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Remembering Niko

Tuesday, October 22nd, 2013

copyright Bettina Network, inc. 2013

…”There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you”…  

—————————————Maya Angelou

 

photography by Dorothea Guild

photography by Dorothea Guild

A quote passed on to us by Dorothea Guild as she introduced the exhibit of Nicholas Michael Marinos’s art.   Marinos was Dorothea’s family priest, long-term friend and soul-mate from years past.  He was jazz artist, Greek Orthodox priest, one of the directors at Maliotis Center of Hellenic College in Brookline and at the end – visual artist working in oil, watercolors and more.

His art is on exhibit at the The Gallery of the Piano Craft Building at 791 Tremont Street, Boston, MA. 02118 through November 3, 2013.

The opening reception for the exhibit took place this past Saturday, October 19th.  It was a beautiful success with good food, exceptional music and the introduction by Dorothea Gerros Guild of the art works of one of the two soulmates – one of the two people she cherishes in her life.  The reception -intentionally or not – was about all the things needed to serve as an example for life, love, work, passion to all of us.

The first connection I found astounding was Jackie Cox-Crite’s presence as the guest curator.  Jackie is the widow of Alan Rohan Crite.

The similarity of what Niko did to what Alan Crite did strikes you as you look at the art works.  Crite worked from an African-American cultural aesthetic; Niko worked from a Greek Orthodox cultural aesthetic and you can see it in Niko’s works as strongly as you can see the Afro connection in Crite’s.

Jackie was not only the guest curator, but she was the caterer, promoter and all-around-into-every-part of this exhibit and its opening.

I remember Jackie as a very young person who was Alan Crite’s companion and caretaker.  At the time, she was an artist in her own right.  Her medium was soft sculpture.  Her images and her work showed her innocence and intensity as she took a “woman’s medium” – a kind of quilting and used the medium to turn out beautiful works of art.  She is not the first person to have done that, but at the time, I was particularly struck by the combination of her background, her images, her relationship with Alan Crite and how all of that showed in her art.

Mitch Weiss, photographer

Mitch Weiss, photographer

 

The music at the reception was provided by Arni Cheatham, saxophonist, tenor, flutist, vocalist and very well known in the Boston jazz scene – who is also the soul-mate of Dorothea Guild.  Arni  is helping her in her quest for recognition for the works of Nicholas Marinos.  That is most unusual in this society.  Normally, we lock iron doors and gates against past close personal relationships when a new relationship starts and we  strive to pretend that first, past relationship was somehow defective, not great and here is a list of all his/her faults.

Arni Cheatham provided a reason to attend for those who knew his music, but didn’t know Niko nor his art – and he and his group did not disappoint.  Honored in Boston as a “Jazz Hero” by the Jazz Journalists Association and JazzBoston at – where else – but the South End jazz mecca Wally’s, Cheatham has a long line of acolades, performances, recordings and more.  He currently can be heard at “Top of the Hub” with the Brian McCree Band during November, 2013.

 

…….and on to the artist.

Niko was born in 1928 and was a priest in the Greek Orthodox Church most of his adult life.  He called himself an “Urban/Ethnic Neighborhood artist.”  Born in Tarpon Springs, Florida, Marinos went through tragic losses as a child – starting with the loss of his father in a divers’ accident.  He moved with his family to the Bronx; to the Greek Orthodox Seminary in Connecticut and on to serve a parish in Haverhill, MA. where he met Dorothea and her family and then on to Boston.

What went before in his life as jazz performer, priest, college professor, social activist and more all show up in his body of art works.

According to his own words, written in June, 1988, which reach us from 25 plus years ago——–

“Urban and ethnic neighborhoods hold a very special excitement for me.  This ongoing fascination began when, as a child of the Depression of the 1930’s living in the tenements and growing up on the streets of the Bronx, Queens and mid-town Manhattan, I assimilated the cultural, racial and ethnic diversity of my environment.  These became an indelible part of the fabric of my perception as a painter.

I was then, and am now,   fascinated by the constantly evolving images which spread out before me as I chronicle, through color, the urban environment and its inhabitants in the various ethnic neighborhoods of this city, Boston.  There is an ongoing dialogue between the indigenous environment and the changing demographics of the urban dwellers.  It is this dialogue which always reaffirms the existence of the other that I attempt to record in a variety of perspectives through my art.

I am attempting to capture a moment in time and make it timeless.  And if my art can convey to the viewer that which is familiar, very private, very personal, and, for each, a special remembrance of that place in another time, then I will have succeeded.

Thus far I have works of the North End, South End, Chinatown, Roxbury, Dorchester and downtown Boston including parts of the Back Bay.  These paintings are, for me, a quiet celebration of life found in the urban and ethnic neighborhoods of Boston.”

The evening was an amalgam of Greek Orthodoxy – African American music – and a coming together of the two groups as if they were one because of the art of Nicholas Martinos and the spirits of Dorothea Guild and Arni Cheatham.

Dorothea was stunning in a black embroidered Greek silk blouse, skirt and shoes, all of which were her mothers.  Clothes with a beauty almost unknown today. The image and the symbolism she portrayed in her look was that of a Greek Orthodox priest – it was difficult not to stare because of the richness of her appearance against the backdrop of the Greek Orthodoxy which comes through strongly in Niko’s art.

The community which Dorothea and Arni have gathered around them and who were there to see this exhibit and support their friend was a rare coming together on a very basic level of two communities which normally don’t seem to have many commonalities nor many comings together for any reason.

Maybe in all of this is hope for the rest of us. If we can imitate what is in their lives and values and incorporate a little of the processes which they used to cross many lines without  providing the bridge. (That bridge which is usually a construct used for continued separation of the races.)  Maybe we can all come together and begin to break down those barriers we have built to maintain unreal, unnatural and stilted separations even while we acknowledge and celebrate our original cultural identities.

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Ed. Note: Members of the Bettina Network Lifestyle Community can contribute to the Bettina Network Blog whenever they have anything they want to say and be heard by this fantastic group of people. Send your blog to bettinanetwork@comcast.net or mail it to us at P. O. Box 380585 Cambridge, MA. 02238 or call us on the telephone at 617-497-9166 to tell us what you want to say and we will write it for you.

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Send your event information to be included in Bettina Network’s Menu of Events to: bettina-network@comcast.net

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Jose Mateo Ballet School – A Review

Saturday, July 20th, 2013

by: Luisa Kay Reyes

Luisa at the Ballet Barre

Luisa at the Ballet Barre

 

 

Ed Note:  While not being a reviewer/critic by profession,  Ms. Reyes has a love of music, art and dance.  Musically, she specializes  in opera and is passionate about ballet.  She is a trained vocalist and pianist, having studied, among other places, at Oberlin Conservatory.   She has a Masters Degree in Library Science and is a licensed attorney. You will see her reviews and other articles in the blog from time to time.     Ms. Reyes is currently a Project Manager with Bettina Network, inc. 

 

“When my colleague, knowing my passion for ballet, sent me an e-mail she received announcing the Adult Ballet Classes offered at the Jose Mateo Ballet Theatre School, needless to say I jumped (or did a jete!) at the chance to experience what they offered.

Looking closely at the summer schedule, I noticed that for the most part the Adult Ballet Classes were held Monday through Friday from six o’clock in the evening until seven-thirty in their main studio, which is located right in Cambridge.  In fact, the studio is merely a block past the main Harvard University campus.  Being preoccupied most of the week with other activities I decided to pull out my black ballet leotard and pink tights on Friday.  And walk right on down to the ballet school ( when the temperature was over 90 degrees).

With my hair up in a bun, I walked past the Harvard campus.   Past all of the street musicians that line the sidewalks in front of the campus and, yes, I’m ashamed to admit, I walked right past all of the beggars sitting along the way holding up cardboard signs with their various pleas for money written on them with a black marker of some sort.  I also walked past a group of old-fashioned Mennonite ladies dressed in their pastel calico dresses with their hair pulled up nice and neat underneath a white cap on their heads. They were joined by some of their men folk who were dressed in long pants and white shirts.  It looked as though the Mennonite group was busy setting up an evening evangelism outreach,  complete with Gospel Tracts and a choir that was warming up to sing.

