A vibrant and busy December Schedule

For the latest schedule and information on the web visit http://musicisland.spruz.com

Sat Dec 3, 2 pm SLT
Voodoo Shilton, guitar

Wed Dec 7 6 pm SLT
Duo Appassionato, violins/viola
Winter holiday concert

Sat Dec 10 2 pm SLT
Tip Corbett, composer, pianist

Sun Dec 11 1 pm SLT
Kain Scalia, tenor
Once Upon a Winter

Sat Dec 17, 11 am SLT
Let's Talk Classical Music
A Classical Christmas
with host, Aelthing Aeon

Sun Dec 18, 2 pm SLT
Schumann Duo
piano, oboe and surprises

Wed Dec 21, 1 pm SLT
Fingersatz Barbosa, classical guitar

Sat Dec 31 12 pm SLT
NEW YEARS REZZ-OLUTIONS
Cypress Rosewood, ambient music

November 27 Women in SL Music

What's this?

No concert at Music Island this week?

Yes, but wait!

It's time for the annual festival of SL Women in Music offered in partnership with Ohio State University's Department of Women's, Gender and Sexuality Studies. This year the festival will be a kick off event for16 Days of Action against Gender Violence with events in RL and SL both.
http://slurl.com/secondlife/Minerva/10/10/29/

11 am Cindy Ecksol, folk

12 noon AMFORTE Clarity, rock

1 pm Prowess Rayna, piano

2 pm SonyaJevette Charisma, blues

3 pm Choo Choo Chicks, vocal trio with live ensemble..

DETAILS:

11 am Cindy Ecksol - American Folk
Cindy Ecksol has been making and teaching music with voice, autoharp, fiddle and a variety of other instruments for as long as she can remember. She is particularly interested in traditional music of many varieties, and her repertoire includes everything from Irish tunes and Israeli dance music played on autoharp to dark Appalachian fiddle tunes from the mountains of West Virginia. But her playful side can't resist amusing modern songs about real life, which somehow co-exist with folk songs from long ago.

12 pm AMForte Clarity - Rock and Blues
Driven to succeed, A.M.Forte has sought out different avenues for exposure. As a singer/songwriter, she will never give up in her dreams . With Punk/Rock/Pop flairs, this artist has influences that include, U2, Nirvana, RadioHead, Alanis Morrissette, Coldplay, MCR, AAR, The Cranberries, Our Lady Peace and Elliott Smith. She WON the Best of SL Magazine Musician of 2009 Ministry of Motion Contest!

Visit her at the following Websites:
http://www.amforte.com
http://www.myspace.com/amforte
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vFMvM0JSOXc

1 pm Prowess Rayna, piano
Prowess Rayna, a true artist on the piano, began playing at 3, composing at 7 & performing professionally by 14. Countless souls have been uplifted by her sensuous, passionate expression, fluid technique & beautiful melodies. Her reputation flourishes as she shares her evolving talents with live music lovers in SL


2 pm SonyaJevette Charisma
The words sultry, cool, and eccentric best describe the singer, songwriter, and musician Sonya Jevette. She grew up singing to the great R&B tunes that dominated the airwaves in the seventies. As a teen she honed her vocal talent through the church choir. Winning a talent contest at the age of seventeen was the beginning of Jevette's journey. From there, she went on to win dozens of competitions. These successes translated into media attention from radio & newspaper with appearances at over one hundred festivals.

Jevette combines her rich, passionate voice and her gut-wrenching lyrics with classical, latin and jazz style guitar. Jevette's configuration produces a style that can only be described as unique.

http://www.iTunes.com/sonyajevette
http://www.cdbaby.com/sonyajevette

3 pm The Choo Choo Chicks
The Choo Choo Chicks are sassy, sizzling jazz and blues live from Red Lotus Records in Chattanooga, Tennessee. Tight harmonies and a kickin' rhythm section are the hallmarks of this group, who perform original music written by lead singer Angua Ashbourne and cover the classics from Robert Johnson to Lady Day.

Weblinks: www.redlotusrecords.net http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B5V0F-9xMuo

Nov 19 "Let's Talk Classical Music" with Aelthing Aeon

Let's Talk Classical Music
November 19 @ 11 am SLT
Music Island, Sea Turtle Island

Like to listen and learn about classical music? Aelthing Aeon, a guest lecturer with the National Federation of Recorded Music Societies (UK) will present an informative talk on selected classical recordings. This month's topic "Innovation and Conservation in Early Music".

The format for this series is selected recordings on the SL music stream accompanied by informative text chat by the host. Questions and comments from the audience in text are welcome during the presentation.

Nov. 20 Atheene Dodonpa: Songs of the Anunciation & Advent Season

Atheene Dodonpa, soprano
Early Songs of the Anunciation & Advent Season
(live concert in 3D virtual reality)
Sunday November 20, 2011
12 noon SLT (Pacific Time)
Music Island, Sea Turtle Island

Atheene Dodonpa is the pre-eminent wandering minstrel of Second Life, entertaining townsfolk and castle dwellers alike with authentic music from many cultures delivered in her thrilling soprano, accompanying herself on period instruments and illuminating the audience with warm, engaging, explanatory chat.

PROGRAM:

Songs of the Annunciation and the Advent Season

4 Early Syrian hymns

• Yawnu Tlitu (Little Dove, Birth of Christ)
• Qurbone Qarebun (Prayer of the Priests)
• Enono nuhro shariro (I´m the true Light)
• Ayn Qai (People died in faith)

6 songs from the Laudario di Firenze

• Laude novella (Virgin Mary)
• Voi ch´amate lo criatore (Virgin Mary´s lament)
• Novel canto dolce sancto (Apostle Thomas)
• Peccatrice nominata (Mary Magdalene)
• Sancto Marco glorioso (Evangelist Mark)
• Sancto Symeom beato (Simeon who saw the baby Jesus)

3 songs by Hildegard von Bingen

• O quam preciosa (Virgin Mary)
• O nobilissima viriditas (Praising the virginity)
• Mathias sanctus (Evangelist Matthew)

The Florence Laudario is a collection of monophonic hymns dating from the 14th century, and is only one of two extant that include the written music, the other being the Cortona Laudario from the 13th century. The Florence Laudario belonged to the Company of Santo Spirito, an ensemble of “laudesi” (much like a group of cantors, or even a schola), which sung the compline service every evening for the Church of Santo Spirito. A church of any renown had its company of laudesi whose chief job it was to help the congregation sing the hymns, the way we still use cantors today. Hymns were composed with a ritornello (“refrain”) that was easy enough for the congregation to learn. All text, notably, was in the vernacular, not in Latin, again providing the congregation with access to the language. This is probably why these hymns are still around in some version or another. Unlike the Cortonese who kept their laude simple, the laudesi of Florence, being Florentine, of course refined and ornamented their laude such that only trained singers could successfully sing the complex bits. However, the ritornello was always there to return to, and the congregations could, and would, join in.
- Amelia LeClair

