Tag Archives: Eve

Holiday Chamber Concert to Feature Early English Christmas Music

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This program will feature early English Christmas music such as As it fell on a Holie Eve, The Cradle, The Night Watch, Sweet was the Song the Virgin Sung, Out of the Orient Crystal Skies, the Shearmen & Tailors carol Lully, lulla and Divisions on Greensleeves by composers William Byrd, Thomas Ravenscroft, Anthony Holborne, Thomas Morley, John Bull and others.

Tickets for the December 8 concert are $33. For ticket orders and more information, call 973-408-3917 or visit www.drew.edu/community.

Julianne Baird has been hailed as one of the most extraordinary voices in the service of early music that this generation has produced. She possesses a natural musicianship which engenders singing of supreme expressive beauty. She maintains a busy concert schedule of solo recitals and performances of baroque opera and oratorio and has appeared as soloist with many major symphony orchestras including the Cleveland Orchestra under Christoph von Dohnanyi, the Brooklyn Philharmonic under Lukas Foss, the New York Philharmonic under Zubin Mehta and the Philadelphia Orchestra.

Parthenia, which consists of Beverly Au, Lawrence Lipnik, Rosamund Morley and Lisa Terry, has been hailed by the New Yorker as one of the brightest lights in New Yorks early-music scene, is a dynamic ensemble exploring the extraordinary repertory for viols from Tudor England to the court of Versailles and beyond. Known for its remarkable sense of ensemble, Parthenia is presented in concerts across America, and produces its own lively and distinguished concert series at Corpus Christi Church in New York City, collaborating regularly with the worlds foremost early music specialists and has been featured on radio and television and in prestigious festivals and series including Music Before 1800, Maverick Concerts and the Regensburg Tage Alter Musik.

This event is part of Drew University’s da Camera concert series, which is sponsored by the Frank and Lydia Bergen Foundation. It is also being made possible with public funds from the New York State Council on the Arts, a state agency, and additional funding from the Frank and Lydia Bergen Foundation. Parthenia is a fiscally sponsored organization of the New York Foundation for the Arts. Parthenia is a member of Early Music America.

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Source: Media Newswire

Free public talk: Dr Alice Roberts tells the story of our incredible human journey

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In this illustrated talk Dr Roberts, an anatomist and osteoarchaeologist, examines how discoveries in genetics, archaeology and climatology, as well as the fossil remains of our ancestors themselves, have thrown light on the ancient journeys that led to the colonisation of the globe during the Stone Age.

Genetic evidence suggests that we all share a many-times great-grandmother, who has been called ‘Mitochondrial Eve’, and who lived in Africa some 200 thousand years ago. Combined with fossil and archaeological evidence, we now have a very clear picture of what our distant ancestors looked like, and how they lived. Much later, between 50 and 80 thousand years ago, a small group of her descendants left the continent – and went on to populate the rest of the world. But how did they do it?

Dr Roberts is a visiting fellow in Archaeology and Anthropology at the University, and has a PhD in palaeopathology – the study of ancient disease. She taught anatomy to medical undergraduates at Bristol University for over ten years, and still teaches advanced anatomy to qualified surgeon and anaesthetists. As well as being a television presenter on other series such as Coast and Don’t Die Young, she has also written a couple of popular science books, including the book of her own quest in search of the evidence for the incredible human journey.

The free public talk, hosted by the University’s Centre for Public Engagement, takes place from 6 pm on Monday 23 November in the Great Hall, Wills Memorial Building, University of Bristol. There will be a book sale and book signing following the talk. Advance booking is required by contacting Margery Lever, in the University’s Centre for Public Engagement, tel. 0117 331 8313, email. [email protected]

Please contact Margery Lever for further information.

Source: Media Newswire

Hong Kong: Chinese accessories display highlights ancient craftsmanship (with photos)

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Archaeological finds reveal that Chinese people have been dressing up with attractive ornaments since pre-historic times. While adapting to the changes and with the help of advanced technology, clothing became available in much wider variety and served more functions. The design of accessories then became more diverse.

To give the public an opportunity to appreciate the excellence in Chinese craftsmanship, the Hong Kong Museum of Art has organised an exhibition entitled Glittering Beauty: Chinese Accessories from the Hong Kong Museum of Art, which will run from tomorrow (November 21) until December 2010. Featuring 170 items of Chinese accessories carefully selected from the collection of the museum, including headgear, hair ornaments, bracelets, archers rings, belt ornaments, purses, scent holders and snuff bottles, the exhibition will let visitors appreciate the beauty of diancui (kingfisher feather inlay), inlaying, filigree, carving and embroidery, and understand the development of Chinese civilisation and culture.

Since the Zhou dynasty, garments and accessories not only served functional and ornament purposes, but were associated with the system of etiquette. Specific formats of attire were used to identify seniority, official rank and social status. On different occasions, like festive celebrations or religious ceremonies, there were strict dress codes and accessory rules. During the Han dynasty (206 BC-AD 220), government officials wore a silk ribbon to attach the official seal to the waist. The colour of the ribbon indicated the official rank. The fish-shaped official pendants and pouch worn by officials in the Song dynasty (960-1279) showed past merits of the wearer by the choice of material. In the Jin dynasty (1115-1234), the Jurchens had numerous codes for attire. For example, common women were not allowed to wear pearl or jade tian ornaments on their hair, while ladies of rank could not wear any sun, moon or dragon motifs. In the Qing imperial court, the decorative materials, number of gold discs and rows of pearls in hair ornaments worn by Manchu ladies reflected their status. Single pairs of ear-pendants commonly worn by Han women were forbidden in the royal courts.