When I reached the corner of Bow Street I wasn’t sure whether  I should proceed straight ahead,  so I stopped and asked a young fellow for directions.  He was gracious enough to look it up in Google on his phone, but the map it pulled up confused us both more.  I continued walking and encountered the same fellow just a block away, who apologized profusely for not being able to be of more help.  I assured him I was directionally challenged and quite used to getting lost and that I was also certain I would eventually find my way.  Which when I turned around, I did.

The signs in front of the Jose Mateo Ballet Theatre were rather inconspicuous.  What stood out first was actually the sign for the Old Cambridge Baptist Church.  The ballet theatre school is housed in the old Church building, although the theatre has no religious affiliation.  The Church is a grey stone building, reminiscent of the grey stone Church buildings one sees in the British Isles.

As a transplanted Southerner who is accustomed to running from the air conditioned house to the air conditioned car to the next heavily air conditioned building, what I immediately noticed upon entering the old Church building was that it felt very warm.  And when I went to pay my thirteen dollars for the class, the lady at the desk informed me that true to Boston form there was no air conditioning,  but the dance studio had lots of fans that would keep us cool.  She then directed me to the room where the adult class would be held. It was a spacious room that was once the sanctuary of the Church.  All of the people who walked into the room commented on how they loved that particular studio because the room felt so serene.  And I have to concur.  The feeling was lovely.

I set my dance bag down on what looked to be an old pew bench on the side of the room and began my warm-up stretches along with the six other ballet aficionados who came to class.  While the teachers vary depending on which day of the week one takes class, our teacher this Friday was Molly Wheat.  Who proceeded to give us the pattern for our plies and commented on how impressed she was with us as we were the “true diehards” of ballet to be taking class in this “101 degree heat!”  (It wasn’t actually 101 as far as we know, but it certainly felt like it!)   We were accompanied in our dances on a grand piano by a very skilled pianist who adeptly transitioned from folk songs to the Brahms Waltz in A flat Major right on tempo.  Once we were in the center, Molly choreographed some lovely Romantic (as in Romantic Era) adagios and waltz routines that really brought out the ultra feminine ballerina in us all.  So in spite of  dripping with perspiration, we executed pirouettes and pique turns beautifully.

After class was over, we all thanked Molly and the pianist for a very nice class with our ballet curtsies.  And rushed either for bottles of water that we brought with us or we ran to the water fountain and drank as much cool water as we possibly could, all the while promising to come back next week.  As we exited the building, we encountered an elegant statue of a ballerina in honor of the Jose Mateo Ballet Theatre, reminding us just why we all love ballet so much.”

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Ed. Note: Members of the Bettina Network Lifestyle Community can contribute to the Bettina Network Blog whenever they have anything they want to say and be heard by this fantastic group of people. Send your blog to bettinanetwork@comcast.net or mail it to us at P. O. Box 380585 Cambridge, MA. 02238 or call us on the telephone at 617-497-9166 to tell us what you want to say and we will write it for you.

Volunteer with Bettina Network Foundation, inc. to work estate sales; to help move items from one home to another; to contribute your ideas on how we can better use our resources in this effort to relieve and eliminate homelessness and poverty. We also need photographers; designers; and more. However much or little time you have, we are grateful.

Send your event information to be included in Bettina Network’s Menu of Events to: bettina-network@comcast.net

This is a curated blog so you cannot write your responses at the end of each entry. TO RESPOND TO THIS BLOG email bettina-network@comcast.net or info@bettina-network.com

TO LEARN MORE about Bettina Network, inc. try www.bettina-network.com

IF YOU ENJOY OUR BLOG, USE OUR SERVICES TO BOOK ACCOMODATIONS WHEN YOU TRAVEL!

1-800-347-9166 inside the U. S. or 617 497 9166 outside or inside the U. S.

Trinity Church Organ Concert

Thursday, February 2nd, 2012

copyright Bettina Network, inc. 2012

THE PLACE TO BE on Fridays at noon is Trinity Episcopal Church in Copley Square, Boston, MA.

This past Friday there was an astounding organ concert played by Richard Webster (Trinity’s Music Director and Organist) and Colin Lynch (Trinity’s Assistant Organist).

To walk into the Church and see the organ taking its place in front of the altar just glowing from the way the light hit it, was stunning.  I wanted to just sit in a quiet place to contemplate the scene in front of me for awhile, but since I arrived just before the concert started, that didn’t happen. When you go to Trinity’s Friday organ concerts, I suggest you arrive at least 15 minutes early  to absorb what you see there.  When the organ moves to the front and center of the altar in such a breathtaking way, with the drama it creates in its new place does that make it a sacred icon?

The sanctuary itself  is beautiful, even when the organ is on the side out of view, with those incredible stained glass windows adding depth to the light flowing into the Church.  The first time I walked into Trinity it was 1980,  I felt as though I had come home.  I went kicking and screaming all the way because I had other places I would rather have been, however, that all left when I walked into the Church.  I thought it was a spiritual experience of homecoing until I learned the architect – H. H. Richardson – was from New Orleans and had incorporated much of the ambiance, culture and New Orleans Creole style into his architectural designs. After that bit of knowledge surfaced,  I realized that while there may have been something spiritual about that first experience of the Church, it was an actual feeling of homecoming from someone who was homesick.

Richard Webster opened the concert with  Nicholaus Bruhns’ Preludium in E Minor.  A Northern German Baroque piece which has a virtuosity  and richness which held its own in this environment.  A student of Dieterich Buxtehude, Nicholaus came from a family of organists, composers, violinists, etc.

I used to wonder why many of the great organ composers and performers came from family groups – parents who played and composed, siblngs who followed their parents, those who married the children of organists becoming great organists themselves – until I realized how difficult it is to find an organ on which one can practice without this familial support.  It is a rare instrument, which encompasses and can imitate all others.

Richard Webster’s opening of the concert with the Bruhns’ piece was beautiful.  It was very rich and Richard’s playing brought out the virtuosity of the piece.

The composition which reached me where I was living that day was Trois Movements for Organ and Flute by Jehan Alain.  Colin Lynch played the organ, Richard Webster played the flute.  I’ve heard both of them play before, but when Trois Movements started I was not prepared.  My favorite combination is organ and flute; my favorite composer in the organ world – Marcel Dupré – one of Jehan Alain’s teachers.  I had totally fogotten about Jehan Alain.  One can hear the romantic influences in this piece and its Andante movement gives you the meditation and contemplation needed in the space in which it was played.  After that, it lightens and was a great middle of the concert.

When one thinks of Alain it is with thoughts full of tragedy.  What could he have produced, but for the war which caused his death at a very early age?  Maybe that future knowing is what hangs over his music.  The ridiculousness and horror of war is showcased in this composer and performers’ life along with a clear showing, in microcosm, of what the world lost. One of the most moving pieces is to hear his Sarabande for Organ, Strings, and Timpani, which he dedicated to the memory of his sister Odile Alain.  For a very moving moment, if you can find a recording of it with Marie-Claire Alain on the organ it is a profound experience.

And of course, the ending of the concert.  What can I say – a perfect end to continue the rest of your day in a great place.  Colin Lynch played Marcel Dupré’s Prelude and Fugue in B Major.  Not expected in the middle of the day, but a huge treat and it was incredibly well played – you knew that the presene you felt was Dupré showing up after the first few measures to hear this performance.  Brilliantly, technically showing off  the virtuosity in Dupré’s composition and played the way it was meant to be played.

I can’t vouch for the rest of the organ concerts because I am not familiar with all of the organists to follow, but these two, Richard Webster and Colin Lynch,  made you want to return for more.

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Ed. Note: Members of the Bettina Network Lifestyle Community can contribute to the Bettina Network Blog whenever they have anything they want to say and be heard by this fantastic group of people. Send your blog to bettinanetwork@comcast.net or mail it to us at P. O. Box 380585 Cambridge, MA. 02238 or call us on the telephone at 617-497-9166 to tell us what you want to say and we will write it for you.

Volunteer with Bettina Network Foundation, inc. to work estate sales; to help move items from one home to another; to contribute your ideas on how we can better use our resources in this effort to relieve and eliminate homelessness and poverty. We also need photographers; designers; and more. However much or little time you have, we are grateful.

Send your event information to be included in Bettina Network’s Menu of Events to: bettina-network@comcast.net

This is a curated blog so you cannot write your responses at the end of each entry. TO RESPOND TO THIS BLOG email bettina-network@comcast.net or info@bettina-network.com

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Bettina Having Fun!

Saturday, November 26th, 2011

Our technology knowledge is moving fast.  You will find grapics, videos, music and more on Bettina Network’s Blog.

You will also find information about companiess and reviews of events.  For the company – these are not paid advertisements – we do not take paid advertisements.  These are comments and information from a member of the Bettina Network Community who has used the company’s services and/or products, thinks they are special and wants to share that information with the rest of the Bettina Network Community.

For events – someone from the Bettina Network decides which events we will attend and review.  If we attend an event, that does not mean that attendance will result in a review.  All of that depends upon what we think about what we have seen, heard and experienced.

Hope you enjoy the results – especially now that we have entered the picture age.

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Want to join us? Have a home that you want to open to become one of Bettina Network’s Hedge Schools? Call us and lets talk – or email us.

Ed. Note: Members of the Bettina Network Lifestyle Community can contribute to the Bettina Network Blog whenever they have anything they want to say and be heard by this fantastic group of people. Send your blog to bettinanetwork@comcast.net or mail it to us at P. O. Box 380585 Cambridge, MA. 02238 or call us on the telephone at 617-497-9166 to tell us what you want to say and we will write it for you.

Volunteer with Bettina Network Foundation, inc. to work estate sales; to help move items from one home to another; to contribute your ideas on how we can better use our resources in this effort to relieve and eliminate homelessness and poverty. We also need photographers; designers; and more. However much or little time you have, we are grateful.

Send your event information to be included in Bettina Network’s Menu of Events to: bettina-network@comcast.net

This is a curated blog so you cannot write your responses at the end of each entry. TO RESPOND TO THIS BLOG email bettina-network@comcast.net or info@bettina-network.com

TO LEARN MORE about Bettina Network, inc. try www.bettina-network.com

IF YOU ENJOY OUR BLOG, USE OUR SERVICES TO BOOK ACCOMODATIONS WHEN YOU TRAVEL!

1-800-347-9166 inside the U. S. or 617 497 9166 outside or inside the U. S.

A Memorial to "Brother Blue"

Sunday, May 9th, 2010

Copyright 2010 The Bettina Network, inc.

We spent Saturday at a memorial service to Brother Blue – Dr. Hugh Morgan Hill. I say “we spent Saturday” because it started about noon and went on until about 4pm. At no time during those four hours did you want to leave. There were several hundred people present, coming from far and near – Maryland, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Virginia, Arkansas, Canada, California – to name a few places of which we were aware.

Ruth Hill, Brother Blue’s wife, organized a remembrance of her husband which will last in memory as long as Hugh lasts in memory.

Some of you, who frequented Harvard Square, may remember Brother Blue. He was the “Character” dressed in blue, preaching, praising, storytelling, making you feel special as one of God’s chosen. When he raised his hand to welcome you showing you his palm, on which a beautiful butterfly had been painted, letting God’s blessings fly out to greet you – it was his version of the open, giving hand.

