Friday, August 28, 2009

Building it is not enough to make them come

Two conversations this week with Second Life venue owners at the opposite ends of their involvement in organizing concerts in SL made me think about the expectations and hopes that we bring to our event organizing in Second Life.

CONVERSATION ONE: The retiring veteran:
A few weeks ago a musician who performs regularly on Music Island as well as elsewhere around Second Life, mentioned to me that he had been sorry to hear that one of the pioneer music series organizers was thinking about packing up and giving up on her activities. He wondered if there were not some way that a collaboration might be found to keep her involved in some way.

Finding opportunity to to speak to the lady in question, I found her very sad and frustrated. I learned that she had poured hours and dollars into a full sim with several concert venues, maintained an audio stream and had rigged up a video server in her home, all to support musical activity in SL. After two years, she felt unsupported, unappreciated and left on the sidelines by others who came into SL and preferred to "do their own thing" rather than collaborate with her and her venue. She's stopped hosting concerts and her sim stands empty and for sale. It is a sad ending to good intentions, hard work and an end to some fun times for people in Second Life. Were her expectations for support and recognition unreasonable? I don't know. I don't think that anyone was under any obligation to financially support a space in SL that was purchased by this individual speculatively, on her own dime. I DO think that the contributions of human effort to the common good in SL needs more recognition and support though.

As one of the people who was running a concert series I felt some of the hostility and hurt feelings this arts lover was feeling. Fairly often new people come into SL and make pronouncements like "the first time X has happened in virtual reality" and it is something that happened on my series a year ago. I find it hard not to go ballistic on those days. I can also remember how furious I was in the early days of the SL Showcase when I saw that the only featured "classical" music venue was not mine or one of my esteemed colleagues that offer quality programming. Instead Showcase was featuring one of the many vanity concert halls, the venue in question at that point in time hadn't hosted a single live classical concert. There was no connection with the vibrant community of musical practice in Second Life. I thought "why didn't Linden Labs do some fact-checkingl?"

Like other places on the net, there is a difficulty sometimes in Second Life with the recognition of "authority" and there is very little maintenance of the history of projects within the community. I find that there is a tendency throughout Second Life to put the focus on the grid, the sims, the buildings of Second Life and pay much less attention to the things that bring the grid to life: people, events, communities, arts, education, networking.


CONVERSATION TWO: The newbie music venue owner:
A new sim owner sent me an IM and asked me to come and see her new concert hall and said that she hoped that I would bring performances to her sim. When I said that I really didn't have time to organize more concerts, her response was one I had heard before, .... "But it's beautiful and you can use it for FREE!!!

"Yes", I said, "but who will pay me for the hours of time it will take for me to book musicians, create notices, signs and promote the events? Why should I bring people to your sim? What can you do for me? Can you pay me? Sponsor artists? Connect me to people who can offer me resources I don't have?

I actually was a lot less blunt than that but the fact is that building a space for events in Second Life is a very small part of making an event or concert series work. Of course an attractive and functional space is a starting point but there are empty spaces all over Second Life. Only with the animating energy of human work do these places come alive and how is that work encouraged and rewarded. For each event that actually happens in SL, there are many human contacts, information exchanges, discussions and promotional notices involved. Things don't just "happen".

SUMMARY: In SL like RL, work is either rewarded by appreciation, recognition, fun, and/or with financial rewards. When event organizers feel unappreciated and un-recognized, there's no fun anymore and it is costing them money to continue of course they are going to pack it in and find some other arena to contribute their energies. And without events, SL will be a dull, dead world.

What can Linden Labs and the Second Life community do to assure the continuance of worthwhile events within virtual reality?

Thursday, August 27, 2009

Young Zeid, violin August 29 @ September 3





















Saturday August 29 @ 12 pm SLT
Thursday Sept. 3 @ 4:30 pm SLT

PROGRAM:
Scott Joplin (1868-1917) " Entertainer"
Niccolo Paganini (1782-1840) " Sonatina in E minor "
Vittorio Monti (1868-1922) " Czardas"
L.Van Beethoven (1770-1827) " Romance in F Major "
W.A.Mozart (1756-1791) Concerto No.4 in D Major

BIO

Xi Yang (Young Zeid in Second Life) began his distinguished music career when he was a student at the Conservatory of Music in Beijing, China where he studied both violin and viola Performance. He had his first solo debut when he was 9 years old. By the age of 12 he made an average of 200 solo appearances a year in China. He won the National Violin Competition in Shanghai and made his solo debut with the Beijing Philharmonic Orchestra. He then, toured China with the Beijing Youth Symphony as a soloist and concertmaster. At the age of 17, he was a semi-finalist in the prestigious Jacques Tibaud International Violin Competition in Paris, France. The youngest violinist entered the competition for that year which earned him a place in the <>.

Arriving in the United States, Mr. Yang won a National Strings Competition in Arkansas and has performed numerous solo recitals, chamber music concerts and gave master classes to young string players from many public schools and colleges. A graduate of Indiana University School of Music, he studied violin and chamber music ensemble, from baroque style to modern composers, under the guidance of James Buswell, Nelli Shkolnikova, Josef Gingold and Rostislav Dubinsky. "Mr. Yang has all the ability and potential to become one of the greatest solo violinists in the world today..." ( Isaac Stern 1987, Indiana University )

Mr. Yang was the Principal Violist for the Florida Philharmonic Orchestra, Florida Grand Opera and the Principal Viola with the Symphony of the Americas. He is also the Assistant Concertmaster and a guest conductor, soloist with the Raleigh Symphony Orchestra. He has performed for Two Presidents of the United States, President Clinton and President Bush Snr. and been requested to perform by celebrities such as Donald Trump and Sylvester Stallone. He has collaborated with highly regarded classical artists such as Isaac Stern, Placido Domingo,Luciano Pavarotti, Leonard Bernstein, Itzhak Perlman, Pinchas Zukerman, as well as some of the great pop stars such as Stevie Wonder, Ray Charles, Tony Bennett, Michael Jackson, Bary Manilow...among others.

A well established violinist and violist in the Triangle area and beyond, his students are age from 7 years old to adults. He is a member of the Arcangelo Piano Quartet www.arcangelopianoquartet.com and Duo Appassionato. www.duoappssionato.org

Fostering the next generation of musicians is important to Xi Yang. He is the founding music director and conductor of the Youth Symphony of Florida.

Thursday, August 20, 2009

Aldo to perform on Virtually Speaking series


THURSDAY AUGUST 20 @ 5 PM SLT
http://slurl.com/secondlife/Virtually%20Speaking/156/152/26

Music Island concerts has entered a new partnership with the public affairs program "Virtually Speaking" to present musical programming to accompany selected public affairs events. Today AldoManutio Abruzzo provides a musical introduction to an appearance by Mike Connery, co-founder of "Music for America"


Interview @ 6 pm SLT

Michael Connery is the author of Youth to Power: How Today's Young Voters Are Building Tomorrow's Progressive Majority, a book about the role of the Millennial Generation in progressive politics. In addition to blogging at Future Majority, Michael occasionally contributes to MyDD, TechPresident and Huffington Post's "Off the Bus" blog.

A political junkie and accidental activist who became involved in politics during the early days of the Dean campaign, Mike is a founder of Music for America, and served as its Communications Director and Web Editor from February 2003 until December of 2004.

Michael is a Board Member of the Young Voter PAC, an At-Large member of the DNC Youth Council, and sits on the Advisory Board of HeadCount, a non profit that registers young voters at live music events. In 2003, he was the cofounder of a similar organization called Music for America, and served as its Communications Director and Web Editor in 2003 and 2004. In 2008, he was a National New Media Fellow with the Center for Independent Media.

Michael has a BA in English and Philosophy from Boston College and an MA in English from Indiana University in Bloomington.

http://slurl.com/secondlife/Virtually%20Speaking/156/152/26

Winters Kanto Aug 22 @ 12 pm SLT


The popular Uruguayan pianist is well-known in SL. On this concert we see the other side of Winters. He will play classical for a change.... but he might just might suprise us with a couple of his signature tangos & bossa novas.

This popular entertainer has 15 years of experience on tour in South America.