HILDEGARD VON BINGEN, (1098-1179), was a remarkable woman, a "first" in many fields. At a time when few women wrote, Hildegard, known as "Sybil of the Rhine", produced major works of theology and visionary writings. When few women were accorded respect, she was consulted by and advised bishops, popes, and kings. She used the curative powers of natural objects for healing, and wrote treatises about natural history and medicinal uses of plants, animals, trees and stones. She is the first composer whose biography is known. Clearly a force to
contend with, she wrote books and letters on all of the above topics, traveled widely, and penned what is arguably the first opera in western music, the “Ordo Virtutem”. She founded a vibrant convent, where her musical plays were performed. Her music is radically different from the chant that surrounded her: she takes great leaps of fifths followed by fourths frequently (thus spanning an octave), and the expressive writing is not meant for the faint of heart. She obviously had very well trained singers at her disposal. Her poetry is raw and wonderful, and has no known precedent.

Although not yet canonized, Hildegard has been beatified, and is frequently referred to as St. Hildegard. Revival of interest in this extraordinary woman of the middle ages was initiated by musicologists and historians of science and religion. More controversially, Hildegard's music had been adapted and interpreted by the New Age movement, whose music bears some resemblance to Hildegard's ethereal airs.

Her story is important to all students of medieval history and culture and an inspirational account of an irresistible spirit and vibrant intellect overcoming social, physical, cultural, gender barriers to achieve timeless transcendence. For her, Mary, the mother of Jesus, was a frequent artistic theme.

Saturday November 12 Champagne Rain, piano

CHAMPAGNE RAIN, piano and voice
SAT Nov 12 @ 12 PM
Music Island, Sea Turtle Island
http://slurl.com/secondlife/Sea%20Turtle%20Island/56/23/25



ABOUT THE ARTIST:
Champagne Rain is an Eastern European born Classical Pianist. She has devoted most of her life to acquiring performing skills at the Kiev Conservatory and has, in real life, performed in the world's most prestigious concert venues, including Vienna's Musikverein Golden Hall. She has recorded 6 CD's of concert and solo work.

In SL, she is also sharing her second musical talent, a lovely operatic voice, sharing some of her favorite arias and lieder.

Conservation and Innovation in Early Music

Three events over the next week will explore this theme:

Nov 13 12 noon Christine Montgomery, violin & compostion "Plugged-In Vivaldi"

ABOUT THE ARTIST:
Chrissie Caulfield is a violinist and composer working principally in contemporary, ambient and rock idioms. She plays electric violin in the Progressive Rock band Catscans, has played solo at various venues including Colchester New Music and will be holding a masterclass in electric violin techniques in that city later this year. She is also a founder member of the contemporary music band ‘Midnight Llama’ based in West Yorkshire, UK. She has toured Europe with the rock band Crippled Black Phoenix and appears on the latest album “Relic” by guitarist Matt Stevens.

As a composer, Chrissie is largely self-taught, but has taken tuition and advice from Ben Oliver, John Habron, Scott McLaughlin and anyone else who will listen. Her compositional style is eclectic and takes in a number of diverse influences from the baroque masters to Schnittke, Swedish folk music, Pink Floyd, distortion pedals and the noise cats make when licking foil. She is, as Douglas Adams would have it, “a great fan of science” and frequently uses scientific and mathematical themes in her music, though is not above tweaking mathematical systems for musical effect.

She lives in Leeds with a large number of cats, some strange instruments, and possibly too many computers and/or effects pedals.

This is what happens to classical music when you remove its inhibitions, lend it to a prog-rocker and then try to play the tattered remains when it comes back two years later covered in cat pawprints

http://www.facebook.com/l/wAQGGmtt9AQEGqxUtPqsoJM_0Q4SMmCty0uRrX-KVH5-1sw/chrissieviolin.info
http://www.facebook.com/l/fAQH94bDEAQGNluN6kIaT6bP9CPC-LDYLo-YK8IsbNOPQDw/midnightllama.info
http://www.facebook.com/l/4AQGNdWpjAQEISPTEtuBssF9ZRn8ddoMiqU-4vnVdjeb7zA/catscansband.com


Nov 19 11 am Aelthing Aeon, guided listening Conservation and Innovation

Like to listen and learn about classical music? Whether you are new to classical music or an avid collector of recordings, you are always sure to learn something new at this monthly talk. Aelthing Aeon, a guest lecturer with the National Federation of Recorded Music Societies in the UK will present an informative talk on selected classical recordings, including some rare performances on CD. This month, Ael will be talking about and contrasting performances on period & modern instruments.

Nov 20 12 noon Atheene Dodonpa, Early Music

ABOUT THE ARTIST:
Lady Atheene Dodonpa is the leading Lady minstrel performing medieval music in SL. She is a professional musician in both worlds, so her live medieval music moments are guaranteed to be authentic and unique.

Lady Atheene accompanies her voice with several instruments: recorders and pipes, bells, rebec, symphonie, bowed psaltery, 5-stringed kantele, organ and celtic harp. Her performances have already been a source of joy for hundreds of people in SL and she will continue to sing and tell the enchanting stories for the recidents of all regions she is invited to also in the future, of course, God willing.

Atheene Dodonpa stars in "Alvido in Abo"

Wondering where SL's Atheene Dodonpa has been? Here's the scoop, and the link to a recording. Her summer project was performing in a 1692 opera Alvido in Abo. Listen online. (If you don't speak Finnish advance about 10 minutes to skip the narrative introduction. )

Sept 11 "The Language of Peace" 12 noon SLT

"The language of peace"
Shprav OODLES & Sandia BEAUMONT, piano, harpsichord & organ
Sunday Sept 11 @ 12 pm (NOON)
Music Island, Sea Turtle Island
http://slurl.com/secondlife/Sea%20Turtle%20Island/54/21/23

PROGRAM:
Bartok Grasshopper Wedding
Heliodoro de Paiva Tento de IV Tom
Bartok BEAR dance
Tchaikovsky June Barcarolle
Handel Sonatina in A minor
Improv
Bartok: Slovakian Boys Dance
Sondheim: Send in the Clowns
Chopin/Beaumont: Cat & Dog
Improv
Debussy: Arabesque
Oodles: Africa Laughing

Is there a creative economy in Second Life?

