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In this podcast, I'm showcasing the beautiful restorative work of Brana Records and the atmospheric debut album of Mike Ladouceur (@mike-ladouceur), Between Worlds. Brana Records is a label that is focused on restoring the wonderful rare recordings by the Polish/Brazilian pianist, Felicja Blumental. As well as recording the great masterpieces such as the piano concertos of Grieg and Rachmaninoff, Ms Blumental championed neglected early 19th century piano composers such as Clementi, Kuhlau, Czerny, and solo piano music by Spanish and Portuguese Baroque composers. She enjoyed a relationship with leading composers such as Penderecki and Villa-Lobos - he dedicated his Fifth Piano Concerto to Ms. Blumental, which she performed under the composer with leading orchestras of Europe and recorded for EMI in Paris with the Orchestre National. Her appearances in South and North America brought her further stardom. Many of these recordings are now released on Brana Records and all CD covers feature the fine art prints of Felicja Blumental's husband, Markus Mizne. It was a delight to receive a copy of one of these CDs; Ms Blumental's beautiful artistry and shimmering pianism shines through her recordings. Visit branarecords.com to learn more about Brana Records and purchase these CDs. Last week, I spoke to Mike Ladouceur, known for working on blockbusters like Ad Astra and Mission Impossible – Fallout, as well as the BBC hit TV series His Dark Materials. Mike's debut album, Between Worlds, is out now. It features 42 of London's top musicians - the music was recorded at Angel Studios and is published by Warp Publishing. Between Worlds was designed as a multi-artform, immersive experience. The album is accompanied by bespoke videos, presenting space scenes from NASA's satellite photography with stunning landscapes taken on earth from drone footage filmed by Phillip Whiteman. Nick Denman's album artwork uses the Automatic Drawing process, and is a series of paintings with acrylic and charcoal on canvas. In this interview, we talked about some of the ways online teaching can benefit music students during this current crisis. We also discussed the importance of narrative and individuality within a composer’s voice, and this is something that is very much at the heart of Between Worlds. We talked about the creative process behind the album and the collaboration between other narrative media. Many thanks to Jonathon Tester for putting me in touch with Mike about his wonderful projects, and to Mike for taking the time to talk to me! Interview recorded 1st May 2020; published 9th May 2020. Mike's film and TV credits include music for Dateline (NBC) and Aurora Fearnley's epic Sci-fi Pulsar (Little Northern Light/Reel Issues Films), which stars David Gyasi and Jessie Buckley. Mike enjoys working with the internationally celebrated composer Lorne Balfe, and has written additional music and arrangements for His Dark Materials (HBO/BBC) and for Master Moley (Nottage Productions) starring Gemma Arterton, Charles Dance, Julie Walters, Warwick Davis. Mike worked as Orchestrator on major projects including Ad Astra (Plan B), Gemini Man (Skydance/Paramount), and worked on the Music Department of Mission Impossible: Fallout (Paramount), The Emoji Movie (Sony) and Call the Midwife (BBC). Mike’s notable career highlights are many and varied, and include winning the Angel Award for Best Original Music, Short Film for BirthCloud, and the Tagore Gold Medal for outstanding musical contributions at the Royal College of Music, presented in March 2016 by HRH Prince Charles, the Prince of Wales. Mike is a passionate educator and holds prestigious teaching posts at two of the world's leading institutions, London's Royal College of Music and the University of Cambridge, where he teaches the film music curriculum at both undergraduate and Master's levels. Mike is signed to Warp Publishing.
