))
What does theater "do"? Does it matter in a contemporary, screen-driven society? This intermittent series, drawn from the Kennedy Center Education Department archives, examines the way theater impacts modern society and culture.
…
continue reading
From countries including Mozart’s Austria, to Grieg’s Norway, to Shostakovich’s Russia, a world of music can be experienced through a tour of Europe. Along the way, you will learn about how composers use tools like pitch, rhythm, key, and more! This multi-part audio series, hosted by NPR correspondent Scott Simon and National Symphony Orchestra Assistant Conductor Ankush Kumar Bahl, is part of the NSO’s Young People’s Concert: A World of Music at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing ...
…
continue reading
Arriving at the final stop on our tour, let’s look back at all the composers we’ve met and recall the music we’ve heard. In this episode, we’ll listen to excerpts from the concert program, and you will use what you learned about pitch, rhythm, mood and dynamics to tell us what you think each composer was trying to say. If you’ve enjoyed this podcas…
…
continue reading
In the furthest destination in our journey, we travel to Russia. Dmitri Shostakovich used his music to paint a picture of his war-torn homeland. His Symphony No. 10 recalls his memories of the tanks and soldiers, and he composed music that sounded as if you were living through a war. Examine what happens when sound changes its dynamic (from soft to…
…
continue reading
Everyone knows what it feels like to be sad, but what if you wanted to write music that expressed emotions without using words? On this stop in our tour, we’ll listen how Benjamin Britten used melodies sketched in his childhood notebooks to capture emotion in the “Sentimental Saraband” from his Simple Symphony. The final stop on out tour is Russia.…
…
continue reading
Moving on to Norway in our tour, we meet composer Edvard Grieg. Grieg’s challenge was to write music that told a clear story without using any words. Listen as he uses music to help the hero of his story, Peer Gynt, escape from mountain trolls. Next stop, England.By ARTSEDGE: The Kennedy Center's Arts Education Network (dbx@artsedge.kennedy-center.org)
…
continue reading
For such a small country, Austria has had a huge impact on European culture and on classical music. On this stop of our tour, we'll hear how Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart used pitch in his Symphony no. 29. In the next episode, we'll be off to Norway!By ARTSEDGE: The Kennedy Center's Arts Education Network (dbx@artsedge.kennedy-center.org)
…
continue reading
Hundreds of years ago, the world was introduced to the orchestra. It was love at first sound. Everyone was captivated by the never-before-heard sounds of some 20 to 100 musicians playing together. Before the orchestra, classical music was for groups of three (trios) or four (quartets)—tops! The invention of this much bigger musical group meant bigg…
…
continue reading
T
The Power of Theater
1
Marcia Norman on the unique tools of the playwright
4:26
4:26
Play later
Play later
Lists
Like
Liked
4:26
"When you're in a pipowerTheater/ece of wonderful theater your whole body responds to what's on the stage." In this Power of Theater podcast, part of the Kennedy Center Education Department's American College Theater Festival's summer intensive for playwrights, playwright Marcia Norman discusses the different forms and forums for storytelling, and …
…
continue reading
"A playwright...first and foremost has to compel people." In this Power of Theater podcast, part of the Kennedy Center Education Department's American College Theater Festival's summer intensive for playwrights, playwright Lee Blessing discusses the difference between writing for the theater and writing for television and film. For more information…
…
continue reading
T
The Power of Theater
1
Kathleen Turner from Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
2:25
2:25
Play later
Play later
Lists
Like
Liked
2:25
"When you sit in a theater, you're sitting closer to a complete stranger that you ever would in your own living room. You haven't just seen a show, you've been part of something." Edward Albee's Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? is the story of George and Martha, two of the most famous roles ever written for the stage. Over the course of one wickedly…
…
continue reading
T
The Power of Theater
1
Alan Stanford and the cast of Samuel Beckett’s Waiting for Godot
3:16
3:16
Play later
Play later
Lists
Like
Liked
3:16
Come to this play with an open and pure sense of imagination, and it will embrace you." Since its first performance in 1953, Samuel Beckett's Waiting for Godot has generated controversy with its unconventional plot and disturbing themes. Audiences have reacted strongly, with many embracing the play, others rejecting it, but all debating its meaning…
…
continue reading
T
The Power of Theater
1
Richard Thomas and Randle Mell from Twelve Angry Men
2:04
2:04
Play later
Play later
Lists
Like
Liked
2:04
"Theater at its best is always a mirror. It's a reflection of who we are." Twelve Angry Men deals with issues of prejudice and fear of "the other" but also promotes the ideas of debate and reasonable doubt. The characters in the play argue opposing positions with plausible conviction, and the audience members are left to decide their interpretation…
…
continue reading
T
The Power of Theater
1
August Wilson and embracing the content of life
3:31
3:31
Play later
Play later
Lists
Like
Liked
3:31
When asked to describe the work of August Wilson, actor James Earl Jones said, "...when he writes he leaves some blood on the page. You can't get that stuff out of yourself without hurt. It's not therapy; it's more like revelation." August Wilson was one of America's most significant and successful playwrights. Less than 20 years ago, he began an a…
…
continue reading