Over the centuries, costume and accessories were modified continually with social and cultural development. For instance, hairpins, which were used since the Neolithic period, evolved from one-pronged to two-pronged in the Southern and Northern dynasties (420-589) to support the increasingly high and broad ladies hairstyle. Designs of the buyao headgear became increasingly elaborate and were matched by earrings hanging from the sides or studded in the earlobes. The buyao became a prototype for the phoenix crown which appeared later. Another example is the silk waistband which gradually developed into the leather belt, forming a part of the official costume in many dynasties. The material of the ornaments on the belt indicated the official class of the wearer, and preferences varied from dynasty to dynasty. Gold was a symbol of eternity in the Song dynasty, so gold belt plaques were reserved for the highest class. In the Ming dynasty (1368-1644), jade belt plaques were considered most superior.

In the Qing dynasty (1644-1911), Manchu rulers wished to create harmony between Hans and Manchus after they gained rule of central China. For this reason, while preserving Manchu customs, Qing royalties put in place a new costume system based on the traditional Ming pattern. Wearing a court necklace was one of the new specifications for ceremonial costume. For the ladies, caishui, a long colourful kerchief about one metre long, was often worn on the chest. Jade rings were attached to the kerchief for suspending needle containers, toothpick cases, purses and fragrant pouches. Waist accessories for officials became more diverse. In addition to purses and fan cases, Western introductions like tobacco pouches and spectacle cases came into fashion. Embroidered items by ladies and accessories or jewellery imitating royal court designs were popular gift items for friends and relatives, or as tokens for love and alliance.

The Museum of Art is located at 10 Salisbury Road, Tsim Sha Tsui, Kowloon. It opens from 10am to 6pm from Sunday to Wednesday and Fridays, and from 10am to 8pm on Saturdays. On Christmas Eve and Chinese New Years Eve, the museum will close at 5pm. It is closed on Thursdays (except public holidays) and the first two days of Chinese New Year. Admission is $10 and a half-price concession is available for full-time students, senior citizens and people with disabilities. Admission is free on Wednesdays.

For enquiries, call 2721 0116 or visit the Museum of Arts website http://hk.art.museum/.

Travis Pastrana Joins Race 4 Change in Drive to End Poverty!

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Microfinance is one of the most powerful tools being used to fight poverty. It is finding greater support as a viable, ethical, and socially responsible business model serving the very poor. Since the birth of the movement in the 1970s many poor families have moved across the poverty line proving microfinance to be one of the greatest innovations for social good ever conceived!

Microcredit, also known as microfinance, continues to surge as a massive movement to increase human dignity by providing a tangible means for more than 100 million of the worlds poorest families to empower themselves economically. With access to financial services they couldnt get anywhere else, the poorest of the poor have proven themselves to be some of the most creditworthy entrepreneurs in life.

We couldnt be more pumped up to have Pastrana join us in our efforts to promote Microcredit, said Steven Funk, an American-born Canadian, founder of Race4Change, Co-Founder of the Dignity Fund, and Chair of the Advisory Board to the Microcredit Summit Campaign. Our mission is to drive a movement amongst road, rally, sports enthusiasts, and socially responsible people and organizations so that masses of people can unite, individually, to make change happen. We are racing towards a revolution that will unleash economic and creative innovation in the lives of millions powered by the engine of microfinance. It is a vital poverty fighting tool that improves healthcare, education, and the environment and moves the world from conflict and need to a more secure place of peace and prosperity. The prosperity brought by just a $45 loan is profound. Micro-entrepreneurs are empowered socially, economically and filled with dignity, one of the most powerful and rewarding human emotions. Better still, they repay their loans with interest, which allows microfinance to re-lend and be the gift that keeps on giving. As President Barack Obama has so aptly said, change comes from the bottom up. Funk is a co-driver of car #20 in the race.

Pastrana is a living legend when it comes to performance motor sports and weve all seen his fearlessness on his MTV show, Nitro Circus. He lives life to the fullest, planning to set a new world record for a car jump on New Years Eve and says, having been fortunate enough to travel to far off places, Ive seen poverty firsthand and am glad to be able to lend a hand in the crusade to end it. What I do is sometimes considered dangerous, but let me tell you that there is nothing more dangerous to an individual, a country, or our world than poverty.

I cant think of a more perfect superstar for this race and this cause, says Funk. His involvement will drive awareness among a younger generation, showing our youth that they collectively have the opportunity to do something HUGE right now – they can lead our children to only know poverty by studying it in history books.

This rally event was first held from May to June, 1953 as a celebration of the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II on terrain through Kenya, Uganda and Tanganyika. It was later renamed the East African Safari Rally. The event was part of the World Rally Championship (WRC) calendar for many years. The Kenyan Government and many supporters have now united together in an effort to restore the Rallys rightful WRC status.

With such tremendous philanthropic involvement from fresh supporters like Race4Change and Travis Pastrana, the Kenyan government and its people stand to benefit significantly from the positive attention that will accompany such a highly charged race and cause. The race sets the stage for the April 2010 Microcredit Summit being hosted in Nairobi.

Top supporters of Race4Change have the opportunity to win two fully paid round trip tickets to Kenya, with lodging and Microcredit Summit VIP tickets. The Summit has been described as the Davos of the movement and will bring several thousand advocates, supporters, and dignitaries from more than 60 countries, including Nobel Peace Prize Laureate and Presidential Medal of Freedom recipient, Dr. Muhammad Yunus, the Queen of Spain, Queen Rania of Jordon, and many more longtime microfinance advocates to Kenya in April of 2010. Maybe even an American President will bestow dignity to the impoverished with an appearance.

Join www.race4change.org today as a co-driver, a pit crew member and a supporter of microfinance as this world class Rally runs over American Thanksgiving and help race for the end of poverty. Give a little of your support and thanks and rally together as a force to make a positive impact in the lives of hundreds of millions of the worlds poorest families. Create a better world.