The service started with a procession into St. Paul’s Episcopal Cathedral in Boston which set the tone and called Brother Blue back for this performance in his honor. Tejo Ologboni, drummer, led the procession. He is amazing performing by himself, but leading this procession it was as though the roof lifted off the Cathedral, light shone in and the colorful Butterfly Puppets appeared following Ologboni. Their wings moved as butterfly wings move, their faces were bright and lit up with smiles that woke those in the congregation who Tejo Ologboni hadn’t yet touched – if such existed.

Memorial services tend to be beautiful, sad, very tearful with much longing and regret from missed opportunities hanging in the air, during and after. This one started with incredible light, color, shouts of joy, drums and more.

It was the first time I saw Brother Blue in the context of his community and it was glorious to see! We mostly saw him with Ruth, his wife, by his side telling stories, exorting, praising and calling those who passed by to be their best selves. In the context of his community you understood, finally, who Blue was and what his life had been about. “…I see through a mirror dimly, but then face to face…” could characterize this event.

A very long succession of people brought their talents and their being to pay tribute to Brother Blue.
Warren Senders – composer/musician from New England Conservatory composed, sang and got the audience caught up, with great gusto, in the chorus to his song which went:

“My brother Blue, My Brother Blue,
he was the kindest man I ever knew
he took your light and shined it back on you!”

The politicians were there and they normally dampen down any event they attend. These politicians must have been carefully chosen because they added to the remembrance and took it to a higher plane – Charles Yancey from the Boston City Council – who made us remember that Blue was the Official Storyteller of Boston, Alice Wolf from the MA. House of Representatives reminded us that he was also the Official Storyteller of Cambridge and had received many other honors as well; Kenneth Reeves from the Cambridge City Council; Byron Rushing also from the MA. House of Representatives who reminded us that we are in Blue’s story because he put us there and then he insisted on our being in everyone else’s story. Steven Tolman from the MA Senate said what Blue meant to him and the affect he had on Tolmans running for the Senate.

Blue was a storyteller, preacher, prophesied, danced, entertained. He had several mantras – one “The greatest thing you will ever learn is to love and to be loved in return.” And he clearly spoke that from a marriage which was an example of love and love returned.

A powerful performance was by Wendy Jehlen, dancer/Choreographer, Director Anikai Dance. The music to which she danced was a recording of Brother Blue’s breath. It was very moving and magnificent. Once you die, the one physical thing you no longer have is your breath – one thing you can no longer do is breathe. Your body begins to deteriorate because the breath which circulates the oxygen to keep you moving and living is gone. For a few very exquisite moments, Ms. Jehlen brought back Brother Blue’s breath and breathing.

Those gathered to remember Blue in the Cambridge/Boston area were the most truly diverse group I have ever seen in that area. When you die, your funeral and your memorial service say much about how you lived. As I looked around the Cathedral and saw the great diversity of people there to remember Brother Blue, it was a testament to his life. White, Black, Asian, Indian (both East and American), very prominent citizens, those who were clearly living on the edge, in various kinds of dress and comfortable in their clothes. And it was a group of people who lingered and talked in groups at the end of the remembrance and went from group to group even talking to those they did not know in a joyful, light-infused, animated conversation. A rare occurrence in this world.

Byron Rushing reminded us that one form of Brother Blues dialogue was “Praise Poetry” which came from Africa and was meant to authenticate who you are – not who the speaker is! Many spoke on the effect Blue had on them when they were in his audience. Rushing spoke on the effect it had on you when Blue was in your audience. It was a profound testament to the man we were remembering.

With Guy Davis‘ presentation – storyteller, actor, blues musician – there was dancing in the aisle and he was beautiful and extremely talented. Elizabeth Morse‘s harp music was a beautiful meditation which brought us back to the sacred. Ms. Morse is someone Blue asked to accompany him over the years.

Eliot Fisk, classical guitarist, was the final person giving a testament to Blue and it was a musical gem.

I saw, for the first time, the power of the Story. We heard about Dr. Hill’s end time in a rehab facility, which will never be the same again, and it was beautiful because you knew through the story that he didn’t ever lose his humanity or identity or interest in others, nor did he stop blessing others. The story about the “Star Child” – one born prematurely and on the life support systems in which we put some of our children – being told stories by his father with his head pressed against the plexiglass and we heard the father’s promise to continue to tell to bring his child in, the way an air traffic controller brings in an airplane.