In the context of a maillist discussion, this video was posted, sparking my comments as below.

SLCC 2011 The Creative Economy In Second Live by Sitearm Madonna aka James Neville from Sitearm Madonna on Vimeo.

It is interesting to note that Richard Florida moved to Canada, citing in part the Canadian national and Toronto civic understanding of the role of the public sector in supporting cultural assets for the creative economy. Second Life by contrast is a very libertarian, free-enterprise environment with extremely limited public support for the inworld arts community.

Different art forms are able to support themselves more or less in a free market system depending upon costs, popularity, and market fluctuations in ticket prices or art sales. Only the "lowest common denominator" in the arts are able to survive solely on earned revenues: pop music, mass-market films, etc. The economic formulas for successful museums, orchestras, opera companies have been remarkably stable for more than 100 years and across national borders although the form of public support may vary. In one nation it is all direct grants, in others there are mail discounts, some offer tax breaks for private/corporate donors or subsidies to concert halls for the provision of free or inexpensive facilities. I can expound in a lot of detail on this topic (and have elsewhere). In 1881 when the Boston Symphony was founded (the first professional symphony in N. America) the Board proposed a business plan to the City of Boston that showed only 50% of revenues coming from ticket sales. The rest of the income was to come from government 25% and private/corporate donors 25%. With slight variations, that is the formula for a successful orchestra today. If government support & private support goes down and you raise ticket prices, people stop coming. If you reduce costs by using lower quality musicians or a cheaper hall, people stop coming. There is no way to beat the formula in the long run. (God knows I have tried, like every other artistic manager in the biz.)

Second Life arts is full of dedicated volunteers, curious arts experimenters and trial projects. It is not home to many arts projects that are professional and sustainable. (I can't name one.) Every year that I have run Music Island, I have seen colleagues leave Second Life because their efforts have not been sustainable. Sometimes they leave happy for the good experiences and sad to not be able to continue, other times they leave bitter and disillusioned. Reasons for disillusionment vary. My own series is made possible because I elected to work parttime because I found SL music interesting and restorative. The cost to me and my family was about a $25,000 reduction in income annually for the past two years. Had I taken that step in order to launch.... oh... a chamber series in a Toronto church, I have absolutely no doubt that I could have raised more than enough from Canadian arts foundations & others to pay myself and the artists. However Second Life is a different animal. RL arts funders are interested in RL arts projects in a particular location featuring local or national artists. International virtual projects are too "far out", outside the scope of the funders, and on top of that Linden Lab seems intent on sending a marketing message about the world that is not welcoming to education and culture, but rather highlights the social and game-like elements. Within the virtual world itself I feel there is little understanding by Linden Lab of the vital role cultural assets have played in making the community attractive to its creative class, the damage that has been done to that creative class by driving out educators and non-profits, and the number of arts series, like my own, that are running out of steam. The libertarian philosophy that seems to be at the core of Linden thinking is that if something is worthwhile it will be able to raise its own funding in the free market. History refutes this view. Historically the arts have only flourished with the support of the King, the Church, or democratic governments. I'm not sure which of these the Lindens are most like, but whichever, there is little public arts support available within SL.

I'd like to add that I am far from bitter or disillusioned. I made my own decisions and I have found the generosity of the musicians that perform at Music Island, humbling and heart-warming. We are all here for the music and the fans, but persevere despite the Lindens and the crass free-enterprise, commercial & adult-entertainment community they have fostered.

Labour Day Weekend Events

In Second Life this Labour Day Weekend? Super! Music Island, Cedar Island and Virtual Ability have got together to have a bunch of great events for you to do

Saturday, September 3

8 am SLT- Labor Literature- readings by Bathsheba Darkfold and Chaoite Resident
Cape Serenity Library (text and voice)

noon SLT- Chapman Zane- Music from the Kentucky Hills and Coal Mines
Music Island, Sea Turtle Island

1 pm SLT Ronin1 Shippe Art Opening - Cedar Island Public Square

2 pm Film and discussion "Salt of the Earth" 1954 at Sea Turtle Island Lodge

Sunday, September 4

All day-Ronin1 Shippe Art Show Continues,
Cedar Island Public Square

11 am SLT- Labor Literature- readings by Bathsheba Darkfold and Ladyslipper Constantine
Cape Serenity Library (text and voice)

1 pm SLT Tour of Fenimore Art Gallery, A project of the Fenimore Art Museum in Cooperstown, NY, the repository of one of America's greatest collections of American art and American folk art. All from New England, this is one of the finest assemblages of America's artistic heritage anywhere.
Cape Able

Monday, September 5

noon SLT- Cindy Ecksol Concert - "Have you been to jail for justice"
Music Island, Sea Turtle Island

1 pm SLT Chad Mikado of the National Service Inclusion Project "Contributing our volunteer labour virtually".
Music Island, Sea Turtle Island.

All day-Ronin1 Shippe Art Show Continues, Cedar Island Public Square

5 pm SLT- Labor Literature- readings by Bathsheba Darkfold and Gentle Heron

Cape Serenity Library (text and voice)

The Labor LIterature will be poetry, short stories, and pithy quotations, with a smattering of labor history included.

Miriam Forsythe concert postponed

Miriam Forsythe, scheduled for a concert this week August 13 at noon, has had to postpone her concert due to a flare up of a painful ganglian cyst.

We all wish Miriam a speedy recovery and hope she'll be back with us soon at Music Island.

Saturday August 13 Joaquin Gustav, 2 pm SLT

Joaquin Gustav, latin guitar
Music Island, Sea Turtle Island
August 13, 2 pm SLT

Joaquin is a highly trained guitarist, born and received his music education in Buenos Aires, Argentina, the birthplace of tango. Out of his fingers comes an array of string sounds that blend the colors of Latin American culture with his own elegant performing style. Inspired by tradition, he is not afraid to experiment with new styles and techniques.

His wide range playlist includes smooth jazz, rock, tango, milonga, candombe and much more.

Pictures from Champagne Rain Concert

Livestream or Record? Musings.

Question & thinking out loud about the dissemination of the great SL concerts we have at Music Island:

If I have to choose between livestreaming or recording an SL concert, which one is better to focus my resources on? I'm wondering because one person really can't do both well I don't think.

Yesterday people attending the Champagne Rain concert were asking me about whether a recording of the concert would be available because they had friends who couldn't get in. When I said that it was on livestream now but not being recorded in entirety they went "Oh Shit, so and so has logged off now and I can't tell them that". Hmmmm. Seems like there's been a communication failure there despite my announcing the Livestream before concerts and occasionally reminding people via group notice. On the other hand Live stream is a new feature to Music Island concerts and maybe they will get onto it if I keep it up. I also have thought about putting a Livestream logo onstage with a URL connection so that people visiting the sim will know the concerts are available on the web (most concerts).

