Happy Fourth of July!

July 4, 2009 at 7:47 AM

Today (July 4) is Independence Day (and also my birthday). Independence Day is a major holiday for Americans. Laurie posted a blog about it, but her approach and mine differ. I've gathered a few items from Youtube which make me feel proud to be an American.

Marin Alsop is the first woman conductor and Music Director of a major symphony orchestra (Baltimore Symphony Orchestra) in this country. In her first two years on the job, she has worked wonders. The Baltimore Symphony has made great gains both musically and financially at a time when many other American orchestras face major cuts and possibly shutdowns. She has initiated several outreach and education programs. One is having question and answer sessions after concerts, and other is a series of Webumentaries such as this.

We have free elections in this country, and we celebrate presidential inaugurations with music and other forms of entertainment. Musicians playing at the inauguration in January of this year included Yo Yo Ma and Itzhak Perlman.

One of our patriotic songs is "America the Beautiful," performed movingly here by Ray Charles.

Happy Fourth of July, everyone!

From Laurie Niles
Posted on July 4, 2009 at 8:16 PM

Happy Independence Day, and Happy birthday Pauline!

From Pauline Lerner
Posted on July 5, 2009 at 3:26 AM

Thanks, Laurie. I had a great time at a jam party. I hope you had a happy Fourth, too

From Josh Henry
Posted on July 5, 2009 at 10:58 AM

Thanks Pauline for posting the videos. I always enjoy reading your thoughts. Happy Birthday!

From Pauline Lerner
Posted on July 5, 2009 at 7:32 PM

Josh, thanks for your praise. When I get no or very few comments on a blog entry, I wonder whether anyone has read it. Thanks again for your response, including the praise.

From Terez Mertes
Posted on July 7, 2009 at 6:45 PM

Pauline - happy belated birthday!

And you know why sometimes you don't get all the responses you deserve? Because people like me check in infrequently and by the time we read your post and try to reply, it's been archived! : ( That has happened to me more than once with your blogs. So I'm going to hurry up and press "submit response" here, even before watching the videos, so that you're sure to see this.

From Bram Heemskerk
Posted on July 10, 2009 at 8:16 AM

Happy birthday. Do you know this one: