Conductor and Director Thomas Osborn will preface the Symphony's 8 p.m. concert at the Downey Theater with an appearance at 7:15 to discuss the impressive array of symphonic music inspired or dedicated to the Bard.
The concert will open with Dvorak's "Othello" Concert Overture, which was composed in 1891-92. This extended character overture is very much akin to a poem.
Then fast forward to the Suite from Incidental Music to the Film "Hamlet," by Shostakovich, composed for a stage production in 1932.
Then drop back in time after the intermission for the Mendelssohn (1809-1847) "A Midsummer Night's Dream" Overture.
Then forward a few years for a beautiful finale, the "Romeo and Juliet Fantasy" Overture by Tchaikovsky (1840-1893), composed by the Russian romantic at the age of 29.
Osborn's choice of music makes a very good case for Shakespeare's influence-and it provides a wonderful opportunity to hear the Downey Symphony's impressive string section.
For more information and tickets, call the Symphony Society at 403-2944 and leave a message. They are quite good at getting back to you. Tickets may also be purchased in advance at the Downey Theater Box Office from noon to 4 p.m. Wednesdays, March 27 and April 3.
Things really got going when someone figured out a plow which would turn over the dirt was better than just pulling a pointed stick through the grasslands. Food production went up dramatically so not everyone was needed to just collect food. Metal working gave us early machines and the steam engine started the industrial revolution which really took off with the discovery of electricity, light bulbs and the electric motor.
Concurrently there were dramatic changes in learning and communication. Sometime around 1500 B.C. written language started to emerge replacing hieroglyphics. Outside of church and state, word-of-mouth was all we had until the invention of the printing press. That enabled average people to learn how to read and write. This empowered individuals to communicate with each other bypassing the censorship of the establishment. Mail became common, but it took the railroad, the telegraph key and Morse code to replace the Pony Express.
We needed the vacuum tube before radio could really get off the ground. Lee DeForest gave us that. We had computers the size of rooms until Bell Labs gave us the transistor and this miniaturization enabled flight into space. Arthur C. Clarke in a science fiction story gave us the idea of a geosynchronous relay station orbiting the earth and we end up with digital everything from the sky-phone, TV, radio, data. However, this merely facilitated communication, for it was not a new medium. That was to come with the Internet-person to person, direct line, no third parties, no mailman. The Internet just drives governments crazy. Censorship is after the fact, not before, and with 128-bit encoding, there is no deciphering. The Internet is causing a revolution in political discourse. Freedom just got a new lease on life.
A by-product of the Internet is e-mail, and while e-mail has replaced the postcard, the exchange of information and ideas is still lacking. It is being reported that young people today are not reading books as much as we did. That reading time is being replaced with watching TV. Television is not any better; there is just more of it, more sources of delivery. To not read is to lose a sense of history. And while The History Channel is excellent, it is, at best, abridged and contains the opportunity for re-writing the unpopular parts. There is always a need for spin and agenda monitoring when there is only one source.
If youngsters don't grow up to read, they are not going to know they are being subjugated. The fountain of knowledge is in reading books, not in watching television. One of the more important ways to protect freedom is to have an informed public, a public that does "independent" reading. One of the greatest legacies we can leave our children is a love of reading.
The history of life is written from the hieroglyphics of Egypt to the spontaneity of the Internet. But unless future generations read about the past, they will not be prepared for the future.
Today, federal agencies continue to play a crucial role in the education and cultural exposure that America's children receive. The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) has been incredibly successful in implementing "Challenge America," a program which ensures that people who live in small, rural towns or under-served urban areas gain access to the arts. Challenge America targets arts education for at-risk youth and helps to build community partnerships to give more people access to the arts.
The National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) provides training for the nation's teachers through seminars and institutes, protects our nation's heritage through preservation projects, supports scholarships in the humanities, and facilitates the flow of research through books, articles, educational television such as PBS, and radio programs.
In addition, the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) supports the educational role of various museums, aquariums, and zoos, by funding hands-on opportunities for learning. These experiences are often the most effective and memorable because they allow students to view rare manuscripts, breathtaking paintings, and exotic animals first-hand.
President Bush has recognized the importance of arts in education by including arts as a core academic subject in his "No Child Left Behind Plan" that he signed into law in January. For the fiscal year 2003, the President has proposed a $2.1 million increase in funding for the National Endowment for the Arts, a $2.4 million increase for the National Endowment for the Humanities, and a $15.7 million increase for the Institute of Museum and Library Services. As the co-chairman of the bipartisan Congressional Arts Caucus, I am pleased with the President's commitment to the arts, especially considering the tightened budget as a result of the war against terrorism.
Whether in music, painting, or performance art, providing a way for young people to develop their talents and broaden their horizons is vital to our nation's culture. In our area, we are fortunate to have wonderful art exhibits at the Downey Museum of Art, the Long Beach Museum of Art, and the Museum of Latin American Art, among others, that provide numerous educational opportunities-much of this is made possible by federal grants. A recent study by UCLA in partnership with the Department of Education's National Education Longitudinal Study has proven that there is a direct link between higher academic achievement and participation in the arts during K-12 education.
That is why the NEA, NEH, and IMLS are important to our schools and communities. Without the great work of these crucial agencies, many would miss the opportunity to experience the delights of an opera, symphony, ballet, or museum. These opportunities foster imagination, spark creativity and broaden future ambitions. Together, we must continue to encourage and educate our nation's youth to learn and use their creativity and imagination to reach their full potential.