Livestream increases the potential audience for an event and it doesn't add TOO much extra work time. I have to set up a separate broadcast computer, check the sound and then zoom back and forth periodically to change camera angles and then it's done. The main thrust of the exercise is to get around the small audience limits in Second Life and my hope is that it will help expand the numbers of musicians performing in SL and also be an appealing facet of any mixed reality project. I cannot use the broadcast software in "record" mode while in Second Life because it gobbles so much bandwidth that SL fps slows to a crawl (especially in a crowded concert setting). This makes what you are recording look terrible. (Talk about the observer effect :-)

Screen capture in another computer running FRAPS involves capturing a variety of angles and views of the concert with a view to post production editing in my (new) Sony Vegas software. I now have to means to create much better videos BUT it takes a LOT of work to do so. The raw capture files are also HUGE. But the films create a long lasting record of events that can be shared to inform and promote artists, Music Island and SL music in general.

Both require artist permissions which generally are not witheld but I would say most are more enthusiastic about Livestream than recordings but that could just be that my early recordings were pretty crappy (archival only really).

I COULD decide on a case by case basis, but I wonder if that might not lead to some feeling shortchanged and hoping for both a film and a broadcast.

Is it possible to do both? Possibly but not well. I am currently running 3 computers (1. in SL hosting concert, 2. in SL & broadcasting concert, 3. not in SL but monitoring and tweaking Livestream) and I can see how I COULD do all of these things with my current three computers by monitoring on my hosting computer by adding a screen & turning off SL sound. Then I would do screen capture on a third computer with a 3rd logged on avatar. Another monitor on my main computer would help. But really what I need to do this is a 4th computer and an interested helper.

Tip Corbett: Video Excerpt from July 30 concert

Champagne Rain plays Beethoven. Aug 6 1 pm SLT

Saturday August 6
1 pm SLT
Champagne Rain, piano
Music Island, Sea Turtle Island

Before launching on a South American tour, Champagne Rain will grace us with a performance of an arrangement of the 3rd Mvt. of the triumphant and muscular Beethoven Piano Concerto No. 3 in C minor. Other works by Beethoven, Chopin and Liszt will complete the program.

Champagne Rain is an Eastern European born Classical Pianist. She has devoted most of her life to acquiring performing skills at the Kiev Conservatory and has, in real life, performed in the world's most prestigious concert venues, including Vienna's Musikverein Golden Hall. She has recorded 6 CD's of concert and solo work.

Want to learn more about Beethoven before attending the concert?

"Let's Talk Classical Recordings"
The best of Beethoven
Aelthing Aeon
Saturday August 6
11 am SLT

Like to listen and learn about classical music? Aelthing Aeon, a guest lecturer with the National Federation of Recorded Music Societies (UK) will present an informative talk on selected classical recordings.

This month Aelthing will help us prepare for a performance of the Beethoven Piano Concerto No. 3 by placing it in context of the composer's work and different styles of performance.

Benito Flores, July 24 @ 12 noon

PROGRAM:

Muzio Clementi
“Batti batti” dal Don Giovanni di Mozart

Andrea Padova
Waterscape in motion*

Ferruccio Busoni
Elegia n. 2 “All’Italia!” (in modo napoletano)

Gioachino Rossini
da “Péchés de Vieillesse” Vol. VII: Album pour les enfants dégourdis - n. 8 Barcarole

intervallo

Gioachino Rossini
da “Péchés de Vieillesse” Vol. V: Album de chaumière - n. 5 Prélude inoffensif

Marcell Dargay
Légendes no. III “Le pianiste prêche pour soi-même”*

Fryderyk Chopin
Scherzo n. 2 in si bemolle minore - re bemolle maggiore op. 31

ARTIST BIO:
Alessandro Marangoni (Benito Flores in SL)
Born in Italy in 1979, studied the piano with Maria Tipo at Scuola di Musica di Fiesole. Besides his musical studies he also graduated with honours in philosophy at the Università di Pavia with a thesis on Fernando Liuzzi’s philosophy of music. He was also a merit student of the Almo Collegio Borromeo, one of the oldest and most important European colleges. After winning several national and international awards, he has appeared in many important musical events in Europe, both as a soloist and as a chamber musician, with performances in Rome at the Accademia di Santa Cecilia, in Florence for the Accademia della Crusca, in Lucca for the Associazione Musicale Lucchese, for the Walton Foundation on Ischia, the Cittadella in Assisi, and the Teatro Verdi in Trieste, as well as at the Engadiner Internationale Kammermusik-Festspiele, Sagra Musicale Umbra, the Italian Cultural Institute in London, the Teatro Dal Verme, Milan, and St John’s College, Cambridge.

As a chamber musician he has collaborated with some of the most important Italian musical personalities and groups, including Mario Ancillotti, Vittorio Ceccanti, Fanny Clamagirand, Daria Masiero, Stefano Parrino, Quirino Principe, Carlo Zardo and the Nuovo Quartetto Italiano. He won great success in Spain with the Malaga Philharmonic Orchestra and in Bratislava with the Slovak Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by the great Italian conductor Aldo Ceccato.
He has recently started artistic cooperation with the Italian actress Valentina Cortese. He is the pianist of the Trio Albatros Ensemble, with which he has won international acclaim: they recorded a cd with Nino Rota's chamber music for Stradivarius. In 2007 he made a recording for la Bottega Discantica of the piano works of Victor de Sabata, for the fortieth anniversary of the great Italian conductor’s death. In December of that year he played in a recital at the Teatro alla Scala, Milan, with Daniel Barenboim, in further tribute to De Sabata. In 2007 he won the prestigious Amici di Milano International Prize for Music. He has recorded all of Rossini's piano music and "Gradus ad parnassum" by Clementi for Naxos.

For more information, please visit www.alessandromarangoni.com.

Prowess Rayna July 16, 2011

Prowess Rayna, Saturday July 16 @ 12 noon SLT

STARLIGHT PIANO

Prowess Rayna, a true artist on the piano, began playing at 3, composing at 7 & performing professionally by 14. Countless souls have been uplifted by her sensuous, passionate expression, fluid technique & beautiful melodies. Her reputation flourishes as she shares her evolving talents with live music lovers in SL.

Music Island Slurl

I am going to try to go back to posting the weekly events here on the blog. I haven't been doing that lately because the listings exist at http:/musicisland.spruz.com but some people have asked me to also post the immediately upcoming events here... I'll try.