To teleport to Music Island click here. You must have a Second Life (free) account to attend concerts in Second Life. If you do not have an account and want to explore, sign up here.

Saturday, August 15, 2009

Duo Appassionato, Anniversary Concert


Saturday, August 15, 1 :00pm SLT
Simulcast to Second Life Community Conference, San Francisco

Summer Anniversary Concert Program:

1). Mazas.....................Duo for 2 violins in G MAjor (3 mvts.)
2). Wieniawskii......Capriccios op 18 for 2 violins No. 2 3, 4.
3). Vivaldi......................."Summer' from THE FOUR SEASONS
4). Bach ...................................."DOUBLE" concerto ( 3 mvts)
5). Handel/Halvorsen ...........Passcaglia for Violin and Viola

ABOUT THE ARTISTS:

DUO APPASSIONATO possesses exceptional virtuoso ability and musical harmony rarely found in two instrmentalists of the same genre performing together. Both active solo performers of unsurpassed spirit and flair, the duo has a refreshing stage presence and often explores a repertoire that is rarely performed because of its unusually demanding nature. They project " virtuosic devilry and imagination..." and their playing is " stunning and incredibly well matched". Their presence is a highlight to any recital or concert stage.

Violinist Izabela Spiewak began her international music career at the age of 5, and was awarded a scholarship to a music school for gifted young artists at the age of 8. She is performed chamber music concerts, recorded albums with musicians such as Leonard Bernstein, Eduardo Mata, Placido Domingo and Yehudi Menuhin.

Xi Yang began his distinguished music career when he was a student at the Conservatory of Music in Beijing, China where he studied both violin and viola Performance. He had his first solo debut when he was 9 years old. By the age of 12 he made an average of 200 solo appearances a year in China. He won the National Violin Competition in Shanghai and made his solo debut with the Beijing Philharmonic Orchestra. Arriving in the United States, Mr. Yang won a National Strings Competition in Arkansas and has performed numerous solo recitals, chamber music concerts and gave master classes to young string players from many public schools and colleges . Mr. Yang was the Principal Violist for the Florida Philharmonic Orchestra, Florida Grand Opera and the Principal Viola with the Symphony of the Americas. He is also the Assistant Concertmaster and a guest conductor, soloist with the Raleigh Symphony Orchestra.

Friday, August 7, 2009

Perseids Festival off to rousing start August 7 to 14

Friday August 7 to Friday August 14
Catch a Falling Star A storytelling treasure hunt

Join us for the opening of a new virtual storytelling experience. Find the stories in the falling stars hidden around Sea Turtle Island. The author will be with us for the grand opening. Start point is at Sea Turtle Lodge.

Mary Overton is the RL writer behind SL avatar Meryl Villota. Overton experiments with text and story online at https://maryoverton.wikispaces.com . She is the author of a story collection, THE WINE OF ASTONISHMENT (La Questa Press), and her speculative fiction appears in anthologies and journals. A list of available published work can be found at http://www.amazon.com/Fiction-nbsp-by-nbsp-Mary-nbsp-Overton/lm/R1XO8TF0U8GX6L/ref=cm_srch_res_rpli_alt_1/103-1439095-1029430 .

Sunday August 9 to Friday August 14
From Falling Star to Meteor
Information Exhibit created by Ourania Fizgig
Music Island/Sea Turtle Island

Tuesday August 11 @ 4 pm
The Year of Astronomy Talk & Tour of the Year of Astronomy Simulation
The Lodge @ Sea Turtle Island
2009 is the International Year of Astronomy and Music Island is hosting a mini-festival in honour of the falling stars of summer, the annual Perseids Meteor Shower. Come prepared to listen for a few minutes and then head out on a tour of the IYOA2009 site

WEDNESDAY August 12 @ 4pm Drumming Circle & Story Telling
Share stories of falling stars. Bring your legends and family stories about falling stars to an informal campfire and drumming circle.

WEDNESDAY August 12 @ 6:30 pm SLT AldoManutio Abruzzo, composer/musician WITH Desdemona Enfield & Douglas Story Artists RISE AND FALL OF THE PERSEIDS
a special concert on the occasion of the best light show of the summer, the Perseid Meteor shower.