It was the remembrance of and homage to a man who made his vulnerabilities into a tower of strength and shared his light and blessings with others. It all ended with a video of Hugh Hill over the years. His voice narrated the message which is one he preached over and over again during his life. It was all done with the background music being different renditions of America the Beautiful.

You left knowing your life had been touched by a truly great human being, who walked this earth in his bare feet and brought goodness, kindness and love to many as you heard story after story of how he so positively affected the lives of literally thousands of people.

Our “Praise Poetry” to Dr. Hugh Morgan Hill comes from his obituary: “Most often known as “Brother Blue” Dr. Hill has degrees from Harvard, Yale and the Union Graduate School…. He wanted his stories to be ‘bread for the mind, the imagination, the heart, the soul. He said, ‘I SOUL my stories out, to speak from the middle of the middle of me to the middle of the middle of you…..’ He presented workshops in prisons, schools, colleges and universities, libraries, and conferences and told stories before countless audiences via radio and television, and in person in streets, parks, and festivals in the U. S. Canada, Europe, South Africa and the Bahamas. Among them were First Night Boston, the World’s Fair in New Orleans, Lincoln Center, Spoleto Festival, United Nations Habitat Forum, yukon Storytelling Festival, the National Storytelling Festival and Sharing the Fire in New England. He received many awards and was storyteller-in-residence for the Harvard Law School’s Saturday School and much more.”

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Want to join us? Have a home that you want to open to become one of Bettina Network’s Hedge Schools? Call us and lets talk – or email us.

Ed. Note: Members of the Bettina Network Lifestyle Community can contribute to the Bettina Network Blog whenever they have anything they want to say and be heard by this fantastic group of people. Send your blog to bettinanetwork@comcast.net or mail it to us at P. O. Box 380585 Cambridge, MA. 02238 or call us on the telephone at 617-497-9166 to tell us what you want to say and we will write it for you.

Volunteer with Bettina Network Foundation, inc. to work estate sales; to help move items from one home to another; to contribute your ideas on how we can better use our resources in this effort to relieve and eliminate homelessness and poverty. We also need photographers; designers; and more. However much or little time you have, we are grateful.

Send your event information to be included in Bettina Network’s Menu of Events to: bettina-network@comcast.net

This is a curated blog so you cannot write your responses at the end of each entry. TO RESPOND TO THIS BLOG email bettina-network@comcast.net or info@bettina-network.com

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Response to Disaster in Haiti

Tuesday, January 26th, 2010

One response the Bettina Network, inc. made to the disaster in Haiti was to respond to a request from a bed & breakfast guest and now a friend, to give a one night stay at a Bettina home in Harvard Square for the silent auction being held by the town of Weston, VT.

We were delighted to respond and grateful that we were included and able to do a little more to help those in such shock and pain.

The event was held this past Saturday (January 23, 2010) and was, by all accounts, a very successful undertaking. Kudos to the town of Weston, Vermont for being involved and for moving so quickly to help address such an enormous need! Proceeds from the auction were sent to Partners in Health to further their work in Haiti.

What made it special to us were the number of people who gave a part of their work and talent: one woman gave cookies – to be baked at a time requested by the successful bidder. She had samples of the cookies at the event to encourage bids. Another gave her special carrot cake, also to be baked at a time requested by the successful bidder – and she also had samples. And there were more.

It is wonderful to give money – that is what’s needed in the end – but to also involve yourself and give something which takes time out from busy lives is indeed special. It insures that you will think of the Haitians undergoing such trauma, after the fund-raising event and will put your hopes and wishes for them into whatever it is you have made.

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Want to join us? Have a home that you want to open to become one of Bettina Network’s Hedge Schools? Call us and lets talk – or email us.