What is community in Second Life?

Recent discussions about a community conference in Second Life made me reflect on just what that community is to me.

My Second Life community doesn't have a capital city in California. It isn't limited by geo-political boundaries. Virtual community lives in the gathered consciousness of groups of beings from across the planet--sharing laughter, ideas, a sense of purpose or a moment of pure beauty.

The virtual community that I've come to love is usually a kinder place than the rest of life. We are patient with the crazy, the newcomer and we welcome and accommodate the disabled. We have the pioneering spirit, a lot of us like to make things ourselves (even if they come out a little lop-sided). Our entertainment is home-grown and our musical kitchen-parties and town-hall story-telling podiums have been equally graced by internationally renowned artists and amateurs who simply love the art.

We struggle and laugh with translators in order to make people who don't speak the same languages all feel included and marvel at how much we have in common, no matter how far apart we may have logged into Second Life from, how far apart we are on the globe. My Second Life community is less about the technology or business of virtual worlds and more about what people do and share within those worlds. I remember my first meeting in SL was held around one of Robbie Dingo's drum circles. Delia Lake was planning her "All About Water" exhibit (it still exists) and I was a clueless newbie all agog at the idea of a virtual drum circle with an international tribe of environmentalists meeting in this new world.

At Music Island we all throw our Lindens in the pot to contribute to the expenses of the musicians who perform for us. We know that we all don't have as much money to spare but we all are able to come together despite our wealth or poverty. That's the beauty of virtual community.

One day some of us might chance to meet each other face-to-face but because we've already met soul-to-soul, shared our thoughts and seen the colours of all our dreams, we don't really feel the need.

Second-lifers join hands across multiple sims in support of the Burma protest, Jan 2008.

SLCC 20011 - Thoughts on why virtual community gatherings should be, ummmm, virtual

I have been talking to some friends in Second Life about the upcoming SLCC (Second Life Community Conference). http://www.slconvention.org/

For those of you that don't know what that is, some really late announcements have gone out for a gathering in California next month that purports to be a gathering of SL community. These annual conferences have been happening since 2005, all of them have been in the United States and most in California. This year's website frankly calls it the "Official United States Gathering" but the name Second Life Community Conference implies a greater, global, reach.

In 2006 when I first joined SL there seemed to be a spirit of making events in the SL of equal or greater focus but in recent years the F2F gathering has stolen focus. Inworld events have been more about streaming in content happening in the RL context. In an international virtual world community I find this counter-intuitive. Other virtual world events manage to reflect inclusivity more, eg: VWBPE (Virtual Worlds:Best Practices in Education) but most serve only a sectoral interest.

After 5 years of waiting for the community conference to grow up and embrace the international community that SL really is , I've become a bit intemperate and frustrated I guess. Why do I feel that the focus of a virtual world community conference should be in... virtual reality? (bear with me, I know it seems like a no-brainer).

• we are an international community,
• we tout the value of virtual spaces,
• there is a global recession,
• this year Linden Lab cancelled discounted tier for educators and non-profits leaving those valued participants short of cash
  
• Second Life was founded on a somewhat Utopian ideal about bringing people together internationally in an affordable and inclusive way
• we tout the environmental superiority of meeting in virtual spaces

All these (and many more reasons that I have likely missed) seem to me to indicate that the main annual meeting of the SL community should be virtual with regional livespace events ocuring as people choose and can afford to attend, augmenting and feeding into the international virtual gathering. I have no doubt that livespace meetings are wonderful bonding experiences for those that live near the event or who are privileged enough to be able to afford air-travel in these times. That is not the majority of Second Life residents.

It's too late to change things this year but each year it has been the same story of late news to the community and all the key decisions made. Yes there will be inworld events but organizers admit they will not be the focus. "Jump in and help", we are told.

I felt two ways about the suggestion from an organizer that in order to be entitled to have a voice in the future direction of SLCC, I become a worker bee at an event whose focus I feel is wrong-headed. Volunteerism is about choice. What are my choices or the choices of people who cannot be a part of the live gathering?

Are there just two unpalatable choices here: support SLCC or walk away & shut up?

Is there a third choice? Yes, let's talk about putting our efforts into another vision. How about throwing our own grassroots party in SL instead of gluing ourselves to media screens to watch the cool (rich) kids talk to each other. We can show our displeasure by saying "we just aren't interested in what you are saying to each other at an event you have effectively shut us out of". But even better we can develop a better vision of a community gathering based on the grass-roots organizing that SL is best for. I have been speaking to some of my colleagues involved with groups who are particularly shut out due to distance and economics, such as the disabled and First Nations people.

Who else is out there that might like to join this conversation?

What is group spam... or not?

Today I received the following message:

[17:05] Abbey Zenith: You have been ejected from 'Second Life Library 2.0' by Abbey Zenith.

I felt terrible, both hurt and angry. I had sent a single IM message to a group about a classical piano concert that I had been led to believe might be of interest to their members. It was a public service. Far from "needing" the group, I had to think about whether I could extend some invitations to other groups since core group members (1350 in group and 2000 on maillist) usually were sufficient to fill the sim. This seemed like a poor reward for my inclusiveness. I wanted to ban Abbey and five generations of her descendents from Music Island. And then I calmed down and considered why I was angry.

The history here is that a couple of years ago I had responded to a competition to propose innovative, educational uses of SL to be featured on Innovation InfoIsland, a project of the Alliance Library system. I created a museum of SL music with considerable hours of work and also programmed several concerts that filled the sim. However Innovation InfoIsland soon bit the dust and the museum exhibits that were so painstakingly created had to be retrieved in a mad scramble to avoid deletion by new owners eager for rent-paying tenants.

I was encouraged to remain in the group and publicize concerts to the group. I didn't publicize every concert, selecting those that might be of the most educational interest. At some point my ability to send notices was rescinded. My contact in the group had no idea why, I left it that she'd sort it out and get those rights re-instated. I shrugged and forgot about it and occasionally sent an IM to the group about a concert that might be of interest. Then today after one IM about a classical piano concert I was booted by Abbey Zenith.

I have booted people from my group also... when they have begged money of group members or advertised things for sale on the group. I have never booted anyone for IMing about a cultural or educational event that might be of interest to members. I apologize to members of the Librarians group that might miss news of concerts that might interest them. But, please feel free to join the Music Island concert group.

It seems that the leadership of the Library 2.0 group is unsure of what types of notices their members would like to receive. I suggest that they get together and articulate a policy. In the meantime, it might be a good idea to not insult and eject potential allies and colleagues.