This season, we invited our credit readers to interview our storytellers. Today, you'll hear from Marcy Vaj who narrated the previous episode about Bebe Vio. If you haven't listened to last week's episode, now is a good time to go back and check it out!Vaj reveals how her violin bow has become her personal weapon, how feminism has changed as she's grown older, and more!Sponsored by:www.rebelgirls.co Use promocode REBELPODCAST to get 15% off your first purchase!About Vaj:MARCY VAJ is a busy violinist/violist, composer, personnel manager/contractor, and teacher. She has co-produced and orchestrated several albums and written countless arrangements. She received orchestration credit on "Prince of Egypt" and "Antz." Her credits include scoring the documentary "California Women Get The Vote" (2011) and the award-winning short film "Click Three Times." Since 2000, she has been a member of Composers Ensemble LA (CELA), a 12-piece composer/player workshop that writes concert pieces for the group. Marcy is a founding and touring member of The Hollywood Bowl Orchestra.She was Sir Paul McCartney’s concertmaster for the 2012 Grammys, has a solo on the last albums of Glenn Frey (of the Eagles) and Charlie Haden (of Quartet West), and one on, Turkish piano star Kerem Gorsev’s in 2015. She also soloed in 12 chamber concerts in La Sainte Chappelle, Paris, served as concertmaster for the San Diego Chamber Orchestra under the baton of Thomas Conlin and the Zachery Opera Awards under Frank Fetta. Her string quartet is featured on the Paul Williams DVD, "I’m Going Back There Someday." In 2011 and 2012, she soloed and played principal in a chamber orchestra in London's Royal College of Music for the week of the Royal Wedding and again for the week of the Queen's Diamond Jubilee.As a violinist/violist, she has accumulated hundreds of film credits including: TED, Ice Age, The Flintstones 1 & 2, Nutty Professor 1 & 2, Are We There Yet, Shrek, Armageddon, As Good As It Gets, and Matilda.She is an adjunct professor of violin/viola at Santa Monica College and also teaches privately.Credits:This episode of Good Night Stories for Rebel Girls is produced by Elena Favilli, Joy Fowlkes, and Meg Murnane. Sound design and original theme music by Elettra Bargiacchi. Mattia Marcelli was the sound mixer. Special thanks to Clio McClure for coordinating our credit readers and interviewers.
Once upon a time, there was a girl who wielded a sword. Her name was Beatrice Vio or “Bebe” for short. When Bebe was just 11 years old, she came down with a severe case of meningitis. She survived a quadruple amputation, forcing her to relearn almost everything. But Bebe wanted more than just to walk or brush her teeth—Bebe wanted to fence again. And beyond that, Bebe wanted to win. Using prostheses of her own invention, Bebe fenced all the way to the paralympic games.About the Narrator:MARCY VAJ is a busy violinist/violist, composer, personnel manager/contractor, and teacher. She has co-produced and orchestrated several albums and written countless arrangements. She received orchestration credit on "Prince of Egypt" and "Antz." Her credits include scoring the documentary "California Women Get The Vote" (2011) and the award-winning short film "Click Three Times." Since 2000, she has been a member of Composers Ensemble LA (CELA), a 12-piece composer/player workshop that writes concert pieces for the group. Marcy is a founding and touring member of The Hollywood Bowl Orchestra.She was Sir Paul McCartney’s concertmaster for the 2012 Grammys, has a solo on the last albums of Glenn Frey (of the Eagles) and Charlie Haden (of Quartet West), and one on, Turkish piano star Kerem Gorsev’s in 2015. She also soloed in 12 chamber concerts in La Sainte Chappelle, Paris, served as concertmaster for the San Diego Chamber Orchestra under the baton of Thomas Conlin and the Zachery Opera Awards under Frank Fetta. Her string quartet is featured on the Paul Williams DVD, "I’m Going Back There Someday." In 2011 and 2012, she soloed and played principal in a chamber orchestra in London's Royal College of Music for the week of the Royal Wedding and again for the week of the Queen's Diamond Jubilee.As a violinist/violist, she has accumulated hundreds of film credits including: TED, Ice Age, The Flintstones 1 & 2, Nutty Professor 1 & 2, Are We There Yet, Shrek, Armageddon, As Good As It Gets, and Matilda.She is an adjunct professor of violin/viola at Santa Monica College and also teaches privately.Credits:This episode of Good Night Stories for