Ed. Note: Members of the Bettina Network Lifestyle Community can contribute to the Bettina Network Blog whenever they have anything they want to say and be heard by this fantastic group of people. Send your blog to bettinanetwork@comcast.net or mail it to us at P. O. Box 380585 Cambridge, MA. 02238 or call us on the telephone at 617-497-9166 to tell us what you want to say and we will write it for you.

Volunteer with Bettina Network Foundation, inc. to work estate sales; to help move items from one home to another; to contribute your ideas on how we can better use our resources in this effort to relieve and eliminate homelessness and poverty. We also need photographers; designers; and more. However much or little time you have, we are grateful.

Send your event information to be included in Bettina Network’s Menu of Events to: bettina-network@comcast.net

This is a curated blog so you cannot write your responses at the end of each entry. TO RESPOND TO THIS BLOG email bettina-network@comcast.net or info@bettina-network.com

TO LEARN MORE try www.bettina-network.com

 

Nuller and VanSlyck in Concert

Thursday, April 2nd, 2009

copyright by Bettina Network 2009                       New School of Music

Sunday, March 29, 2009 at 3pm                              25 Lowell Street
                                                                                      Cambridge, MA. 02138
                                                                                      617 492 8105
                                                                                      www.newschoolofmusic.org
Margarita Nuller, a graduate of St. Petersburg Conservatory, Russia and Trudi Van Slyck, co-founder of the New School of Music, played an amazing concert.  It was a concert you want to retain in your memory and replay many times.
Some comments from guests on hearing Nuller play “it was like listening to Rachmaninoff”, I wonder if others (in the audience) know the incredible virtuoso they are hearing,” “it is rare to hear such a performance.”
The order of the program was genius.  In the middle of the program Trudi Van Slyck played ‘Wintertime I and II by Robt. Shumann, following which Van Slyck and Nuller played a two piano piece by Nicholas Van Slyck entitled “Winter-Time” for two pianos (in memoriam, Robt. Shumann).  It was an especially powerful moment when you knew that Trudi Van Slyck is the widow of Nicholas Van Slyck, the composer.  In addition, it was powerfully played.
Nuller’s Beethoven Sonata in Eb Major, Op. 27 #1 is rarely heard at the level at which she played.  Her interpretation seemed to come from the fact that she had totally internalized the piece.  It was not the loud, overreaching, rushing to the end interpretation that one gets used to, it was played so that you knew and felt why Beethoven is such a giant.
My favorite was the Chopin “Sonata in B minor, Op. 58” – a piece I’ve loved since childhood.  To hear it played with such technical perfection and beauty at the same time was an experience I won’t soon forget.
When the audience had eaten and left and only a handful of us remained, the treat of the evening was an encore Ms. Nuller played from Franz Liszt.  A piece you won’t hear often because it is one of the virtuoso pieces Liszt wrote knowing that only a few would be able to play it.  Nuller played it to perfection and note perfect.
All in all a wonderful afternoon and evening of truly exceptional music.
_____________________________________________________________

Learn More About How We Use Your Donation!

[give_form id=”3763″]

______________________________________________________________

Want to join us? Have a home that you want to open to become one of Bettina Network’s Hedge Schools? Call us and lets talk – or email us.

Ed. Note: Members of the Bettina Network Lifestyle Community can contribute to the Bettina Network Blog whenever they have anything they want to say and be heard by this fantastic group of people. Send your blog to bettinanetwork@comcast.net or mail it to us at P. O. Box 380585 Cambridge, MA. 02238 or call us on the telephone at 617-497-9166 to tell us what you want to say and we will write it for you.

Volunteer with Bettina Network Foundation, inc. to work estate sales; to help move items from one home to another; to contribute your ideas on how we can better use our resources in this effort to relieve and eliminate homelessness and poverty. We also need photographers; designers; and more. However much or little time you have, we are grateful.

Send your event information to be included in Bettina Network’s Menu of Events to: bettina-network@comcast.net

This is a curated blog so you cannot write your responses at the end of each entry. TO RESPOND TO THIS BLOG email bettina-network@comcast.net or info@bettina-network.com

TO LEARN MORE try www.bettina-network.com

 


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