Music Island museum of music with exhibits of virtual instruments, how-to's of SL music and connections
to leading musicians streams, bios, recordings, as it existed before its deletion.

Does dissemination trump virtual presence for artists?

Last week I read Thom Dowd's notice to the Early Music group with no surprise but with considerable sorrow and regret. The Second Life music pioneer was announcing the migration of his musical activities to Livestream & Livestream/Facebook. The rationale, he reported, was the ability to reach a larger audience. We will miss him in Second Life and at Music Island if this is--as it sounds--a final exit from virtual reality live concert events.

Almost two years ago I started to help Thom to research and develop video-streaming of his concerts into Second Life and I wondered how that might affect the magical feeling of "presence" that makes live SL concerts social occasions as opposed to the solitary experience of viewing a podcast on the web. Would it be possible to have that connection when the music was delivered via a flat screen in SL rather than avatar standins for real people? We found that having even one avatar (Thom) as MC at the video concerts connected the audience to the people on camera, and of course avatars were still gathered in one place sharing the concert in livetime, commenting and having their questions addressed. Actually the new format for sharing concerts worked better than I had imagined it would--in part because of Thom's engaging personality.

Recently I have been adding livestreaming to selected Music Island SL concerts as a way to give a keyhole into the virtual world for people without SL accounts. I use a second computer and an alt avi as "camera" and begin the broadcast live on http://www.livestream.com/musicisland as soon as the concert is set to begin. To me this is a way of drawing people into the magic of virtual reality, perhaps might help them choose to create an account and share a concert live, rather than taking the virtual presence out of the equation altogether.

At the root of the dissemination question are the limitations for attendance at SL concerts. Sim capacities are 30, 40 or 50 avatars in a sim (dependent upon server conditions and sim build & scripts). While musicians might hope to reach 100's or 1,000's via electronic dissemination, I know from coordinating live concerts that an audience of 50 or so for a new music or chamber concert by relatively unknown artists is par for the course. Research continually shows that people attend cultural events because people they know and trust recommend those events, and not because of advertising or hype. Star quality appeal is a rare and fragile phenomenon. This word-of-mouth dissemination is as true in Second Life as it is in meatspace. We tell our friends, our friends tell friends and the reputation of an artist and a musical series in Second Life grows. The commitment of those audience members to a series and the artists they follow in SL are very similar to RL subscribers. But because they are an international audience, the opportunities for new and valuable communication vectors for artists is substantial and proven by a number of international debuts and collaborations within the SL musician community.

Will the same connection and loyalties develop via Livestream only? At this point, I am a doubter. While the Livestream stations allow a chat feature during the broadcast, you need to be viewing the action on the station itself to enter text. Embedded livestream windows do not necessarily show chat and entering chat from the embedded windows did not work for me during my one attempt. Chat totally fails to engage me in the same way as SL. I have no sense of presence from knowing that others are in a chat space. Will others feel the same way? I'd like to know your thoughts.

How many online fans is enough for the purposes of the artists and music educators currently using? I know that will vary with individual goals. For the Oriscus Ensemble, it seemed enough to gaze out at 35 or 40 avatars from 15 or more nations around the globe.

What I'd like to see is parallel development of SL music with Livestream options. It is disappointing to hear some say that avatars are not necessary and an uneeded complication to offering a live musical experience. Am I just a dinosaur SL immersionist, or do others feel that there is a qualitative loss of audience experience to watching a Livestream concert on the flat web? I see it as scant improvement over live television.

One of the more difficult to tackle issues that hobbles the promotion of virtual concerts and mixed reality concerts, especially as education vehicles is the "gaming" and "adult content" reputations of Second Life. While Music Island is a PG area and our audience is very engaged and respectful, I have no ability to ensure that some avatar new to our content or new to SL will not behave or speak in an inappropriate manner before I can eject them. Just like a concert venue in RL, such disruptions happen. We toss the person and ban them in future. Why is the fear of such disruptions higher in virtual reality than in a downtown park concert where we know a crazy might disrupt with shouted obscenities? Those of us that are trying to raise the profile of Second Life artistic activity and engage RL arts organizations, sponsors and funders in supporting arts events in SL, really need the help of Linden Lab, starting with representing some of the creative uses of virtual reality on the front page. At one time the picture was balanced but now the dating and shopping aspect of SL predominates. Making new avatars aware that inappropriate behaviour in PG sims can get them ejected and banned should be an orientation station. Most avatars I eject and ban are surprised and shocked, often very angry, a situation that I expect does not aid in their retention. More education about sim appropriate behaviour would help.

Linden Lab have been keen to develop ties between Second Life and social media like Facebook. It appears that some SL musicians are saying that they can connect to social media without including the virtual audience at all. The virtual audience will be the losers in this and there will be fewer reasons to log in and stay in Second Life if this becomes a trend.

Second Life doesn't need to link to social media; it IS social media

Reprinted here from a discussion from Linked-In on whether Second Life should/can connect with Facebook.

"From the beginning of my involvement with Second Life I have said that Linden Lab had a "build it and they will come" idea that was mystical and naive because it didn't take into account anything for people to do once they came or to understand why they would want to return or stay. Just looking at nice builds is mighty boring.

Linden Lab now seems hot to connect Second Life to Facebook and I have to laugh because they have failed to understand the ways that SL IS a social media. If they did so they would have priorized increasing SL groups before now, perhaps creating two sorts of groups, 1 for land management/perms and another type that is only for social events, arts, community communications. We know SL dating is a big thing, whether it is just to have a date to go SL dancing/clubbing or a way to meet someone as a potential RL spouse. Why did Linden Lab not think of an SL version of OK Cupid. I bet there are a few avatars that would drop a few Lindens to discover their virtual matches and/or SL businesses that would pay to advertise on such a guaranteed popular site.

I was invited to a meeting with some Linden marketing people more than a year ago as part of a group of music venue owners. The questions that we were met with betrayed an abysmal ignorance of the music business in general and more surprisingly the music business in SL. Live music is a huge draw. I send out about 2,000 notices to avatars inviting them inworld to attend events through my own list and group, and up to 8,000 more through other relevant groups. I twitter and facebook about events I host, all free publicity for SL. Linden Lab seemed to assume that we were making money on our venues. The fact is that we were all struggling to break even and our motivations for running music series was quite idealistic, personal, or linked to other external motivations. These days I see venue after venue closing, musicians drifting away from SL. My series continues although with slightly reduced audience and levels of support from the audience. The biggest hit for my series was the cuts to educational and non-profit subsidies. A lot of the audience members for classical and jazz performances were in SL as teachers, students or non-profit volunteers. The spin-offs of the reduced participation by that sector are only now being felt and will be felt more so in September.