Rebel Girls is produced by Elena Favilli, Joy Fowlkes, and Meg Murnane, with writing by Abby Sher and narration by Marcy Vaj. Jestine Ware edited all scripts and Janice Weaver fact-checked all scripts. Sound design and original theme music by Elettra Bargiacchi. Mattia Marcelli was the sound mixer. Special thanks to Clio McClure who coordinated all credit recordings and narrator donations.Sponsored by: www.rebelgirls.coUse promocode REBELPODCAST to get 15% off your first purchase!Resources: I Have a Dream by Bebe VioUncontested: The History of Bebe Vio (Mercedes-Benz)Interview with Bebe Vio by Chiara Barzini (Vogue)What This Princess Did After She Lost The Use Of Her Legs Inspired Obama To Meet Her by Deborah Dirani (HuffPost)A Selfie with President Obama: Beatrice Vio Defies White House Protocol with a Smile (L’Italiano Americano)Prosthetic FAQs for the New Amputee (Amputee Coalition)Paralympics website
Alexandra Daisy Ginsberg is a designer, artist and writer, developing experimental approaches to imagine new roles and ideals for design. Designing objects, workshops, writing and curating, Daisy investigates design’s aesthetic and ethical futures with collaborators around the world including scientists, engineers, artists, designers, social scientists, galleries and industry. The Dream of Better, her PhD by practice at London's Royal College of Art, uses design to explore our idea of the 'better' future. Daisy's expertise includes design and synthetic biology. She curated 'Synthetic Aesthetics' (Stanford University/University of Edinburgh, 2010–2013), an international research project between synthetic biology, art and design, and is lead author of Synthetic Aesthetics: Investigating Synthetic Biology’s Designs on Nature (MIT Press, 2014). She led the curatorial team for Grow Your Own… Life After Nature, a flagship Wellcome-funded exhibition about synthetic biology at Science Gallery, Dublin (October 2013–January 2014). Daisy leads Studio Alexandra Daisy Ginsberg, an experimental design research studio.
Todd Solondz's latest film Wiener Dog has been described as uniquely misanthropic; will our panellists agree? The National Theatre of Scotland's production: Our Ladies of Perpetual Succour , written by Lee "Billy Elliot" Hall, arrives in London after a national tour and before it heads to Australia. There's plenty of profanity but is there any profundity? Tiffany McDaniel's The Summer That Melted Everything is a first novel about the time The Devil came to visit a small southern US town. The Hunterian Collection at London's Royal College of Surgeons is an unrivalled collections of human and non-human anatomical and pathological specimens, models, instruments, painting and sculptures that reveal the art and science of surgery from the 17th century to the present day. Ingrid Bergman: In Her Own Words is a new look at the actress whose life scandalised old Hollywood. What does it tell us about fame today. Sarah Crompton's guests are Natalie Haynes, Amanda Craig and Jake Arnott. The producer is Oliver Jones. (Main image: Our Ladies of Perpetual Succour. L-R Caroline Deyga (Chell), Kirsty MacLaren (Manda), Melissa Allan (Orla), Frances Mayli McCann (Kylah), Dawn Sievewright (Fionnula), Karen Fishwick (Kay). Photo by Manuel Harlan).
UnionDocs presented an open studio exhibit of Plans for other days, by the Janfamily, a London-based art collective. Structured as a long list of suggestions for alternative everyday actions, Plans for other days is a kind of whimsical instruction manual. Published in book form in September of 2005 by Booth-Clibborn Editions, it's full of How-To's (How to get in touch, How to make an instant shelter), all illustrating practical solutions to too-often overlooked needs. For two days in the UnionDocs gallery space, the JanFamily and members of UnionDocs interpreted these instructions with photography, video, sound and sculptural projects. Visitors were welcome to come and observe the creative process, which culminated in an opening screening and presentation. Founded by Nina Jan Beier and Marie Jan Lund, both graduates of London's Royal College of Art, the Janfamily share a unique approach to life. They have created an exhibition and publishing platform structured around simple, personal works that take everyday life as their starting point. The group includes an open network of collaborators who take the middle name 'Jan' for the duration of the projects with which they are involved. This video was shot during a dinner with UnionDocs by Chosil Jan.