sounds and MIDI capability in a smaller keyboard that wouldn’t break the back of a touring musician. The keyboardist had the option of using the XB-2’s internal Leslie simulator or could connect to a traditional Leslie speaker.

GIFT OF ROSEMARY BAILEY

Zorko Electric Standup Bass (1961)

Have an instrument or musical item you think is of historical significance that you would like to donate or loan? Please contact Mike at 760-304-5824.

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Schiedmayer Celesta (1964)

NON-PROFIT ORG U . S . P O S TA G E PA I D PERMIT NO. 245 CARLSBAD, CA

5790 ARMADA DRIVE CARLSBAD CA 92008

October 29

October 17

August 20 Chico Pinheiro Thursday, August 20, 2015 @ 7PM

Bian Liunian Saturday, October 17, 2015 @ 7PM

Debashish Bhattacharya Thursday, October 29, 2015 @ 7 PM

Guitarist Chico Pinheiro, one of the leading figures in modern Brazilian music, returns to MoMM. Chico was born in São Paulo and started playing the guitar and the piano when he was seven years old. He began playing professionally at age 15 and received his music degree from Berklee College of Music in Boston. Not only an exceptional guitarist, he is also a composer of originality and maturity.

Bian Liunian is one of the world’s premiere exponents of the erhu, also known as the twostringed Chinese fiddle. He is widely acknowledged as the “Chinese Music Wizard” and can play over 200 instruments. When not performing or writing, he spends his time producing spectacular music events and is most well known for his musical production of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games closing ceremony. For this rare U.S. performance, Bian Liunian combines traditional and contemporary sounds in a musical fusion experience.

Debashish Bhattacharya is perhaps the greatest slide guitarist in India. In his twenties he evolved a unique style of playing guitar, synthesizing features of other instruments such as the veena, sitar and sarod. After years of research, he developed his own innovative Hindustani slide guitar. His uncanny sense of musical understanding has established him as an artist whose musicality reaches into many music genres from Indian to American Blues.

www.museumofmakingmusic.org general info 760.438.5996 tickets 760.304.5844

design : leah roschke, studiografik THE MUSEUM OF MAKING MUSIC, A 501(C)(3) NONPROFIT INSTITUTION, IS A DIVISION OF THE

FOUNDATION 8