What could LL have done to encourage us?

I've had several thoughts on this. First public quad sims for music events that different arts promoters could apply to use for large draw events. Submit a proposal X weeks in advance and get the sim for a few days. Start a Linden Arts Foundation making a competitive arts granting process available with meaningful levels of funding that would make an actual arts project possible in SL $10,000 to $25,000 would be my guess at the range needed to allow people to actually give up some of their RL income and invest time and effort in an SL arts initiative. Additionally to help existing series access support through other foundations. To do this, Linden staffers would actually have to be informed about SL arts practice. It has been infuriating to many of us over time when we see someone listed as the "best" whatever, when in fact they are far from the "best" but have recently bought a sim and made a big self-promotional noise. I remember a venue being listed as the "best classical venue in SL" when they had never hosted a classical event at anytime. Just as artists gravitate to cities that support the arts and those artists enrich tourism and the life of the cities, so artists will gravitate to the virtual worlds that support them.

Thom Dowd, Apr. 16 @ 12 noon

SOLOS AND DUOS FOR RECORDERS
MUSIC ISLAND
12 p.m. SATURDAY 16 APRIL 2011
Françoise Prongué- Hofstetter, Marie Gillard,
Gorse Ferarris, Thom Dowd
Recorders

PROGRAM:

Sonata in C Major for Alto Recoder and B.C. Georg Philipp Telemann 1681-1767
Cantabile, Allegro, Grave, Vivace,

Sonate No.3 OP. 3 in F Major, for Alto Recorder and B.C., JOHN LOEILLET OF LONDON, 1680-1730
Adagio - Allegro - Larghetto - Allegro

Ballette Gravesand with variations, Jacob van Eyck, 1590-1657
Philis Schoone with variations, Jacob van Eyck, 1590-1657

Sonata No.4 in B flat major, Robert Valentine 1661-1747
Adagio, Allegro, Adagio Siciliana, Allegro Giga

Sonata No. 5 for 2 Alto recorders Georg Philipp Telemann
Largo, Vivace, Gratioso, Allegro

Liszt: Via Crucis April 20

HEAVEN, EARTH, METAVERSE 12 pm PDT (SLT), 3 PM EDT, 9 PM in Italy

BENITO FLORES, piano (Alessandro Marangoni in RL)

Ars Cantica, choir

Marco Berrini, conductor

To view inworld you need a Second Life account and to be at: http://slurl.com/secondlife/Sea%20Turtle%20Island/57/23/22 at 12 noon Pacific Time or you can view on the old flat web via Livestream in this location.

Watch live streaming video from musicisland at livestream.com

March 27/11 Steam Organ, Piano, Harpsichord, Wind… and words

Sandia Beaumont (Piano) & Shprav Oodles (Organ)
Steam Organ, Piano, Harpsichord, Wind… and words.
SUNDAY MAR 27
12 NOON SLT
Music Island, Sea Turtle Island
http://slurl.com/secondlife/Sea%20Turtle%20Island/53/20/23

In First Life, as a solo pianist, Sandia Beaumont is regularly accompanied by symphonic orchestras. In Second Life, Sandia could only dream of having an orchestra to accompany her. The cost of orchestral performance is such that only a handful of full symphony concerts have been held in Second Life. Most orchestral accompaniments are synthesized or pre-recorded tracks.

But then along came Shprav Oodles, the exotic organist from Africa. Oodles made the outrageous claim that on the organ, he could accompany her and that he would out-orchestra any orchestra she cared to name. Beaumont laughed when he said this, but politely agreed to listen. Sandia stopped laughing when she heard Oodles play.

That was six months ago, and planning has been intense since then! Join us at Noon SLT (Pacific Time) on Sunday March 27, on Music Island, you can hear Oodles & Beaumont play for the very first time in Second Life or any other Life.

The Programme

A programme as hybrid (how contemporary !) as this could only be found in Second Life…

Michel Legrand – Melodies
W.A. Mozart – "Concerto in A K488" 1st & 2nd mvts, for piano and organ
G.F. Handel – "Concertino in A minor" for Harpsichord and Great Organ
Structured Improvisation – "Marzipan Mischief Boogie-Woogie"
Shprav Oodles – "Ex Machina" for piano, organ and synthesizer
Oodles & Beaumont – "Rain, Steam and Slivovitz" for piano and Steam Organ.

Second Life virtual-reality game: It's not time travel, but it's close - Pittsburgh Tribune-Review

Second Life virtual-reality game: It's not time travel, but it's close - Pittsburgh Tribune-Review: "- Sent using Google Toolbar"

It is nice to see a positive news story about Second Life but I'm not sure how the author could have written it and still called this complex 3D communications platform "a game".

Eveline Noth and Ensemble
Saturday 19 Feb. at 12 pm SLT (PST)
Music Island, Sea Turtle Island
http://slurl.com/secondlife/Sea%20Turtle%20Island/57/23/23

If you attended Thom Dowd's concert with his colleague Eveline Noth in November then you know that you want to be there when the lovely Eveline Noth returns with 3 of her pre-professional students to present a virtuoso concert of music for recorders. If you missed the November concert, don't make the same mistake twice! They will perform music from the renaissance, baroque and modern periods.

This will be a multi-lingual world event presented in the virtual world of Second Life and over the Internet live via Itunes.

Open ITUNES/ advanced/ open audio stream/ paste http://38.96.148.45:8888
ok

PROGRAMME:

MUSIC ISLAND

Samedi, 19 février 2011, 12 P.M. SL
Concert de flûte à bec
Nadine PernyMarc Pauchard
Michèle Mülhauser
Eveline Noth

Hayne van Ghizeghem (1445-1497) De tous biens plaine, Nadine Perny, Michèle Mülhauser, Marc Pauchard
Marco Uccelini (1603-1680)
Aria sopra la Bergamasca, Nadine Perny, Marc Pauchard

Jacob van Eyck (1590-1657)
Pavane Lachrimae Marc Pauchard

Hans Ulrich Staeps(1909-1988), Presto possibile,Nadine Perny

Francesco Maria Veracini (1690-1768) Sonata Terza
Largo - Allegro - Largo - Allegro, Nadine Perny

Isang Yun (1917-1995), Der Affenspieler, Marc Pauchard

Jaques-Martin Hotteterre (1674-1763) Suite en mi mineur
Prelude Lentement, Vivement, Allemande, Tendrement, Marc Pauchard

Georg Philipp Telemann (1681-1767) Quartett d-Moll
Andante - Vivace
Nadine Perny
Michèle Mülhauser
Marc Pauchard

ABOUT THE ARTIST:
Eveline started playing the recorder when she was 6 and never stopped.

