Inside Malden

A rockstar panel discussing how to market, fund, and create new markets for the arts. These panelists are community-minded, passionate, and successful in their endeavors. For more information about this panel discussion, visit insidemalden.com

A rockstar panel discussing how to market, fund, and create new markets for the arts. These panelists are community-minded, passionate, and successful in their endeavors. Information about this panel discussion: insidemalden.com Image: Jean Appolon Expressions Dance Haiti with Artistic Director, Jean Appolon. jeanappolonexpressions.org

A rockstar panel discussing how to market, fund, and create new markets for the arts. These panelists are community-minded, passionate, and successful in their endeavors. For information about this panel discussion, visit insidemalden.com Image: A

Driven by a desire to give back and to offer educational opportunities to young urban learners, Dr. Charles Grandson IV, Interim Superintendent of the Malden Public Schools, reflects on his journey with education. He says his success is a "testament to what is happening every day in the public school systems across the nation." In his case, though he had trouble and at one point could not read, his teachers did not dismiss him but did what they had to do to help him become what he is today. Though Grandson never imagined he would be a superintendent or principal, he says he has always had a bit of a teacher within. This inclination was nurtured by important learning encounters that would shape his future. His mother, a single parent, arranged for Grandson to be schooled away from the crime close to home. In a school district closer to Georgetown, Grandson experienced a "different" kind of education than he would have had in his own neighborhood on the South East side of Washington D.C. Throughout his schooling, Grandson cultivated a deep love of history and learning in general. First as a history teacher and now as an educational leader, he is an activist in the spirit of Benjamin Franklin and other founders of democracy. Education, according to Grandson, is "the great equalizer." It can empower and draw out the greatness of every student. His work is to him a "gift that keeps on giving" and a way to, in the words of Eleanor Roosevelt, first empower ..."informed and intelligent citizens, and, secondly, bring about the realization that we are all responsible for the trend of thought and the action of our times.” (Good Citizenship: the Purpose of Education) Music played during this episode is from "Magic Jar", from The Butterfly Chronicles Album, Kevin Harris Project. www.kevinharrisproject.com For more information about this and other episodes, visit www.insidemalden.com

Podcast of conversation with Peter Moore, Composer, Performer, and Producer. When asked what a song about Malden would be, singer songwriter, producer, performer Peter Moore gave the perfect answer, "It depends on who asks for it." Peter Moore is as versatile, creative, edgy, and adaptive as artists get... able to bend styles, experiment with sound, inject quirks, and apply variety to the need. He intrigues listeners whether singing on stage with Blue Man Group or performing with his current rock band Count Zero, producing a kickstarter-funded rock opera, Heterotopia, writing songs that were picked up by video games such as Rock Band 2 or Guitar Hero, or songs like Hire a Bird that rail against the destruction of the earth and reach the Top 500 Songs of All Time on Boston radio station WFNX. There is no doubt, Peter Moore could provide a number of songs for Malden in styles to suit our colorful demographic makeup and sensibilities. His voracious creativity and addiction to keeping himself and the audience curious and intrigued is what keeps him out of any one category. Yes, he writes pop songs; yes, he sounds like Jim Morrison when he wants to; yes, he likes singing with a pen in his mouth because it gives his voice an interesting sound; yes, he was classically trained and composes in the classical style; yes, he can pull together a very cool dramatic rendering of a video like the My Mockingbird clip below, and yes, to many more examples of his own brand of creativity that pushes the edges of category and delightfully puzzles his fans and collaborators, leaving us all to echo the words of Heterotopia mastermind Lainey Schooltree, who says of Peter Moore, I'm confounded by the fact that Peter Moore exists, let alone his proximal advantages....He's shepherded this album with incredible skill, care, and regard and is responsible for the successful actualization of this recording project, bringing it to a level I wasn't aware was possible. Moore says of his work that he looks for "the things that need to be talked about," but he doesn't like "talking about things that have already been talked about." The message that comes across is always new, edgy, thought-provoking, with a twist that refreshes the familiar and confounds the "same old." _______________________ Music excerpts courtesy of Peter Moore, https://soundcloud.com/peter-moore; http://www.petermooreworld.com "My Mockingbird", Count Zero "Hire a Bird", Think Tree "Dream a Million Stars", Count Zero "Sing Along", Featuring Peter Moore, Blue Man Group "Sail Your Ship By", Count Zero "Sister Sunshine", Peter Moore "Shoko Ruff 0809", Peter Moore For more information about Inside Malden, visit http://insidemalden.com

All the way from the Republic of Georgia to Malden, pianist Yelena Beriyeva brings us notes - of all kinds - that are worth listening to. With melodies that glisten and phrasing thoughtfully timed, her playing echoes some hard-learned and practiced principles that resonate and inspire, both on the stage and in conversation. Visit http://insidemalden.com to listen to other episodes or offer comments or reflections as guest blogger. There is a quiet yet deliberate positivity and a collaborative spirit you feel in Beriyeva's presence that is born out of years of tireless work and the string of hardships she and her family endured in the Republic of Georgia after the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991. Beriyeva's life of music began at age three in Tbilisi, when her mother, a musician, observed both her daughters' natural musical abilities and began to groom the sisters for lives as professional musicians. Through the upheavals in political and daily life, her family stayed close, and the two Beriyeva sisters, both professional pianists today, played through the turmoil. The family was eventually able to come to the United States, first to Arizona, and later for Yelena, to Boston for graduate studies at the New England Conservatory. Although she only knew "about ten words" of English in 2002 when they arrived, her well-trained ear and her proven work ethic quickly brought her English up to a very high standard. And her diligence and positive attitude have also bred confidence: when asked if she gets nervous before a performance, she smiles and says that no, she comes alive when playing for people. Local audiences will be able to share in the joy Beriyeva brings to the stage when she performs Mussorgsky's Pictures at an Exhibition here in Malden on November 5th. The performance is part of a multimedia event called Pictures at an Exhibition Reframed which will celebrate the connections between the arts. Pictures Reframed was inspired in part by Beriyeva's love of Mussorgsky's piece, and in addition to her performance the event will include a juried art show of works inspired by the piano work, a dramatic presentation, and a special showing of artwork by select high school students from Malden. More information about the show as well as the Call for Entries is available at www.artfulwebs.com/pictures.

Mai Du, Founder of the Wah Lum Kung Fu and Tai Chi Academy in Malden, jokes that her American dream started out as a nightmare at Logan Airport. Only eight, after a year living in refugee camps in Thailand and the Philippines she arrived with her family in the United States on Halloween night. Despite this spooky start, Du has established herself in the United States not only as a Vietnamese-Chinese-American but a nationally recognized youth organizer and activist, one of the few female certified Wah Lum Kung Fu instructors in the Greater Boston Area, Founder and Sifu of a thriving award-winning Kung Fu and Tai Chi academy in Malden, owner/teacher of a math and reading school, and founder of numerous local and national advocacy groups and coalitions. Learning and education, or as Mai puts it "sharing", is a constant theme in all she does. Passionate about youth and education, she is what she calls others to be, "relentless in the work of instilling hope and inspiration in our younger generations so that they have self-motivation, life skills, and a vision to take their futures heads on." And though teaching-learning-doing is a cycle that continues and she is a work in process like all of us, there is indeed much to learn from her insights about what builds community and empowers youth to be their best not only for tomorrow but NOW. To offer a reflection or comment after listening to this podcast or to explore related material, visit http://insidemalden.com _________________________ Music Used With Permission "Flowers that Live Forever" - Composer: Bông Vạn Thọ (2012) from Tinh Mahoney's Digital Album "My Vietnamese Suite". Available on http://tinhmahoney.bandcamp.com/ "Moment of Union" Composer: Taisuke Kimura https://soundcloud.com/taisuke_kimura/moment-of-union http://www.taisukekimura.com/ Cover Art by Dat Nguyen (D&T Photo Video) Cinematographer, http://www.bridalphotovideo.com

In a day of troubling reports of terrorist attacks around the world, refugee crises in Europe and the US, war, and the trends of racial, ethnic, and religious profiling, Souad Akib, a native of Morocco and a vibrant and well-loved presence in Malden, offers a concerned but optimistic voice of reason and hope to us all in Malden and beyond. In 2010, Souad Akib founded the American Association for Arab Women (AAAW). In collaboration with other organizations in Malden, this non-profit organization helps women from Arab countries access the resources needed to navigate the systems, culture, and language of their new home. By this empowering support of women, the AAAW helps families to thrive in Malden. Malden benefits by this service as immigrant families become engaged residents. In addition, the AAAW sponsors events that invite all of Malden to workshops that raise awareness about important events that build community. Enabling connection is at the heart of these occasions. This togetherness transcends through culture, tradition, language, country of origin, race, or religion. For as Souad says, “we are all human. We should be one.” Music Credits: Musical excerpts include Temple Step Project's “Truth and Grace”, available for purchase at http://templestepproject.com/; and Addi Ouadderrou and his Amazigh group “Amoud”, https://www.facebook.com/Amoud-205775619453627/?fref=ts