As a child, she also played the clarinet and the traverse flute, but this special feeling, when the air goes through these little holes, the sound - no other instrument could compete with the recorder!

Eveline studied the recorder at the Universities of Biel and Zürich and got a degree in teaching and performance practice from Carsten Eckert and Kees Boecke. She presently teaches at the Conservatories in Fribourg and Bern as well as at the University of Arts in Bern (Switzerland.)

Music Island launches new outreach initiative at Rockcliffe University

Rockcliffe University has graciously invited the Music Island concert series to be part of the distinguished educational and cultural offerings that the online university has been making happen in Second Life (and beyond) for the past three years.


We'll be bringing selected representative concerts from the Music Island series to a newly created Festivale Park location at Rockcliffe for the enjoyment of Rockcliffe students and faculty while also connecting the Music Island audience to the rich educational opportunities at Rockcliffe.


On Saturday, Jan 29, at 12 noon Thom Dowd will open the series with a concert of Renaissance duets


A very esoteric concert of Renaissance duos for Recorders featuring Thom Dowd and Françoise Prongué playing some very special renaissance recorders made by Thomas Prescott. The music is from the very end of the Italian renaissance and is a great example of the polyphony of the period.

Guiseppi Giamberti (ca.1600 in Rome, † ca. 1662) was an Italian Chapelmaster and Composer. Giamberti was a pupil of Nanino and Agostini and became the master of the chapel of the Orvieto Cathedral in Rome. Most of his compositions were of a sacred nature and his last published works went through three further editions they were so popular.
~ Keith Johnson, Rovi

PROGRAM

Gioseppe Giamberti 1657

I Perfidia sopra Ut Re Mi Fa Sol La Ténors
IX Ténors
XII Cantilena Ténors
XXI Alto-Ténor
XXII Alto-Ténor
XXXVI Villan di Spagna Ténors
XXXVIII Civetta Ténors
VIII Ballo di Mantua Soprano-Ténor
XVI Soprano-Ténor
XXV Ténor-Basse
III Scherzi sopra la Girometta Ténor-Basse
IV Bergamasca Ténor-Basse
V Fra Iacopino Alto-Basse
XXX Piva Alto-Basse
XXXIV Corrente Alto-Basse
XXXVII Corrente Alto-Basse

Paolo Fonghetti

12 Madrigali A cura di Andrea Bornstein (Verona 1598)

No 2 Deh, Dove Senza Me Alto-ténor
No 3 A Caso Un Giorno (Prima Parte) Soprano-Alto
No 16 Vidi Da Dui Bei Lumi Soprano-Alto

This concert can be heard live in ITUNES.
Open ITunes/advanced/open audio stream
paste http://38.96.148.45:8888/
ok

(Follow all Music Island concert listings regularly at http://musicisland.spruz.com)

Kate goes grid hopping

I have been grid hopping in the past two days for my own edification and thoughts about future projects. I visited Reaction Grid, 3rd Rock and InWorldz for about the same time periods 2-3 hours and all with the latest Imprudence Viewer release. I am Kate Miranda in all of these grids. I have no business connection to any of these grids. This is one avatar's experience.

In Reaction Grid, I was met by no one and saw not a single avatar in my journeys. There were some basic freebies lying around the welcome area in boxes. I was able to outfit my avatar acceptably from the box contents. There was a monorail in the welcome area but it didn't seem to work. Things not working was my overall impression. I found the Content Creator's group that I had logged on to join (16 members), but couldn't find groups with basic search terms like "events" "music" "education". I tried to visit several regions but crashed on tp most of the time. I did get to Chilbo but when I tried to tp to another region, I crashed in tp again. I didn't find anything that told me land prices. I'm not saying that information was not there but I didn't stumble across it, and there was no one around to offer it to me or point me to the information. I saw less in Reaction Grid than the other two grids as I wasted a lot of time watching the teleport progress bar and unsuccessfully looking things up in Search.

In 3rd Rock I was greeted by one avatar I knew from attending concerts in SL and one of the founders was online and I got pulled immediately into a friendly discussion group in a conversation pit with about 6 folks. People were steadily coming and going. The founding member who was in the conversation group was wildly enthusiastic about a classical music series on his grid. Pricing for land and other information was readily available. Pricing was not bargain basement low but very reasonable compared to SL. There were basic good freebies arranged on walls similar to the NCI set up in SL and I quickly outfitted my avatar with decent skin, hair and a simple walk AO and a business pant suit. There was nothing sleezy in the freebie walls. The mood was upbeat and optimistic and everything worked rather well. I was given some landmarks of interest and all the teleports worked. One sims I visited was a replica of Lunenburg, NS and the building was on a par with the best in SL. One of the governance features of interest in 3rd Rock was that residents were able to suggest and vote on the development of public lands.(I'm fuzzy on the details of that). I was very impressed with the plans and performance of the grid. My sense was that I would get helpful support should I choose to locate a project there and that the people in charge knew what they were doing technically and from a business perspective.

The last grid I visited was InWorldz. Like 3rd Rock I was greeted by friendly people and the welcome portal was quite busy. My starting avatar was the most primitive of the 3 grids. Basically people arrive as Ruth. There are two large freebie stores to get your avatar looking okay. The stores look impressively glitzy. The greeter showed a group of us who arrived together (about 4 females and 2 males) to the freebie store. As we walked, we were sometimes sinking into the ground and other times getting that bendy knee avatar bug that used to happen a lot in SL. Prims turning phantom seems to be a problem, at least in Imprudence. I sank through stairs and couldn't walk on the second storey of the freebie store as I kept falling through the floor. Although the freebie store was huge, there was a lot of sleezy clothes and one AO I tried was Gorean in design and poses. One dress came packed with sex animations. In all, not giving me a sense that this welcome area was set up to reflect a businesslike attitude. I settled on an elven princess dress with ballet flats as the best I could do to not look sleezy. Land prices in InWorldz seemed lower than 3rd Rock but so far it seemed a lot less stable to me and overall gave me a bit of an ickey feeling that was hard to define. Although the greeter was very friendly in InWorldz, she was fielding questions from many people and seemed more comfortable talking about hair and clothes than grid development plans. When I asked about music, I learned that it was only recently possible and the only name that came to her mind as being involved was a German rock promoter I have met in SL in his vampire mode. Someone knowledgeable in SL music had recently told me there were "a lot" of musicians going to InWorldz ... which was why I wanted to check it out... so I expect I just ran into a greeter who didn't know.

If I had to locate a project in a grid based on just these single experiences, 3rd Rock would win hands down.